Murder By the Book: Candy and Betty
"I Don't Want Him"
Candy Montgomery's look had been softened for her appearance on the witness stand. Her hair, in a kinky permanent when she had been arrested, had been straightened and highlighted. Her clothing never sexy had become even more modest, with a blouse buttoned up to her chin and snugly secured with a bow. Her eyeglasses seemed even larger, accenting her mousiness.
Candy was the first defense witness, and attorney Crowder led her through a minute-by-minute account of her visit to the Gore home that June morning to pick up Alisa Gore's swimsuit.
After a few minutes of idle chitchat, Candy testified, Betty Gore suddenly asked, "Candy, are you having an affair with Allan?"
Candy said she replied, "No, of course not."
Betty pressed her: "But you did, didn't you?
Candy said she admitted the relationship but told Betty it had been over for some time. She said Betty stepped into the garage, then reappeared at the kitchen door holding an ax.
Candy went on to describe a curious resumption of their chitchat about the swimsuit and peppermint candy. She said it didn't occur to her that Betty intended to hit her with the ax.
As Candy was about to leave, she said, she apologized to Betty for the affair.
Suddenly the woman surged toward her, shouting, "You can't have him!"
Candy said they grappled for the weapon as she insisted, "I don't want him!"
During the struggle, Candy said, she was hit on the head and the foot, drawing blood. The sight of the crimson ooze touched off some type of hematological rage, she claimed. She grasped the ax and struck Betty. Candy asserted that as the two women fought, Betty did something very odd: She shushed her. "Shhhhhh!"
Candy saw red. She knocked Betty down then hacked away with the ax until the woman was dead.
She then cleaned herself up in the shower, wiped down the freezer, took the swimming suit and went back to teach Vacation Bible School at Lucas United Methodist. Later, she cut up her rubber sandals and disposed of the clothing she wore that day.
Candy had not only described the slaying in gory detail. She had also admitted taking steps to cover up evidence implicating her.