Friday the Thirteenth has been regarded as an inauspicious day for a long time. Like most superstitions, its origins are obscure. But whatever the reason, that June 13, 1980, forty-five years ago today in the still record hottest summer in North Texas was exceptionally inauspicious for a young housewife and her family in the Dallas exurb of Wylie
That day Allan Gore who lived with his wife and two children in Wylie was on a business trip away from home. After numerous attempts to contact his wife Betty at home, directly and through her friends, he asked a neighbor or a friend to see if there was something amiss. There was. When the friend Richard Parker and another man entered Allan’s house, they found Betty Gore’s bloody body in the utility room, together with a three-foot long ax. She had been hacked to death.
Ax murders have long been the staple of fictional murder mysteries. Their brutal, bloody, and sensational visuals excite the morbid curiosity many, if not most, of us have — at least where it doesn’t happen to us. This one, like the Lizzie Borden case in Massachusetts that possessed a number of striking similarities from almost a century prior, ended up in a woman being accused, tried—and acquitted.
For several days after the discovery of Betty’s body, it was a mystery. The town of Wylie was beset by all kinds of speculation, whether an ax murderer was lurking around and might strike again, among others. Allan Gore was initially a suspect, because law enforcement has experienced killings involving married couples in many cases.
As it turned out, the main suspect was Candace “Candy” Montgomery, who together with her husband Pat and the Gores, were members of the First Methodist Church in the nearby town of Lucas. As it came out in the investigation and trial, Candy and Allan Gore had previously had a clandestine relationship that involved sexual trysts at a no-tell motel on Highway 75 near Allan’s place of work. That affair had ended in the Fall of 1979. It was unclear whether Betty had known about the affair — Allan stated that he did not know, and if she did she might not have said anything. Nevertheless, both families’ children were friends with each other. Betty’s then six year old daughter Alisa and Candy’s and Pat’s daughter Jenny often spent the night with each other.
On that Friday, Candy was to take Alisa and her daughter Jenny to swimming lessons. She went to Betty’s house that morning to retrieve Alisa’s swimsuit. Investigation and later testimony showed that, during the visit, Candy and Betty had an altercation that involved physical pushing and shoving, and at some point Betty grabbed an ax that was there in the washroom. According to Candy, she managed to wrestle the ax away from Betty, and struck her. Candy lost control and continued to strike with the ax. After an involved investigation by the Wylie Police Department, assisted by Dallas County medical examiner and Criminal Investigation Laboratory, the County district attorney charged Candy Montgomery with the murder of Betty Gore.
The trial was held in Collin County District court in November of the same year. Candy hired Don Crowder, a personal injury lawyer and member of the same church. Crowder had never tried a criminal case (and never tried another one after this was over), but who was known as a hard-charging trial lawyer skilled in persuading juries. For criminal law expertise, Crowder associated Dallas attorney Gary Udashen.
During jury selection, Crowder shocked everybody when he stated that Candy Montgomery killed Betty Gore; she did it with an ax; it was self-defense.
At trial, Candy Montgomery testified in great detail about the events on June 13 in the altercation that resulted in her killing Betty Gore. She told the court and jury that Betty had been the aggressor and had the ax in her hands first during the confrontation, and she essentially “freaked out” when she pulled the ax away and hit Betty with it. The psychiatrist that had examined Candy testified that she probably had and a “dissociative reaction” that triggered an early childhood trauma to instigate a frenzy in which she continued to strike Betty with the ax.
In the aftermath of the trial, there was considerable public dismay and anger, particularly among Betty Gore’s family. Predictably, a lot of outrage was expressed towards the jury members who were vilified as stupid or, at best naive enough to believe someone could kill with an ax in that manner in self-defense.
Both the Gores and the Montgomerys, soon thereafter moved away from Texas. Candy has never allowed an interview or made any statement beyond “I have nothing to say” or words to that effect. Her last known whereabouts was in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
Like Lizzie Borden, who was tried and acquitted for killing her father and stepmother with an ax in 1892, and although there was considerable circumstantial evidence that appeared to sustain that accusation, Candy Montgomery was found not guilty. Was Justice fully served? Well, the law is not about abstract justice. In this country’s system, its primary function is to protect what might be termed ordered liberty. Actual justice can only be had in a venue not of this world.
Notes and sources:
A criminal verdict of “not guilty” does not mean the defendant is innocent. It means, at least, that there was a reasonable doubt as to an element of the alleged crime. Self-defense, however, is an affirmative defense which requires the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence, sometimes described as “more likely than not” or 51% responsibility.
Candy Montgomery’s lawyer Don Crowder later unsuccessfully ran for Texas Governor. He died in 1998.
Dr. Vincent DiMaio, performed the autopsy on Betty Gore. DiMaio later became the chief medical examiner in Bexar County, Texas, and more recently testified in the George Zimmerman trial in Florida on behalf of the defense.
See R. Atkinson & J. Bloom, Evidence of Love; A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs (1984). A thoroughly researched and good read by experienced journalists. Contains a lot of the backstory.
Numerous press reports and personal conversations with some persons close to the investigation and trial.
One reply on “Friday the Thirteenth + 45”
Would you care to comment about the conviction of officer Derrick Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd. Was it proper to refuse a change of venue? Was the jury properly sequestered? Did the defense have the opportunity to strike jurors whose minds had not already been poisoned? Was the jury pool so tainted no person could have gotten a fair trial? Did media attention and threats from politicians influence the jurors? Could George Floyd actually breathe even though he said he couldn’t. Could George Floyd have been detained with less force ? Is there doubt as to whether Fentenyl or deadly force caused death? Why did Chauvin not appeal his conviction ? Is the Minnesota judiciary so biased it is not possible for a police officer to get a fair trial ?