Introduction: In this article, James Pylant writes about the bizarre “whodunnit” case of a slaying in small-town Texas. James is an editor at GenealogyMagazine.com and author for JacobusBooks.com, is an award-winning historical true-crime writer, and authorized celebrity biographer.
In June 1980, during a barbaric heatwave with temperatures rising to 100 degrees, Candace “Candy” Montgomery had a hurried schedule. The 30-year-old petite, curly-haired blonde was among a dozen others volunteering every morning for a weekday vacation Bible school at the United Methodist Church in Lucas, a small farming community in east central Texas.
The five-day event’s finale fell on the unluckiest date of the year – Friday the 13th – a day that would end with a shocking tragedy called “the ultimate soap opera.”
Candy had three children to corral: her seven-year-old daughter, Jenny; five-year-old son, Ian; and Jenny’s seven-year-old friend, Alisa Gore, who had a sleepover at the Montgomerys’ in Wylie, seven miles south of Lucas. The girls begged Candy to let Alisa spend one more night so she could go with them to see The Empire Strikes Back.
She reluctantly agreed but first had to ask the little girl’s mother. Candy had several errands to run – including a visit to the Gore’s home to pick up Alisa’s swimsuit because she would be responsible for taking the girl to swim practice – before returning to help with the Bible school luncheon. (1)
Candy returned to the church from her errand run late, arriving just as the luncheon started. “I had to get Alisa’s swimsuit from Betty, or I wouldn’t have been late,” Candy said apologetically to the other volunteers.
After lunch, Candy lingered to help wash dishes and tidy the church before leaving. Her whirlwind continued: taking Alisa to swim practice; driving to Dallas that evening to see The Empire Strikes Back; and grabbing fast food for dinner. (2) They arrived home around 8 p.m. Sometime later, Candy answered a phone call from Betty Gore’s husband, Allan.
“Have you seen Betty?” he asked. I’ve been trying to get her for several hours, but she doesn’t answer the phone.”
Allan Gore, saying he was in Minnesota on a business trip, asked Candy if she had talked to Betty that day. Candy explained about visiting Betty that morning to get Alisa’s swimsuit, and asking if she could stay one more night and go to the movie with them. Candy offered to drive over and check on Betty, but Allan said he would call his neighbors and ask them to see if his wife was home. (3)
Two days would pass before the press published the chilling news of Betty Gore’s fate: she had been killed in her own home.
This article reports:
A 5th-grade teacher at R.C. Dodd Middle School was hacked to death by an ax-wielding killer who took a shower afterward, police said Saturday.
…[Police Chief Royce] Abbott said police know of no motive and have few clues. He said the body was fully clothed, there were no indications of a sexual attack and robbery has been virtually ruled out as a motive.
…Abbot said there was no indication of forced entry, and the front door of the home was unlocked.
Why would anyone kill Betty Gore?
This article reports:
Her friends and neighbors said Betty Gore was “a quiet, pleasant, attractive woman” who sang in the Wylie United Methodist Church choir and liked to ride her bicycle with her family.
Now she’s dead.
…Police said there may be no connection, only a grim irony, that a movie called Friday the 13th is showing at several Dallas-area theaters. In it, they said, a leading character avenges the death of her son by a variety of killings, including several with a hatchet or an ax.
On Sunday, two days after the killing, a Dallas waitress told police she overheard a bearded, stringy-haired transient saying he had to leave town because “they found that woman.” He was arrested for public drunkenness but released after finding no evidence tying him to the murder.
On Wednesday, police admitted that they had no suspects.
That would change in 24 hours.
The break in the case came on June 19. The only legible print lifted from the Gores’ blood-smeared refrigerator matched the left thumbprint of someone described as “a female friend of Allan Gore.” However, at this time, the police did not release the identity of the suspect.
Seven days later, the Dallas Morning News reported an arrest warrant had been issued the previous day on a capital murder charge in the case. Hours later, at 11:20 p.m., Collin County sheriff’s deputies arrested the suspect. It was Candy Montgomery!
This article reports:
A 30-year-old housewife, who drove Betty Gore’s daughter to Bible school classes the day Mrs. Gore was hacked to death with an ax, was charged Thursday night with the brutal June 13 murder.
Candace Montgomery, described by friends as a devoted mother and an active church and PTA member, was surrendered by her attorney to Collin County sheriff’s deputies at 11:20 p.m.
…Every person contacted by The Dallas Morning News who knew Mrs. Montgomery expressed disbelief that she could be the suspect in the murder.
…A neighbor said “Candy had been an inspiration to our family,” and several persons said the 5-foot-4, 120-pound woman apparently was happily married and a diligent worker in church and school activities.
the next shock in this case came on July 13, when the Dallas Morning News reported that two independent sources claimed that Candy, during a lie-detector test with polygraph examiner Don McElroy, stopped the interview and “unemotionally confessed.” McElroy, whom her attorney had hired, was then subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury that would indict Candy Montgomery. This newspaper article sheds new light on the case:
Investigators found no evidence linking Allan Gore to his wife’s death. He took a polygraph test, and the examiner said the results revealed “he had absolutely no knowledge of the crime.”
Candy Montgomery’s murder trial began on October 20 with a stunning statement from her defense attorney, Don Crowder, that concluded:
“We have quite a story to tell. You haven’t read it all in the newspapers. Some of the things you will hear in this case are bizarre.”
Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow to read the unexpected conclusion to this story!
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Note on the header image: Sherlock Holmes investigates a mystery.
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(1) John Bloom and Jim Atkinson, Evidence of Love (New York: Bantam Books, 1984), pp. 2-3.
(2) Ibid., pp. 13-15.
(3) Ibid., pp. 37-38, 43-44.