The True Story Behind Love & Death: The Murder of Betty Gore Part 2

December 12, 1978.

Candy spent that morning getting ready for the long anticipated wait. She dropped off her daughter at the little red Lovejoy schoolhouse on FM Road 1378, then she went on to Allen and dropped off her son at the Play Day Preschool. As she drove herself back home she was going to allow herself about an hour to fix the special lunch she had planned: marinated chicken, lettuce salad with cherry tomatoes and bacon bits, Thousand Island dressing, white wine, and cheesecake for dessert. She wanted everything to be perfect, she packed everything, including a tablecloth, into a picnic basket and then gathered together a few undergarments and a nightgown and slipped them into her purse. She had everything ready by ten-forty-five. At 11 on the dot she was entering Richardson in her station wagon, searching for a motel that was convenient from Allan’s office. And then she found it, the motel was right on the freeway, just two or three minutes away from Allan, called the Continental Inn.

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“Welcome to Murder By Nature, where we discuss True Crime, Mystery disappearances, and unsolved cases! I’m Jazmin, your host

Welcome back to part 2 of the true story behind the Love & Death series on Max. In last week's episode we discussed the relationship of Candy and Pat Montogmery, and Allan and Betty Gore. Who these couples were and the actions that lead to a deadly affair between Candy and Allan. In this episode we will dive into the affair of Candy and Allan and the tragic events that took place.

December 12, 1978.

As Candy parked her station wagon she walked up to the front desk to check it, unexpectedly this took longer than she thought, as the lady behind the counter insisted on seeing her driver’s license and getting the money in advance. Candy paid out $29 in cash and then filled out the registration card with her real name. The front desk gave her the key to one of the upstairs rooms set in back out of view of the highway. Candy drove the station wagon around to the back and started unpacking. The room would do nicely. It was about ten by twelve feet. The walls were covered with bright yellow fake paneling, old brown carpet and, on the bed, a spread adorned with leaves and pinecones. As Candy walked in she went straight to the phone and called Allan at work. “I’m at the Continental Inn on Central Expressway,” she said. “Room 213.” “Be there in a few minutes,” he said. Candy then hung up and started getting the room ready. First she arranged her marinated chicken feast on the bed. Then she slipped into her favorite peekaboo outfit; it was a soft pink color and a tad bit sheer. The outfit was long, falling all the way to her ankles, and it showed off her body. She looked at herself in the mirror and decided that she was happy with the way she looked. With nothing else to set up she sat in a chair by the window and waited for Allan to arrive.

For the first time since Candy had approached Allan in the church parking lot, she was starting to get nervous. She felt herself becoming frightened now that she realized that whatever they did today would be irreversible. Everything she had done before, no matter how brazen, had been harmless flirtation compared to what she was about to do today. She was able to have a sexual relationship with another man that was not her husband and on top of that with someone who was her best friend's husband. No matter what happened today this would quickly change the dynamic of their friend group forever.

On the other side of town Allan was driving to the motel to meet Candy and was feeling the same emotions that she was. He wasn’t quite as brave as he had thought, either. He worried that he was only doing this to please Candy and not for the reasons that benefited him. He admitted that Candy was sexually appealing and didn’t want to be full of anxiety all the time. He didn’t want to feel the way he was feeling now. He pulled into the driveway and found the room, as he anxiously walked up to the door he saw Candy, smiling and seductive in her pink nightgown, and in that moment Allan felt unstoppable. “What the heck,” thought Allan. “I’m here, and I’m going to do it.” “I’ve made lunch,” she said, smiling halfheartedly. Much to his surprise, Allan could tell that Candy was even more nervous than he was. They sat on either side of the bed and made small talk. Allan dug into the chicken and quickly drank a glass of wine. Candy poked at her chicken, tearing off one little sliver at a time. “I feel like what we’re eating,” she said. They finished off the dessert and then busied themselves with putting aside the paper plates and containers as though neither wanted to make the first move. After a few minutes, Candy sat quietly in the chair by the window.

“Well,” said Allan, “are you just going to sit there?” Candy smiled. “Yes.” Allan walked around the bed and gently touched her on the shoulder. With the touch of his embrace, Candy’s fears went away.

The sex was gentle, conventional and satisfying. Candy was amazed at first by Allan’s because when she stuck her tongue into his mouth, it was apparent that he had never had a French kiss before. On Allan’s side he was positively transported Candy was so responsive and energetic, she moved so much that Allan found it more exciting than any sexual experience he had ever had. After the encounter Candy insisted they both take showers before leaving so they wouldn't smell like sex. As Candy thought about the experience, she wasn't unhappy about it even with Allan's lack of experience.

After the first meeting at the Continental Inn, it was obvious that both of them would want to continue with the affair. A week later, just before the Christmas holidays, they arranged by phone for another visit. This time Candy would be bringing teriyaki beef strips. As Candy drove over to Continental Inn, she noticed a smaller and sleazier motel across the freeway. Always a practical shopper, she figured a motel room was a motel room, so why not get something cheaper than $29. The Como Motel was quite a comedown, even by the less-than-luxurious standards of the Continental. Candy got the impression that the Como didn’t have a lot of overnight visitors when she walked into the office and came face to face with a clerk standing behind a Plexiglas screen, like a bank teller’s window. The manager wanted $23.50 cash in advance plus a $2 deposit for the key. Candy put her money in the trough under the window, and he passed her a key.

As Candy entered the room she felt like it felt like old money, the sleaziness of the place made it more fun to her. The room was little more than a cubicle, ten by ten at the most, done in a tattered harvest gold. The curtains were drooping and frayed. The shag carpet was matted like dirty hair. The bathroom had fake flooring, the faucet leaked, and the only furnishings other than the bed were a tiny vanity, a TV set, and two captain’s chairs with imitation leather cushions.

For the last days of 1978 and the first three months of 1979, Allan and Candy met up every other week, dined on taco salad and homemade lasagna, and sipped cheap red wine out of plastic cups supplied by the management. Afterward they would recline on the bedspread and rest their heads on tiny foam-rubber pillows and talk about their lives, their spouses, their children and their mutual love for their church.

They would talk until it was time for Allan to go back to work or for Candy to pick up her son and then stand in the tub and turn on the faulty shower attachment and wash off the smell of each other. Finally, they would gather up their belongings, kiss each other lightly on the lips, and go back to their normal lives, closing the door behind them.

As time continued with the affair, Allan didn't look forward to the sex as much as the relaxation he felt during those moments. Those two hours with Candy were often the only time he didn’t feel responsible for other people’s emotions. In the confines of a room at the Como Motel, Allan was a man with no past and no future, able to accept Candy’s unconditional affection; she showered him with it in a simple and guiltless way.

Allan had never been with any other woman except Betty in his life. The affair made Candy feel alive again too. She was excited about the sex and the intriguing adventure of it all, and she continued to see Allan every two weeks, like clockwork.

Unfortunately, after the third or fourth time at the Como, she started to have second thoughts. Her doubts weren’t because of any feelings of guilt. They started, in fact, when she realized that sex with Allan Gore probably wasn’t going to get much better than it already was. The first two or three times it had felt good, but there had been virtually no improvement, and she suspected that the man was not capable of fireworks, no matter how much she coached him. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Candy was starting to grow feelings for Allan. In February 1979, just a few months into their affair, The more serious problem was that Candy feared she was beginning to fall in love with Allan. Sex or no sex, she and Allan had both come to look forward to their daily conversations, their shared confidences, their joint dependence. Lately they had been exchanging funny little greeting cards, and whenever Candy had to drive into Richardson on an errand, she would stop at Allan’s office and place gifts under his windshield wiper. Sometimes Allan would go out to check his car even when he was staying for lunch, just to see if he had any brownies or homemade candy waiting for him. Once he found a small ceramic statue of a boy and a girl kissing. The inscription on the base read, “Practice Makes Perfect.” As time went on they seemed less like lovers and more like best friends. During one meet up, they decided to not have sex altogether because they wanted to spend lunchtime talking. One day at lunch she approached Allan with concerns “I think I’m getting in too deep,” she said. “What do you mean?” He stated “I don’t want to fall in love with you. We’re getting serious, and I know this is a temporary thing. I don’t want to have to deal with myself later if we go too far.” “How do you know this is getting too serious?” asked Allan. “I think of you too much.” “But I thought you were the one who said you’ve got to plow into life and see what happens.” “That’s right, I did say that.” “Well?” “I guess I’m caught in my own trap.” “It won’t get too serious if we don’t let it get too serious. I think the relationship is temporary, too, but we’ve got to let it run its course.” “Well, if you’re not too worried about it, I guess that makes it half all right.”

Candy allowed herself to continue with the relationship mostly out of fear of not being able to talk with Allan again after this without the concept of sex. Candy was relieved for a moment though as she and Pat were planning a long vacation to visit her parents in Georgia; which would give her most of April to sort things out and discover how she really felt about Allan. But for Allan, he doubted that he was capable of falling in love with Candy, but for the time being he needed her. They had something special, something that was renewed each time they caught each other’s eye during a church service or touched hands over a table at lunch or did something as simple as wasting time on the phone. Allan did not find that this affair was affecting any aspect of his life, his relationship with Betty was doing fine and even hanging out with Pat was easy as he didnt feel like they were doing anything wrong, no one was getting hurt.

After Candy left on her family vacation to Georgia, Allan unexpectedly missed her and wondered briefly whether her feelings would change while she was away, but also he felt a sense of relief. He hadn’t realized, until he had a few weeks off, how much work an affair could be. When Candy returned from vacation, it was obvious that she had missed him as much as he missed her. They made a date for the Como, but after lunch and sex, they spent most of their time catching up on each other’s lives. One thing they talked about was Betty’s pregnancy. Betty was seven months along, and Allan was getting a little apprehensive. Betty would need a lot of attention as the days drew closer to the birth of their second daughter. It frequently crossed Allan’s mind that if Betty started having labor pains when he happened to be at the Como, he would never be able to forgive himself. In June 1979, Allan and Candy agreed to pause their affair because Betty was seven months pregnant and almost ready to give birth. He needed to be available for Betty at all times. Candy agreed completely this was a sensitive time for Betty and Candy understood that Allan needed to be there for her as her husband. Allan was shocked by how understanding Candy was with the situation; it made him wonder what it would be like to be married to Candy. His life with Betty was stressful and she wasn't as easy going as Candy was. But as quickly as he thought about it he immediately said, “No, that was out of the question.” He knew that he’d never divorce Betty, no matter what. Allan couldn’t have realized, and Candy didn’t tell him, that she was more than willing to suspend the affair for a while. The last visit to the Como had confirmed her earlier fears: the sex was not that great. They spent so much time talking that the physical part was just routine. She would never say so, but Candy was also tired of getting up early on the days they got together, to make beef chow mein, cream puffs, and ham-and-cheese casserole. Allan had come to expect notes and cookies and things left on his car too. The whole thing was becoming a hassle. She missed the magic of those first few weeks. At times Candy would admit to herself that she felt guilty about Pat. He was oblivious to everything. She was certain he had no suspicions about her and Allan, even when they exchanged glances during worship service. Nevertheless, sometimes it was hard to be around Pat, just because he did trust her so much, and it didn’t make it any easier when Pat would tell her how much he liked Allan.

Candy’s powers of deception were put to the ultimate test in mid-June when she threw a sit-down Chinese dinner for the choir as a surprise baby shower for Betty Gore. When Candy started planning the event It didn’t occur to her that it might be awkward, since she had never felt uncomfortable around Betty, even when she was sleeping with Allan. She had everything planned, a special cake, everyone brought gifts. Betty beamed with pleasure; it was one of the few times, in fact, that she seemed completely untroubled and at peace with herself. She was almost one of the girls.

In July 1979 Bethany Gore was born and Betty seemed to perk up for a while. Betty and Allan grew a bit closer. They were overjoyed about having a second daughter, but their newfound, renewed intimacy was short-lived. They fell back into their old, miserable routine. Now that Allan didn’t need to be on call all the time, there was really no reason for him to put off the affair any longer.

But when he and Candy renewed their lovemaking at the Como in late July, it seemed different, lackluster. The sex was still good, Allan thought, but Candy was more reserved than usual; a couple of times she gripped at him about little things that didn’t matter, and that wasn’t like her at all. There was something else, too: for the first time, Allan was feeling guilty. He thought of Betty back at the house, taking care of Alisa and Bethany by herself, and he didn’t feel good about himself. That week, after the baby was born, had been something special. He wondered if there was a way to get it back. He hoped he wasn’t making that impossible by continuing to see Candy.

Allan was grateful when Betty finally felt well enough to travel, because that meant they could take off a week to show the baby to Betty’s parents. He wanted to be away from Candy for a few days but wasn’t prepared to tell her that. Before Allan left, they agreed to meet at the Como on the following Friday, since Candy knew she could get a sitter that day.

The Gores didn’t arrive home from their Kansas trip until late Thursday night, and ordinarily Allan would have taken off work on Friday as well. But he knew that Candy really wanted to see him that day.

If he didn’t go to work and she ended up at the Como by herself, the fallout would be disastrous. But when Allan told Betty he intended to go to work on Friday, she objected, arguing that he should stay home and help her with errands. Not only was she insistent that he stay home, she was more than a little suspicious about why he just had to go to work. So Allan cooked up an excuse to call Candy something to do with church and then he phoned from the kitchen while Betty was in the master bedroom at the back of the house. Without actually saying the words, he got the message across that he couldn’t make it. Candy grew angry when she realized what he was telling her, because now she and Pat were leaving for a week-long vacation, which meant she wouldn’t see Allan for another two weeks. Allan didn’t want to hang up while she was mad, so he stayed on the phone for a few minutes, hoping she would calm down. When he hung up, feeling depressed and sheepish, he walked back to the bedroom. “Gee, that sure was a long conversation,” said Betty.

Candy and Pat spent the next week in Wichita Falls, and the following Friday she met Allan at the Como Hotel. After Allan had spent the afternoon with Candy, and had a long day at the office he was exhausted and Betty wanted to make love. Her advance was more forward and aggressive than Allan had become used to, but he didn’t have the stamina. He told her he didn’t feel like it. Betty began to cry, she was embarrassed and humiliated and deeply hurt.It would have been different if she were in the habit of making advances, but to have the very first one rebuffed was too much for her. She jumped to conclusions. Allan didn’t love her anymore. He hated her because she was fat after having the baby. Allan tried to reassure her, but nothing worked. She had been rejected, and she couldn’t stand it. On Monday he called Candy “I need to talk. When can I meet you and where?” They arranged to meet for lunch, and Allan poured out the whole story of that Friday night. “Betty was very upset,” he said. “She kept saying, ‘You don’t love me anymore, you don’t love me anymore.’” “You did reassure her, didn’t you?” “Yes.” Candy began to cry. “I think that’s a little unfair of Betty, to say a thing like that after you can’t perform one time.” “It upset me too. It was just that she made the first move.” “What are you going to do?” “I think maybe we should end it.” “Now you’re being grossly unfair.” “I’m afraid of hurting Betty. I think maybe the affair is affecting my marriage now, and if I want to get my life back in order, I have to stop running between two women.” “But what about when I suggested we end it? Remember what you said then? You said, ‘No, you have to see this through to the end,’ and ‘Just because something happens once doesn’t mean it will happen again,’ and things to that effect. Now that you can’t perform with Betty one time, suddenly you want to end it. That’s a double standard.” “I’m not saying we should definitely end it. I’m just saying we should think about it. I don’t want to hurt Betty.”

Candy and Allan stood in silence a little while longer not discussing the issue anymore and parted ways. Over the course of the next few days they talked several times by phone each time Candy grew colder and more withdrawn, she couldn’t bear the thought of Allan having so little regard for her feelings. But then she would cry and feel better and tell him that she loved him. “I do love you, Allan.” “I know, but we’ve become too close. We’ve become so close that I’m afraid I don’t love Betty anymore, and that was never a part of our agreement. We’ve both been using each other to fill gaps in our marriages, and that’s not right.” “It’s just so unfair.”

After the Friday-night incident Betty Gore fell into a deep despondency that lasted several weeks. At first Allan thought he could talk her out of it by spending more time with her. But soon she was complaining of soreness in her neck and shoulders and sudden pains. She was sullen and depressed much of the time, especially after she returned to teaching in early September. She started seeing her family doctor again, and he prescribed pain pills to alleviate some of her complaints. As the month went on Allan decided to quit his job and take a new one that would require less travel and allow him to be home more often, he felt like it was his duty to be home with Betty as she was going through this depression. Another solution that Allan thought of was a program called Marriage Encounter. Some friends of his from church, had gone to a Dallas motel one weekend for a special Marriage Encounter session in which several couples talked about their marriages and tried to strengthen their commitment. Allan didn’t understand exactly what went on, but he knew that his friends came happier than ever. They said they were hooked on Marriage Encounter and immediately were trying to get other couples to join. The couple told Allan “You won’t understand it unless you go experience it for yourself,”. Allan knew the one thing they did need was something positive and revitalizing in their marriage, so one evening Allan tentatively suggested to Betty that they give Marriage Encounter a try. “Why do we need something like that?” she said. “I have so much to do already. You don’t think there’s something wrong with us, do you?” He could tell she would be upset if he said yes, and so he dropped the subject.

When Allan talked to Candy, he told her that he got a new job and because of the new job and the additional work, he wouldn’t be able to see her as much. Candy was upset; she was beginning to fear the inevitable end of the affair. But she asked Allan if they couldn’t meet at least once more. At the Como they had quick, unsatisfying sex, then spent an hour and a half discussing how they could live without each other. Candy was clearly having second thoughts about breaking off the affair; she had grown too dependent on Allan’s kindness. The next time they met, they didn’t bother to go to the motel. Instead they took their picnic lunch to a park in North Dallas and spread their blanket under a tree.

The weather was so nice that it gave a bittersweet aura to the conversation. “I love you so much, Allan. I don’t know if I can make it if we break up.” Allan didn’t know what else to say, except the usual things about wanting to patch up his marriage. “Betty wants to go to a Marriage Encounter now. I asked her once before, but she always said she didn’t think we needed it. I think maybe it will do us both some good.” “I think Marriage Encounter is going to be the end for us,” Candy said. “Oh, no, not necessarily. Let’s see what happens first.”

As time went on Betty was still not feeling great. She returned to her doctor’s office, extremely tense and complaining of aches and pains in her shoulders. Her blood pressure was dangerously high and her doctor prescribed more pain killers and muscle relaxants and asked her to come back in a few days. Betty knew that a lot of the stress she was feeling was coming from what she and her husband were able to do that very weekend. She and Allan were about to be “encountered.” It was a crash course in marriage counseling, designed to get couples to speak more openly about their issues and concerns. It was less a counseling session than a total-immersion experience. The weekend began with a Friday-night dinner where the rules were explained. Spouses were to be at each other’s side at all times. Televisions were not to be turned on in the rooms. Newspapers were forbidden. Nothing was to get in the way of the couples’ communicating about their feelings. “Communicating” and “feelings” those were the watchwords of Marriage Encounter, as Allan and Betty found out soon after arriving. They were led into a large meeting hall, with three dozen or so other couples, and introduced to their Encounter leaders, all married couples who had previously gone through the program. The couples onstage would talk openly about their marriages, but no one else was to speak except in the privacy of their rooms. The procedure was that the leaders would propose a question and then the couples would retire to their rooms to write answers in their individual Marriage Encounter spiral notebooks. Once they had written their answers, they exchanged notebooks “with a kiss,” read each other’s answers, and then discussed how those answers made them feel. When their time was up, they would be summoned back to the main room for more testimonials, followed by additional questions. The group leaders gave them printed sheets explaining “how to write a love letter,” “how to dialogue,” and “what is a feeling?” and assured them that everything written in the notebooks would be strictly private. Allan and Betty, like most couples entering the program, were skeptical at first. It sounded silly, writing things down in a notebook. But they were going to give this their all and they began to write. Allan didn’t know what to put down to the question and sat there for a bit wondering until he wrote: “I wanted to come here because I see from our friends’ examples that it could strengthen or rebuild a marriage. I think too that I haven’t felt real close to you for some time and I don’t like that. I hope I can learn to talk to you. I hope you can learn to talk to me. I want to be able to understand why you do the things you do, and I want to be able to tell you what I want.” Betty was more specific: “I came for several reasons. First for a weekend of relaxation which will probably help my nerves. Second and most important is to get off by ourselves together. I'm not a person to be left alone at all. I want my husband with me and that’s what we’ll have this weekend, just us!! “I hope to gain a little more freedom of expression between us. I don’t often hold back my feelings unless I’m mad then not for long but I feel that sometimes you don’t let me know when things are bothering you. We need to work on this!”

As they read over their answers and then discussed what they had written, Allan was pleased to see that Betty really was responding to this program. After a few minutes, one of the group leaders came by and knocked on their door. It was time for the next session. The encounter session was in full swing Saturday, and as the questions got progressively more personal the group took on all the appearances of a love-in. Couples started emerging from their rooms with arms entwined, holding hands during the meeting room sessions, and exchanging light kisses at meals. The couples were encouraged not to carry on any conversations with others without including their spouse entirely. Allan and Betty were certainly starting to feel closer.

Sunday was the final and the most special day of a Marriage Encounter. It begins with religious services followed by more group sessions. Allan and Betty declared their love over and over. The couples sipped the communion wine in the Marriage Encounter fashion, with arms linked. Afterward, in the emotional climax, they were all remarried in a ceremony in which they led each other through the traditional vows. The Gores ran one errand before they returned to Wylie. They stopped by the Montgomery house in Fairview to pick up Bethany, whom Candy had kept for the weekend. Allan went to the door while Betty waited in the car.

“How was it?” asked Candy as she handed him the baby. “It was really good for us.” “What does that mean?” “I don’t know.”

The next morning Allan was still riding the emotional high as he dressed for work. On the drive into Richardson, he tried to shut out all sensations except thoughts of Betty. His life had changed. He wanted to concentrate all his thoughts and feelings on his marriage, which was once again the most important thing in his life. Yet when he got to work, he knew that sooner or later he would need to call Candy. She would want to meet him for lunch. He had to face that squarely. They met a week later; she brought a picnic lunch and they went back to the park in North Dallas. Allan did most of the talking. He told Candy all about Marriage Encounter and what it had done for them. “We learned a lot about each other,” he said. “I think maybe I was wrong about Betty in some ways. I think a lot of the things she doesn’t like about me were based on fears of loneliness instead of bitchiness. We told each other things that we hadn’t even thought about.” “That’s good,” said Candy. “I’m glad.” “I don’t necessarily feel different about you,” said Allan, “but I do feel strongly that I want to give my full resources to my family. The relationship with you is taking away some of the emotional involvement and energy that I could direct toward Betty and the kids. I’m not sure how long this feeling will last or what will happen, but I know I don’t want to interfere with it.” “What does that mean for me?” “I’m not sure I can deal with not seeing you,” said Candy. After making the strongest argument he could for breaking up, Allan still couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Candy came directly to the point. “Allan, you seem to be leaving it up to me. So I’ve decided, I won’t call. I won’t try to see you. I won’t bother you anymore.” They both cried a little because they knew it was over. Allan was secretly relieved that she had made the decision, not him. That way he didn’t have to bear the guilt. He hadn’t planned for it to happen that way. That’s just how it worked out. Candy had mixed emotions as well. She was telling the truth when she said she didn’t know how she would deal with the loss of Allan. She had grown comfortable with the idea of loving two people. She loved Allan’s casual phone calls and small kindnesses, and she would miss them. The good news was that she didn’t have to make any more damned picnic lunches.

A few weeks after the affair ended, Candy and Pat decided to attend a Marriage Encounter session. Though they enjoyed it, they did not have the kind of life-changing experience that Betty and Allan had. The relationship with Pat was different for Betty, he wasn't what she wanted and by going to a marriage encounter she learned that it wouldn't be. By the summer of 1980, the affair was put well behind them, and it seemed as if the Gores and the Montgomerys were going to move on from the situation without anyone finding out about the months-long affair Candy and Allan had.

That brings us to the end of this episode! As always, thanks for listening to Murder By Nature. If you enjoy our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any streaming platform you are currently on, and be sure to come back Saturday for our new episode. Until then, I am your host, Jazmin, don’t forget to stay safe! Don’t get murdered or murder people!

References:

Murder by nature

The True Story Behind Love & Death: The Murder of Betty Gore Part 2

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