True 'Love & Death' Story: Everything You Need to Know About Candy Montgomery's Real Case

"Love & Death," which premieres on HBO Max (soon to be just Max) on April 27, is the second TV adaptation of Candy Montgomery's narrative in less than a year.

The first adaptation was Hulu's "Candy," which starred Jessica Biel as Candy and Melanie Lynskey as her neighbour, Betty Gore, whom she eventually murders. The show premiered in May 2022, over a year ago.

Montgomery, a housewife from Fairview, Texas, is now played by Elizabeth Olsen, while Betty, a second-grade teacher, is played by Lily Rabe. Both shows are based on true events, which are detailed below. The most recent, written by David E. Kelley, is based in part on a two-part Texas Monthly investigation of the crime.

Montgomery was a 29-year-old mother of two when she began an affair with Allan Gore (played by Jesse Plemmons in the newest limited series), who was married to Betty, one of Candy's friends. Montgomery's husband, Pat (Patrick Fugit), and the trio all went to church together. During her husband's year-long affair, Gore was pregnant with the couple's second child, and when the baby was born, he ended the affair. Montgomery was upset, but there was no fight at first.

Gore was out of town on June 13, 1980, and couldn't call his wife. They discovered her dead body and their new baby, awake and sobbing in her cot after ringing neighbours to check on her. Gore was killed with 41 axe strokes.

Montgomery had been at Gore's home to pick up a bathing suit for her daughter, according to the Dallas Morning News. Gore questioned her buddy about the affair at the moment. Montgomery killed Gore with an axe at some time and, as she subsequently testified in court, had a shower in Gore's bathroom before continuing with her day.

Montgomery confessed to the affair and became a key suspect when the investigation began. She eventually acknowledged to the murder, claiming it was in self-defense. She claimed that once Gore confronted her about the affair, she assaulted her, and Montgomery fought the axe out of her hands, eventually defending herself. 

Montgomery was declared not guilty by a jury of nine women and three men on October 30, 1980. Four years later, the Texas Monthly stories' authors, John Bloom and Jim Atkinson, published "Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs," a book that examined the case and trial. "Evidence of Love" also serves as inspiration for "Love & Death."

Montgomery, her husband, and their children, according to sources, went to Georgia after the trial concluded, but divorced four years later. Montgomery, who now goes by her maiden name, Wheeler, completed a family counselling certification programme.