Candy, a dramatization of the Candy Montgomery ax murder that transpired on a Friday 13, 1980 in Wylie, Texas premiers on HULU with a 5 night event starting on May 9.
On that fateful night, neighbors found Betty Gore broken and bleeding from multiple ax wounds on her laundry room floor.
Candy Montgomery was friends with Betty Gore. They often babysat each other’s kids and went to church together. But Candy Montgomery was also sleeping with Betty Gore’s husband. Tried for the murder, Candy Montgomery pleaded not guilty by way of self-defense and claimed that Betty found out about the affair, confronted her when she came by and picked up an ax in a fit of rage. Montgomery got control of the ax during the struggle and hit Betty over the head. She didn’t stop there and continued to strike Betty with the ax — 41 times.
A jury believed her.
Fascination with Candy Montogomery
In 1980, 250 spectators crowded the courtroom of the Collin County Courthouse in Historic Downtown McKinney courtroom for the trial of Candy Montgomery. Footage from the trial shows Collin County locals crowding into seats, and standing against the walls for long days of testimony, milling in the square, all hoping for a glimpse of Candy, a mousy woman in distinctive, large-frame glasses.
“Why am I here?” one man said when asked in archived WFAA news coverage of the trial. “Why is everyone else here? Wondering why she did it.”
“It’s a lot like a soap opera,” another resident said.
“Better,” the next agreed.
“She’s my neighbor, Candy,” one woman admitted. “I wanted to see for myself.”
Everyone wanted to be there. They all wanted to be the first to hear the gritty details of Friday, June 13, 1980, when 30-year-old Betty Gore was brutally murdered with an ax.
For years, people have speculated about what really happened that day.
Candy On Hulu
Starting on May 9, we'll get the chance to relive the story. Of course, we won't ever know what really happened.
Candy On Hulu will premier on May 9 in a thrilling 5 night event, culminating on Friday, 13th. Those familiar with the story will know the grisly murder took place in June 1080, on Friday the 13th.
The Hulu description only hints at the gruesome ax murder we all know is coming: "Candy Montgomery is a 1980s housewife and mother who did everything right - but when the pressure of conformity builds within her, her actions scream for just a bit of freedom. Until someone tells her to shush. With deadly results."
Candy is played by Jessica Biel and Betty Gore is played by Melanie Lynsky.
The true crime limited series is based on a series of articles that appeared in Texas Monthly a few years after Betty Gore’s murder and the book Evidence of Love: A True Story of Love and Death in the Suburbs.
Watch the chilling trailer for Candy below.
And, because if you're ready this you're probably dying for more, here's another trailer for Candy.
Candy Montgomery - today
Today, people who remember the case still drive by the Gore house. After the trial, the McKinney Courthouse in Historic Downtown McKinney closed up again; the justice system moved back to the new one. Now, the only drama the McKinney courtroom sees is plays put on by a local theatre company.
Last anyone checked, Allan Gore remarried soon after the trial, though it ended in divorce. Betty’s parents reportedly raised their two daughters, Alisa and Bethany. The Montgomerys moved out of Texas; Dallas Morning News reported that Candy Montgomery became a counselor, but she stopped responding to interview requests a long time ago. Escaping her past is impossible. Reviews of her practice across multiple sites follow her still: “Horrible, evil person,” someone wrote in 2019. The last word from Candy herself, was to the News in 2010: “I’m telling you in big bold letters I’m not interested.”
