Two pieces of dramatic TV based on the events of June 13, 1980 within a year of each other – Hulu’s 2022 series candy starring Jessica Biel, and HBO’s 2023 limited series love death Starring Elizabeth Olsen. If you can’t get enough of this story, you might be wondering where Candy Montgomery is now and whether she’s in prison for the alleged murder of her close friend, Betty Gore.
Biel explained to E! News in 2022 on how she can relate to Candy despite her character’s alleged crimes. “As we start to get into it and really start to understand who these characters are, just the distortion of what it’s like to be a woman in the ’80s, I think I’m really able to empathize with these women.” was able,” she said. “I could see myself struggling with some of the same issues they were struggling with.” She continued, “The pressure of being a woman and trying to do everything with a smile on your face, family pressure and work pressure and everything. I feel it coming.”
Meanwhile, Olsen told ET a year later that there was no use comparing her portrayal with Biel’s and that the HBO series offers a different perspective on Candy’s life. “There’s no need to compete. Stories that are interesting have to be told and every way you’re going to tell it, it’s going to be different. It’s impossible to be the same,” she said, even also revealed love death was in production two months ago candy was announced and Biel personally contacted Olsen. “I think it was more kind of, ‘Oh, great. It’s cool that we’re both acknowledging this because we were filming together,'” Olsen explained. It was a big shock that another show was being made when we were already filming. But you can’t do anything about it.”
So where is Candy Montgomery now and did she go to prison for the murder of Betty Gore? Read on for what we know about the true story behind it candy And love death And if Candy Montgomery is still alive.
What happened to Candy Montgomery?
What happened to Candy Montgomery? Candy – who was born as Candice Wheeler – was charged with the murder of her close friend Betty Gore on June 13, 1980, in Wiley, Texas, after having an extramarital affair with Betty’s husband, Allen Gore. Candy — who lived in Gores with her husband, Pat Montgomery, and their two children — met Betty, a middle school teacher at the United Methodist Church in Lucas, in Collin County, Texas, and became close friends.
Krysten Ritter, Elizabeth Olsen. Image: Love and Death, HBO Max
According to Texas Monthly, Candy confessed to the murder in a hypnosis session with psychiatrist Dr. Fred Faison. She claimed at her trial that she had gone to Betty’s to pick up a swimsuit for Betty’s daughter, Alisa, who was staying with Candy and her husband for the night. At Betty’s house, Betty confronts Candy about the affair with Alan, which Candy confesses to but tells Betty it happened “a long time ago”. Candy claimed in the lawsuit that Betty left the room and returned with an axe, which she used to threaten Candy that she would never see Alan again, which Candy agreed to. As she picked up Alisa’s swimsuit, Candy apologized to Betty, which she claimed caused Betty to get angry at her and push her into the utility room. Candy claimed that she and Betty had a long struggle that left her with cuts on her toe and head. He also claimed that Betty told him that she wanted to “kill” him. Candy also alleges that she managed to take the ax from Betty, and used the blade on Betty in self-defense before attacking her friend again. In terror that she killed Betty, Candy tries to leave the room, but before she can do so, she claims Betty stops her by slamming her body against the door.
A conflict ensues between Betty and Candy, as Betty refuses to let Candy go. During the fight, Betty tells Candy to “shush”, which knocks Candy off and hits her with an ax “to the point of utter exhaustion”. During her hypnosis session, Candy also claimed that she was suffering from childhood trauma when she was asked to “shush”. Alan was out of town on the day of Betty’s death. When he could not reach his wife on the phone, he asked neighbors to look after her. After forcing their way into the house, they discovered Betty’s dead body as Betty and Alan’s 1-year-old daughter Bethany, who had been asleep in her crib in another room at the time of the incident, was crying and awake. , A few feet away from Betty was a three-foot-long ax, which authorities claimed Candy used to kill Betty 41 times, including 28 blows to her head and face.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, shortly after the murder, Betty turned herself in to local authorities and was put on $100,000 bond. After an eight-day trial – where the defense argued that Candy acted in self-defense and the prosecution argued that Betty was conscious when most of the stabbings were inflicted and that her death was intentional (and that Betty was unconscious after the murder). In October 1980, Candy was acquitted of murder charges. Psychiatrists testified at the trial and claimed that Candy had a “dissociative reaction” that caused her to repeatedly stab Betty. The incident was also protected under Texas’ “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows the use of deadly force when necessary to stop a violent crime, such as Betty’s violent threats against Candy. Ultimately, Candy was found not guilty due to self-defense. A jury acquitted him of murder charges on October 29, 1980. He did not serve any jail time.
Where is Candy Montgomery now?
Where is Candy Montgomery now? According to Texas Monthly, Candy and her husband Pat left Texas shortly after the trial in 1980 and moved to Georgia. They divorced after four years. According to Entertainment Weekly, Candy changed her name back to Candace Wheeler (her maiden name) and still lives in Georgia, where she works as a mental health counselor with her daughter, Jenny.
In a 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Biel revealed that he tried to contact a representative for Candy to see if “she’d be interested in having any kind of conversation.” “She wasn’t interested,” Beal said. To play Candy, Beale spoke to Candy’s attorney, Robert Udashen, one of the two attorneys who defended her in her case, with what Beale called a “vast resource of information”. candy,
Jessica Biel in Candy. Image: Tina Rowden / Hulu
Biel explains why she was drawn to the case of Candy and Betty candy, “For 90 percent of their lives, they lived very normal, suburban lives, and then boom, this crazy thing happens,” she said. “She’s sweet and likable and nice and kind and someone you can really get behind, and then after this crazy thing happened, I still want you to weirdly get behind her,” she says. Are. Lynskey said of Betty, “I felt like I knew her, and there were parts of me.” She continued, “You’re living in this feeling and it can feel a little repetitive sometimes, but depression feels like that too.”
For her part, Olsen looked at the women who covered magazines in the late ’70s and early ’80s to see who Candy might look up to, according to an interview with. Vanity Fair, “We tried to understand the kind of pressure and perfectionism that could lead to [the killing]Olsen explains. “Candy was always trying to create something more for herself.”
She continued: “It’s hard not to think of Hillary Clinton at that time, especially for a woman who has hopes and dreams of being something more than a wife and a mother and a caretaker… I also thought when it came to hairstyles because it’s [mugshot of Candy with a perm], But we know that people don’t necessarily have to have a perm for two years straight because their hair will fall out. we had to invent something [hair] History leading up to this moment.
love death Available to stream on HBOMax. candy Available to stream on Hulu.
Image: Courtesy of Open Road Media.
For more on Candy Montgomery, read John Bloom and Jim Atkinson’s 2018 book, Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, The True-Crime Bestseller—That Was the Basis for Hulu candy The series takes a deep dive into the case of Betty Gore, a middle school teacher from Wylie, Texas, who was murdered by her best friend, Candy Montgomery, on June 13, 1980. “Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore had a lot in common: They sang together in the Methodist church choir, their daughters were best friends, and their husbands had jobs working for technology companies in the northern Dallas suburbs known as Silicon Prairie.” There were good jobs to be found working. But beneath the serene surface of their seemingly perfect lives, both women grappled with untold frustrations and unanswered desires,” reads the publisher’s description. Along with the families of Gore and Montgomery in the book Includes exclusive interviews, as well as gripping details of Montgomery’s murder trial. According to Kirkus Reviews, the book is described as an intriguing story that will surely “engage true crime fans”. .
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