Candy Montgomery

Candace Lynn Montgomery (née Wheeler; born November 15, 1949) is an American woman who was accused of murdering her former lover's wife, Betty Gore. The killing took place in Wylie, Texas, on June 13, 1980. During the assault, Gore was struck 41 times with a wood splitting axe. Montgomery pled not guilty to charges of murder on the basis of self-defense, alleging that Gore confronted her about the affair she had with Gore's husband and attacked her with the axe. She was acquitted.

Background

Candace, who was 30 years old at the time of the incident, was married to Pat Montgomery, an electrical engineer. The couple had two children—a daughter and son. Candace became close friends with Betty Gore, a middle school teacher,

On the day of Gore's killing, Allan Gore was out of town. She stated that she was compelled to use an axe after Gore attempted to strike her moments before with the same weapon. District attorney Tom O'Connell argued that Montgomery could have fled the scene instead of attacking Gore.

Reaction after trial The verdict received a great deal of criticism from the community.

Portrayal in media A book examining the case and events following the trial, titled Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, was written by Dallas-based journalists John Bloom and Jim Atkinson. It was released in January 1984.

In the 1990 CBS TV movie A Killing in a Small Town, based on the Montgomery case but with names changed, Barbara Hershey won the Emmy award and the Golden Globe award portraying the lead character, named Cathy Morrison.

Jessica Biel portrays Montgomery in the Hulu series Candy, which debuted in May 2022.

Montgomery is portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen in the HBO Max series Love & Death, which debuted in April 2023.