What ever happened to Candy Montgomery?

Candy Montgomery was responsible for the 1980 killing of Betty Gore, which took place on Friday, June 13.

Table of Contents Show

What Happened to Candy Montgomery and Where is She Now?
Did Candy Montgomery go to jail?
Is Candy Montgomery still alive?
Where is Candy Montgomery?
Who was Candy Montgomery in real life?
What happened to Candy Montgomery's baby?

Montgomery killed Gore after striking her 41 times with an ax, 40 of the blows were made while the victim's heart was still beating.

The housewife was charged with murder by police in Wylie, Texas, but she claimed the attack was self-defense at her trial.

Here is everything you need to know about Montgomery, and where she is now.

What Happened to Candy Montgomery and Where is She Now?

Jessica Biel as Candy Montgomery in "Candy." Hulu

Montgomery recounted the events of June 13, 1980 after undergoing a hypnosis session with a psychiatrist named Dr. Fred Fason, per Texas Monthly, which also revealed she suffered from childhood trauma that is triggered when she's told to shush.

She claimed at her trial that she visited the Gore family home to pick up a swimsuit for Gore's daughter Alisa, who was staying with her family for the night.

Gore let her in and after a brief conversation Gore confronted her about an affair she'd had with her husband Allan, which Montgomery confirmed happened but "a long time ago."

Montgomery said that Gore left the room abruptly and returned with an ax, and she told her not to see Allan ever again which she agreed. After picking up Alisa's swimsuit she apologized to Gore, which Montgomery claimed caused her rage to erupt and she shoved her into the utility room.

There, Montgomery said she and Gore had a long struggle that led to her getting a cut on her toe and head, and she claimed Gore had told her she had "to kill [her]."

She went on to explain that she managed to get the ax away from Gore and before she could attack her again, Montgomery hit her with the blade.

Montgomery believed the blow had killed Gore and in her terror she tried to leave the room, but she claimed that Gore stopped her from leaving by slamming her body against the door.

Another struggle ensued after Gore refused to let Montgomery leave, she said, and Gore then told her to shush, this is when Montgomery hit her with the ax and only stopped "at the point of utter exhaustion."

After giving her testimony, Montgomery said that she had not intended to kill Gore and she refused to even look at the ax when it was shown to her as evidence.

A jury found Montgomery not guilty of murder and shortly thereafter she and her husband Pat moved to Georgia, but four years later they divorced, per Distractify.

It is believed that Montgomery then changed her name, with some reports suggesting she returned to using her maiden name Wheeler, and she now works as a mental health counselor.

Candy is being released as a five-day event, with one episode being released every day on Hulu from Monday, May 9 to Friday, May 13.

Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey as Betty Gore and Candy Montgomery in "Candy." Tina Rowden/Hulu

Good news, true-crime lovers: another murder mystery is dominating our screens, what with the release of Candy, Jessica Biel's new Hulu miniseries.

Starring Biel alongside Melanie Lynskey and Pablo Schreiber, the show tells the true story of Candy Montgomery, a Texan housewife who shockingly murdered her best friend Betty Gore with an ax back in the summer of 1980.

"Once I really started diving into who she is and how this ending happened this way, I got really interested in why and how did this very normal woman—seemingly very normal, upstanding pillar of the community, good mother, good wife, nice human — how did she commit this crazy act of violence?" Biel told Variety (opens in new tab).

But while we already know the answer to "why did Candy Montgomery kill Betty?" we still have many questions, the biggest of which is: where is Candy Montgomery today? Here's what we know.

*Warning: spoilers ahead!*

Did Candy Montgomery go to jail?

Candace "Candy" Montgomery was accused of murdering her close friend, Betty Gore, in Wylie, Texas, on June 13, 1980. Montgomery, who had been having an extramarital affair with Betty's husband Allan, had stopped by the Gore residence to pick up a swimsuit for their daughter when Betty confronted her about the affair. A physical fight ensued, ending with Montgomery reportedly stabbing Gore 41 times with a three-foot-long ax.

When Allan, who was out of town on business, couldn't reach his wife by telephone, he enlisted neighbors to investigate her whereabouts. They discovered Betty's body in the utility room and their infant daughter Bethany crying in her crib.

After weeks of questioning, Allan Gore admitted his affair with Candy to the authorities and thus gave them a motive. Montgomery was arrested by police and was put on a $100,000 bond, per theFort Worth Star-Telegram (opens in new tab).

Four months later, the eight-day Candy Montgomery trial took place, during which the defense argued that Montgomery acted in self-defense after Gore had grabbed the ax from the garage and approached Candy with it. Hypnosis sessions led psychiatrists to claim that Montogmery had experienced a "dissociative reaction" during the altercation and that her rage was the result of childhood trauma.

A jury acquitted Candy Montgomery of murder charges on October 29, 1980.

Following the trial, Candy Montogomery, her husband Pat and their children left Texas in 1980 and moved to Georgia. The couple divorced four years later and Candy adopted her maiden name, Candace Wheeler. She, ironically, went on to become a mental health counselor, per Newsweek (opens in new tab).

Is Candy Montgomery still alive?

Yes, Candy Montgomery is alive and was recently working as a therapist in Georgia. Born in November 1949, she is currently 72 years old.

Jessica Biel reportedly tried to get in touch with the real-life Candy in preparation for her upcoming role, the actress toldEntertainment Weekly (opens in new tab): "She was not interested." Biel then turned to Robert Udashen, one of Candy's attorneys in the murder case, who was a "huge resource of information."

Biel also tapped the help of journalists Jim Atkinson and Joe Bob Briggs, who wrote Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs: "They were walking knowledge bombs of this story—the people in both of these families' lives, the survivors, the families, and Candy herself. They'd interviewed her, which was priceless for me."

Of playing the real-life Candy Montgomery, Biel told Variety: "I wanted to create this person that you really, really were conflicted about. You’re with her. You’re with her and then, wait a minute, I’m not sure if I’m with her."

"As the story unfolds, you empathize with the actions. You get it on some level. You connect on a human level in some way. You’re still kind of with her at the end," Biel continued. "That’s what I hoped to create. You just have to have empathy. I didn’t play this character like she was the villain."

All episodes of Candy are now streaming on Hulu.

Where is Candy Montgomery?

Candy Montgomery is now 72-years-old and reportedly resides in Georgia, where she relocated to not long after the incident. She retrained to be a mental health counsellor and now goes by her maiden name of Candace Wheeler.

Who was Candy Montgomery in real life?

Candy Montogomery aka Candace Wheeler is an American homemaker. She was accused of murdering Betty Gore, the wife of her lover. She assaulted Gore 41 times with a 3-foot-long axe. The said incident took played in Whylie, Texas on June 13, 1980.

What happened to Candy Montgomery's baby?

The baby was found sobbing in her crib hours later by neighbors when they broke into the house at Allan's insistence, after Gore failed to return any of Allan's calls. While Alisa and Bethany were mentioned during the trial, the same cannot be said about Candy Montgomery's kids.