The 5 Most Shocking Truths Behind The 'Love & Death' Series: Where Is Candy Montgomery Now In 2025?
The suburban nightmare of Wylie, Texas, has captivated audiences once again. Originally premiering as a Max Original limited series in 2023, the critically acclaimed true-crime drama *Love & Death* has recently found a massive new audience after its addition to the Netflix streaming library, reigniting public fascination with the infamous 1980 axe murder case. This seven-episode miniseries, helmed by veteran writer David E. Kelley, dives deep into the seemingly idyllic lives of two churchgoing couples whose quiet existence was shattered by an illicit extramarital affair and a brutal, bloody act of violence.
This article, updated for December 2025, cuts through the on-screen dramatization to reveal the most compelling and shocking facts of the real-life case, providing a complete cast breakdown, an in-depth look at the controversial trial, and the definitive answer to where the central figure, Candy Montgomery, is living today.
Cast and Characters: A Complete Biographical Profile of Key Figures
The success of *Love & Death* hinges on its stellar ensemble cast, with performances that critics widely praised for their nuance and depth. Elizabeth Olsen’s portrayal of the complex and contradictory Candy Montgomery is particularly lauded. Here is a full profile of the main actors and the real-life individuals they brought to the screen:
- Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery: A seemingly perfect, devout suburban housewife from Collin County, Texas, who sought excitement outside her marriage through an affair with her friend’s husband. The character is based on Candace "Candy" Montgomery, the real-life killer.
- Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore: The quiet, reserved husband of Betty Gore who engaged in a secret affair with Candy Montgomery.
- Lily Rabe as Betty Gore: A Wylie schoolteacher and neighbor of Candy Montgomery. She was the victim of the brutal 1980 axe murder.
- Patrick Fugit as Pat Montgomery: Candy’s husband, a Texas Instruments engineer who remained by her side throughout the investigation and controversial trial.
- Krysten Ritter as Sherry Cleckler: Candy’s close friend and confidante.
- Tom Pelphrey as Don Crowder: Candy Montgomery’s flamboyant and highly successful defense attorney during the murder trial.
- Keir Gilchrist as Pastor Ron Adams: A figure from the local Methodist Church community central to the couples' lives.
- Elizabeth Marvel as Jackie Ponder: A key figure in the community.
The series was directed by Lesli Linka Glatter and Clark Johnson, and written and executive produced by David E. Kelley, known for his work on other successful dramas like *Big Little Lies* and *The Undoing*.
1. The True Story: An Affair That Ended in 41 Axe Blows
The foundation of *Love & Death* is the meticulously documented true story of the 1980 murder of Betty Gore. The reality of the crime is arguably more shocking than any fictionalized account.
The story began in the late 1970s in the close-knit community of Wylie, Texas, where Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore were friends who attended the same Methodist Church. Candy, feeling unfulfilled in her marriage to Pat Montgomery, initiated an affair with Betty’s husband, Allan Gore, in 1979. The affair was planned with almost clinical precision, with both parties agreeing to a set of strict rules to avoid emotional entanglement.
On Friday, June 13, 1980, the affair came to a violent end. The official account suggests that Candy visited the Gore home to pick up a swimsuit for Betty’s daughter. A confrontation ensued, during which Betty Gore allegedly confronted Candy about the affair. Candy claimed that Betty grabbed an axe from the garage, and the ensuing struggle was purely self-defense. During the struggle, Candy used the axe to strike Betty 41 times. The sheer brutality of the act—the number of wounds—is what made the case a national sensation and a true-crime obsession that continues to this day.
2. The Controversial Verdict: Self-Defense and Acquittal
The subsequent trial, held in McKinney, Texas, was a media circus. Candy Montgomery's defense team, led by Don Crowder and Elaine Carpenter, stunned the courtroom by arguing that the killing was an act of self-defense. The central piece of evidence was Candy’s testimony, which included a controversial psychological claim.
During the trial, a psychiatrist testified that Candy had a "dissociative reaction" when Betty Gore allegedly shushed her during their confrontation. This "shushing" reportedly triggered a repressed childhood trauma related to her mother, causing her to snap and enter a fugue state, where she was unaware of the extent of her actions. The defense successfully argued that while Candy inflicted the wounds, she did so in a state of self-preservation and psychological distress after Betty first attacked her with the axe.
On October 30, 1980, after only three hours of deliberation, the Collin County jury found Candace Montgomery not guilty of murder. The verdict was met with widespread public outrage and shock, with spectators outside the courthouse screaming in disbelief. Many believed that a suburban housewife had literally gotten away with a brutal murder, forever cementing the case as one of the most polarizing true-crime verdicts in American history.
3. Where is Candy Montgomery Now in 2025?
Following her sensational acquittal, Candy Montgomery attempted to disappear from the public eye. Her life changed drastically in the years following the trial.
Current Status and Location:
- Divorce and Relocation: Shortly after the trial, Candy and Pat Montgomery divorced. They subsequently moved with their children out of Texas to the state of Georgia.
- Professional Career: As of 2025, Candy Montgomery is believed to be living a quiet life in Georgia. She has reportedly pursued a career in the mental health field, becoming a certified family counselor and therapist.
- Age: She is approximately 76 years old as of the current date.
- Anonymity: Candy has successfully maintained a low profile for decades, avoiding the media spotlight and living under a different name to protect her privacy.
The fact that the woman at the center of such a violent true-crime saga is now working as a family counselor adds a final, unsettling layer of complexity to her story, a detail that the *Love & Death* series masterfully explores.
4. The Source Material: *Evidence of Love*
David E. Kelley’s miniseries draws its narrative strength from the meticulous reporting done by journalists Jim Atkinson and Joe Bob Briggs. The primary source material for *Love & Death* is their 1984 book, *Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs*.
This book, which was a result of extensive interviews with the Montgomerys, the Gores, their friends, and the legal teams involved, provides the detailed background on the affair, the church community, and the courtroom drama. By basing the series on this seminal work, *Love & Death* was able to achieve a high degree of period authenticity and dramatic tension, distinguishing it from other dramatizations of the same events, such as the Hulu series *Candy*.
5. The LSI Keywords and Topical Entities in *Love & Death*
For those diving into the series or researching the case, understanding the key entities and related concepts is crucial for topical authority. The story encompasses a wide range of LSI keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing) that define the true-crime genre and the period setting:
- True Crime Drama: The genre of the series.
- Suburban Housewife: The archetype of Candy Montgomery.
- Extramarital Affair: The catalyst for the confrontation.
- Axe Murder: The weapon and nature of the crime.
- Wylie, Texas: The location of the murder.
- Collin County Courthouse: The venue for the controversial trial.
- Self-Defense Plea: The legal argument used by Don Crowder.
- Dissociative Reaction: The psychological defense presented.
- 1980s Texas: The period and setting.
- Methodist Church Community: The social setting for both couples.
- *Evidence of Love*: The primary source book.
- Acquittal: The shocking verdict.
- Max Original Series: The original streaming platform.
- Netflix True Crime: The new platform where the series is finding fresh success.
The enduring legacy of *Love & Death* is its ability to peel back the veneer of the American dream, revealing the dark secrets and psychological complexities that can exist beneath a seemingly perfect suburban life. The recent move to Netflix ensures that the shocking story of Candy Montgomery will continue to fascinate and disturb new generations of true-crime enthusiasts.
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