The case of Candy Montgomery is back in the spotlight due to the HBO Max drama series "Love and Death."
Unsurprisingly, viewers want to know what happened to the Montgomery family after Candy Montgomery was acquitted in the stabbing death of Betty Gore, the wife of a man she had an affair with.
Montgomery, at the time, was a 30-year-old Texas mother and active churchgoer. She stabbed Gore to death 41 times with an ax on June 13, 1980, in what her attorney later argued was self-defense, after Gore asked if she was having an affair with her husband and approached her with the weapon, according to Texas Monthly.
The final episode of "Love and Death," based on a series of Texas Monthly articles and the book “Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs” by Jim Atkinson and John Bloom, aired on HBO Max on Thursday, May 25.
The final scene of the mini series shows the Montgomery family leaving their home after Montgomery, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen, was acquitted of murdering Gore in October 1980, according to the Associated Press.
Here's where Candy and Pat Montgomery are now:
Who is Candy Montgomery?
Pat Montgomery met Candace "Candy" Wheeler El Paso and proposed just two months after they had met, according to "Evidence of Love," which is based on interviews with the Montgomery and Gore families.
The pair married in a small ceremony in the 1970s, according to "Evidence of Love," and moved to Collin County, Texas, outside of Dallas, in 1977.
The Montgomerys joined the Methodist Church of Lucas, where they eventually met Betty and Allan Gore, according to Texas Monthly. Candy Montgomery and Allan Gore began flirting at church events, and one night at choir practice, she approached him and told him about her feelings for him, Texas Monthly reported.
About a week later, she asked him if he would be interested in having an affair, and after weeks of meticulous planning, their affair began and lasted for several months, according to Montgomery’s courtroom testimony. Allan Gore later told her he didn't want to be with her anymore, and Candy Montgomery ended the affair the next day.
According to Montgomery's courtroom testimony, she went to the Gore home on June 13, 1980 to pick up a swimsuit for the Gore's daughter, who would be having a sleepover at the Montgomery home that evening.
Betty Gore made small talk with Montgomery before asking if she was having an affair with her husband. Montgomery said she had, but it ended "a long time ago," according to Texas Monthly.
Betty Gore then went into the utility room of her own and brought out a three-foot ax and said, "You can’t have him, you can’t have him. I’ve got to kill you," per Montgomery's courtroom testimony. The women struggled over the ax, and when Montgomery got control of the weapon, she hit Betty Gore in the back of the head.
She struck Betty Gore 41 times, 40 of which occurred while her heart was still beating, forensics expert Vincent DiMaio testified in the trial.
Montgomery turned herself in less than two weeks after the slaying, and her murder trial began in October 1980. Her attorney, Dan Crowder argued she had acted in self-defense, and Montgomery took the stand in her own defense.
Jurors reached a verdict the same afternoon as hearing closing arguments, and found she was not guilty of murder.
Where is Candy Montgomery now?
The last scene in "Love and Death" shows Candy and Pat leaving Texas to head to Georgia. Texas Monthly reported Candy's parents lived in Georgia.
Immediately after her trial, Montgomery told the Dallas Morning News she wanted "to get all this behind me and be normal again," and in 2000 she declined to talk to the Dallas Morning News, telling a reporter, "I’m telling you in big bold letters I’m not interested."
Montgomery appeared to have obtained a therapist license in Georgia under her maiden name Candace Wheeler starting in 1996, according to a copy of the license obtained by NBC News. Her license expired in 2012.
Where is Pat Montgomery now?
Little is known about the Montgomerys' life after moving to Georgia. Several reports suggested the couple divorced a few years later, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Where is Allan Gore now?
After his wife's death, Allan Gore remarried and moved away from Wylie, Texas, according to the Dallas Morning News. His new marriage ended in divorce, and his daughters were raised by Betty Gore's parents, according to the Dallas Morning News.
