Current Lives of Pat and Candy Montgomery’s Children

On June 13, 1980, Candy Montgomery struck her friend with an ax 41 times — a killing that forever altered her family’s lives.

The Montgomerys were a seemingly normal suburban family prior to the shocking killing. Candy and her husband, Pat Montgomery, had been married since the early 1970s, per Texas Monthly, and relocated to Wylie, Texas, in 1977 with their young son and daughter.

But that all changed a year later when Candy became embroiled in an affair with a married member of their church, Allan Gore. Their secret romance lasted several months until Allan’s wife, Betty Gore, gave birth to their second child in July 1979, and he ended things with Candy to focus on his marriage.

Nearly a year later, police found Betty dead in her home, having been killed by multiple ax wounds. Candy eventually confessed to killing Gore in a rage, but initially claimed self-defense. The mother of two was acquitted in October 1980.

Though the brutal killing has inspired multiple Hollywood projects — including HBO Max’s 2024 series Love & Death, which starred Elizabeth Olsen — Candy, Pat and their children have remained out of the spotlight.

Here’s everything to know about where Pat and Candy Montgomery’s kids are now.

Pat and Candy share two children 

Candy and Pat welcomed two children during their marriage: a son and a daughter. Their children’s names and personal details were never publicly shared, but they were likely born sometime in the early 1970s.

By 1977, the family had moved to the suburbs. Pat worked as an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments, and Candy, a former secretary, settled into life as a housewife. According to Texas Monthly, she was “bored crazy” taking care of the children.

Their mom was accused of killing her friend with an ax

On June 13, 1980, Betty was found dead inside her home by a neighbor. Allan, who was out of town on business, had asked the neighbor to check on his wife after she failed to answer several of his phone calls.

Though Candy initially had an alibi for the time of Betty’s murder, she surrendered for arrest two weeks later after Allan told police about their affair, per Texas Monthly.

According to the outlet, prior to her trial, Candy’s lawyer hired a psychiatrist and clinical hypnotist who claimed that her unresolved childhood trauma triggered her rage on the night of Betty’s murder. The mother of two testified in court that Betty initiated the attack after confronting her about the affair with Allan.

According to Candy, the two women struggled for some time until Betty told her to “shh.” She claimed that triggered her into a blind rage, and she hit Betty 41 times, stopping only when she was physically exhausted.

The family moved to Georgia after Candy’s trial 

On Oct. 29, 1980, Candy was found not guilty of Betty’s murder. The family retreated from the spotlight, and by 2010, the Dallas Morning News reported that they had moved to Georgia. When the outlet reached out for comment in 2000 on the anniversary of the killing, she declined, saying, “I’m telling you in big bold letters I’m not interested.”

Shortly after their relocation, Pat and Candy split. The mother of two returned to school to study counseling and began going by her maiden name, Candace Wheeler.

“The fact that she thought she could counsel after what she had done still boggles me to this day,” Ron Pomeroy, Betty’s brother, told People Magazine Investigates: Candy and Betty in September 2022.

The kids were given aliases in Love & Death 

Though the HBO Max series Love & Death brought Candy’s horrific crime to the small screen, some details in the miniseries were changed — including the names of Pat and Candy’s kids.

In the limited series, the Montgomery children’s names are Jenny (Amelie Dallimore) and Ian (Liam Pileggi). Candy — Hulu’s 2022 miniseries that retold the crime and starred Jessica Biel as Candy — featured Aven Lotz and Dash McCloud as Becky and Jason Montgomery, respectively.

Love & Death creator David E. Kelley told TheWrap in April 2023 that he thought of the project not as true crime but “a true life story where [a] horrific crime happened.”

“The fact that if this story wasn’t true, you couldn’t make out the circumstances around the story [was] so unusual,” director Lesli Linka Glatter explained in the same interview. “We wanted to stick to what those facts were, but have it be a character piece.”

Where are Pat and Candy’s kids now?

In the 40 years since their mother’s acquittal, the Montgomery children have remained out of the spotlight. The two kids eventually moved from Texas to Georgia with their parents, who split shortly after their arrival.