The “Love and Death” tale of Candy Montgomery is the salacious news story that daltxrealestate.com readers can’t get enough of. For those unfamiliar, here is the abridged version of the infamous Candy Montgomery 1980 true crime story: Candy and Betty Gore were friends, having met at the First United Methodist Church of Lucas. Candy had eyes on Betty’s husband, Allan Gore, and propositioned him after a church volleyball game. “Would you be interested in having an affair?” Candy cavalierly asked her friend’s husband.
For 10 months, Candy and Allan carried on their extramarital affair, unbeknownst to their respective suspicious spouses. Seven months after the affair ended amicably, Candy—still friends with her lover and his wife—went over to the Gore house for an errand when Betty allegedly confronted her about the affair. Betty attacked, and Candy killed her friend with 41 blows from a three-foot ax. Candy claimed self-defense and, after a speedy trial, was acquitted.
Candy Montgomery
The salacious details and interesting threads that crisscross the Dallas area are what keep people fascinated 43 years after the crime took place on Friday, June 13, 1980.
As renewed attention comes to this sensational North Texas crime, we’ve used our unique real estate lens to give context to the parts of the story often neglected: the home, the neighborhood, and the community surrounding the trial. daltxrealestate.com founder John covered the trial of Candy Montgomery when she was a television reporter for Fox4 News.
In 2014, she wrote a story about how Betty Gore’s former home in Wylie was listed for sale. Nine years later, this story is still soliciting comments from readers — looking to discuss the crime itself and the acquittal that shocked North Texas (plus some tongue-lashing about some wayward typos that we’ve since edited).
Anyone who lived in North Texas in the early 1980s remembers the murder of Betty Gore, and the murder trial of Candace Montgomery, the woman who killed her with an ax. Then, as now, the case enthralled me.
Candy Montgomery, Based on a True Story
The fascination with this North Texas murder hasn’t faded over time. In 1984, Texas Monthly’s Jim Atkinson and John Bloom wrote a definitive two-part article titled ‘Love and Death in Silicon Prairie,’ which became the roadmap for Hollywood’s adaptations, including two that came out this year. Later one of Candy’s attorneys, Robert Udashen, consulted on both series, the Lakewood Advocate reported.
[P.S. What is the Silicon Prairie? And what does it have to do with Candy Montgomery? The Silicon Prairie or tech corridor, located on the border between Northeast Dallas and Richardson, was named for its proximity to leading technology hardware and software companies like Texas Instruments and Nortel, and the computer science-geared University of Texas at Dallas. It was near Allan’s workplace, where Candy would pick him up for their bi-weekly trysts at the nearby Como Motel in Richardson.]
Both Elizabeth Olsen and Jessica Biel have played the axe murderer in two different limited series about Candy Montgomery. Olsen, 32, was cast as the lead in HBO Max’s ‘Love and Death,’ while Biel, 41, starred in the Hulu series ‘Candy.’
The Real Estate Angle
When Hulu’s ‘Candy’ miniseries first aired, we looked at two houses of particular interest here, Candy Montgomery’s dream house and Betty Gore’s nightmare home.
The Gore Home — Drive down Dogwood Drive in Wylie, just a couple of blocks off the city’s historic downtown, and you wouldn’t know a brutal axe murder occurred in a laundry room on this quiet residential street in 1980.
Credit: MLS (2022)
The utility room at 410 Dogwood, where Betty Gore was found dead on June 13, 1980
Credit: MLS (2020)
The utility room when it was on the market in 2020
The former Gore home at 410 Dogwood Drive, which might be termed a stigmatized property, has had no problems on the market. It last sold in March 2022 after just four days on the market, then again in Aug. 2020 after two days on market. The fact that a brutal murder took place here hasn’t dissuaded at least two buyers.
The Montgomery Home — On the other spectrum, let’s look at the architectural dream home that Pat and Candy owned. We sat down with Stephen Chambers to understand more about the McKinney house built in the late 1970s for Candy and Pat Montgomery.
The scene of the crime, 410 Dogwood Lane, is still standing. Presumably, so is Candy’s former architectural dream home. But a more public remnant of this murder’s storyline—the extramarital affair between Candy and Allan — also remains at the Como Motel. They met at the “sleazy” motel, just north of the Richardson/Central Expressway TI entrance, every other week for a year. You can still see the Como Motel sign, looking as it did in the 1980s, from Central Expressway.
The motel was recently sold to a neighboring developer, who expressed their desire to tear it down. But preservationists have been vocal in their desire to keep the classic example of Midcentury Modern commercial architecture alive.
How Candy Changed Collin County
Hollywood has given us two mini-series depictions of Candy Montgomery, but digging up archive photos from June 1980 and local media coverage tell an interesting story as well.
Before police had a suspect in Candy Montgomery, the town of Wylie thought they had an axe murderer on the loose as seen in this KXAS news clip from June 16, 1980.
Like a scene from ‘Stranger Things,’ kids on bikes rode up to the Wylie Police Dept to learn what was happening in their usually quiet town. Suddenly, residents in Wylie, the comfortable Collin County suburb that was considered out in “the country,” as Texas Monthly writers described in detail, were locking their doors at night.
Meanwhile at the Sheriff’s Office
When Candy arrived at the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, she surrendered to sheriff’s deputies without incident — on her part. Charged with murder, Candy was placed under $100,000 bond.
Her attorney Robert Udashen shared these interesting details of Candy’s arrest in the Lakewood Advocate:
“Once they got a warrant for Candy, I negotiated an agreement with the district attorneys, and I drove her up to McKinney. I was gonna take her to the sheriff’s office and they weren’t supposed to notify the press, because we were just trying not to have a bunch of cameras and reporters there. But there’s all these people. They completely violated their agreement,” Udashen told the Advocate.
Credit: Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection via UTA Libraries
Credit: University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Libraries Special Collections.
“I made arrangements to have a bondsman post the bond before I ever drove Candy up there. The sheriff wouldn’t take the bond and let her out. Then we had a hearing on that, and we finally got her out.
“After we get her out, two days later, Judge Ryan orchestrates this hearing, which was supposed to be about a gag order. I took Candy up there and the judge does impose a gag order, but then he launches into a hearing on whether Candy’s bond was sufficient. It was clear that the judge, district attorney, and sheriff are all prepared for this hearing. No one bothered to tell me about it. Then they throw Candy in jail again.”
The Murder Trial
Later, Candy, shown below left, arrived at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney for a hearing on her murder trial date. By all appearances, she had a confident stride and a smile—a smile that news reporters particularly noted in their on-scene accounts.
Credit: Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection via UTA Libraries
The murder trial lasted eight days, and it was the hottest ticket in town. To provide additional seating space at the sensational trial, Collin County officials had to move the criminal trial from the new Collin County Courthouse (built in 1979) to the old Collin County Courthouse, located on the McKinney downtown square (built in 1876 and renovated in 1927).
Representing Candy were civil law attorney and member of Candy’s church, Don Crowder, who years later died by suicide, associate attorney Elaine Carpenter, and the young defense attorney Udashen.
Candy pleaded self-defense, alleging Betty first attacked her, following a confrontation about the affair. She testified in court that she was compelled to use an axe after Betty attempted to strike her moments before with the same weapon. Candy underwent a polygraph test prior to the trial which indicated that she was being truthful, as well as a hypnosis was claimed she disassociated from herself from previous trauma.
District attorney Tom O’Connell argued that Montgomery could have fled the scene instead of attacking Gore so violently. He also argued that Candy striking Betty 41 times with a wooden axe was a disproportionate action. In turn, Candy’s attorneys argued childhood trauma, revealed by a hypnotist, was to blame.
After just three hours of deliberation, a Collin County jury of nine women and three men acquitted Candace Montgomery of the charge that she murdered Betty Gore, a Wylie schoolteacher, with a 3-foot ax.
Credit: Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection via UTA Libraries
After her acquittal, Candy Montgomery and her family moved to Georgia, where she is believed to have changed her name to Candace Wheeler (her maiden name), split from her husband, and is said to now work as a mental health counselor or therapist; however, she has stayed out of the public eye since the trial.
Where Can We Find Candy Montgomery Today?
Even though the case involving Candy Montgomery and the tragic murder of Betty Gore remains a haunting chapter, in crime, there isn’t much information available about Candy’s life after the trial. Over the years, it seems unlikely that we will receive any updates on her situation. Since the trial in 1980, Candy Montgomery and her spouse have successfully evaded attention. Their present location and activities remain undisclosed, as they have intentionally chosen to lead an secluded life away from media scrutiny.
Is Candy Montgomery still living?
Yes, Candy Montgomery is still alive. However, it is important to respect her privacy and allow her to live her life without scrutiny.
Did Candy Montgomery go to prison?
She was found not guilty. Did not serve time for the murder of Betty Gore. Nevertheless, this case continues to captivate those in crime.
There is a true story, however, of a reporter knocking on Candy’s door for an interview.
She opened the door with a knife in her hand. She smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not dangerous.”
