Two Housewives and an Axe, or Murder on Silicon Prairie

Crimes committed out of jealousy are common throughout the world. Unfortunately, the matter does not always end in violation of public order or assault. Every year, tens of thousands of people die as victims of jealousy. It also happens that in the heat of emotions, the jealous ones themselves suffer. Most of these stories turn into faceless statistics, but the most cruel and unusual ones become the plots of films and TV series. This is exactly what happened on June 13, 1980 in the small Texas town of Wylie.

Candy Wheeler and Pat Montgomery were considered by everyone to be a wonderful, loving couple. They met in their youth and soon decided to legitimize their relationship. After getting married, Pat and Candy settled in the northeastern suburb of Dallas known as Silicon Prairie. The family first had a daughter, Jenny, and then a son, Ian.

They were an unremarkable American family. Pat worked as an engineer, and his wife Candy as a secretary. Everything was fine until in the summer of 1978, Candy met Allan Gore, the husband of her best friend Betty, at a volleyball match. A man could not be called a woman's dream. Overweight, with a receding hairline, wearing thick glasses, and wearing baggy clothes, Allan was a typical middle-class American family man.

But Candy was struck by Gore’s charisma and common interests. They talked for a long time after the match, completely forgetting about their families. A chance meeting became the beginning of a love affair that flared up towards the end of 1978. The meetings took place in a country hotel. In order not to arouse suspicion at home with unnecessary expenses, lovers paid in half for the room, gasoline and food.

Allan's wife Betty at this time desperately wanted a second child. Constant conversations about this awakened the conscience of the unfaithful spouse, and he decided to end the affair. The lovers talked and parted without quarrels or reproaches. They agreed that they would remain friends and carefully keep their secret. Soon Allan and Betty had a baby, and for some time the man forgot about Candy.

But the family idyll did not last long. Betty was busy with the baby, and Allan felt lonely. One day he dialed Candy's number, and the romance flared up with renewed vigor. But after each meeting, the unfaithful spouse was tormented by his conscience, because he loved his wife and children. Gore discussed this with his girlfriend several times. As a result, Candy could not stand it, and she herself suggested breaking up completely.

It could all have ended there, just like thousands of other adulteries. But the story received a terrible continuation. On June 13, 1980, Candy Montgomery stopped by her friend's house to chat. During the conversation, Betty suddenly asked if Candy had an affair with her husband. She confessed, but said that it was a long time ago and that she sincerely regrets it.

Betty stood up silently and left the room. She returned a couple of minutes later, holding an ax in her hand. It’s impossible to say exactly what was going through the upset woman’s head. Perhaps she simply decided to intimidate her rival. But Candy did not wait for the outcome of the scene and, snatching the weapon from her friend’s hands, pushed her into the open closet door.

The woman later claimed that her mind was clouded and she did not remember what happened. Experts later counted 41 chop wounds on Betty Gore's body. The victim's head was especially damaged - it turned into a bloody mess, with one remaining eye standing out. Having finished the massacre, the killer realized what she had done. She headed home fully automatically, without even thinking about covering up the traces of the crime and without closing the door.

Allan was on a business trip in another state at the time. He called his wife several times, but she did not answer the phone. The concerned man called a colleague and asked him to come to his home and find out what happened. He complied with the request and was the first to discover the body of the murdered woman. The mutilated corpse lay in a pool of blood, which had already begun to dry up. In the next room, a hungry baby was screaming non-stop.

The colleague immediately told Allan the terrible news and called the police. He took in a small child who had no one to take care of him. Candy immediately became the main suspect. She was seen near the Gore house and was clearly the last to see the woman alive. A few hours later, the police already knew about the love affair and the killer was taken into custody.

Candy Montgomery hired a lawyer who immediately began to prove her innocence. He claimed that it was self-defense and that everything happened by accident. But it was difficult to believe that one person would inflict dozens of blows on another with an ax in defense. The fact that the killer left the baby to the mercy of fate was also considered an aggravating circumstance. The child, if he had not been found in time, could have died.

Things were going very badly for Candy. She could well have faced life imprisonment. But everything changed after a hypnosis session. In a trance, the killer admitted that she lost control of herself when Betty approached her with an ax and hissed. Maybe she wanted to reassure her friend. But Montgomery associated the sound “shhh” with her abusive mother. When she was angry, she hissed at her daughter. Frightened, Candy grabbed an ax and began to hammer her friend with it.

The defendant's testimony, obtained under hypnosis, played a role. Just like the fact that it was Betty who brought the ax to the crime scene. A jury acquitted Montgomery and she was released. The incident destroyed the family and after the divorce, Candy changed her place of residence and name. She trained as a psychotherapist and opened a practice in one of the cities in Georgia. It is interesting that her specialization was the problems of family and marriage.

Shakespeare's passions on Silicon Prairie caused great resonance in American society. They actively discussed both the reasons for the murder and its details, as well as the fact that Candy was acquitted. Many believed that confessions obtained under hypnosis were not a sufficient reason to leave the killer unpunished.

Americans still show interest in this matter. This prompted the release of the miniseries Candy in 2022, starring Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey as Candy and Betty. In 2023, a new film adaptation of the tragedy was released, although less reliable. In the series "Love and Death" the main roles were played by Elizabeth Olsen and Lily Rabe.

Candy was found not guilty, but her namesake, Lisa Montgomery, was executed in 2021 for the murder of a pregnant woman, which also took place in her home.