Hello and welcome to Crime on the Clarkfork, the true crime podcast that only covers cases that happened in areas with populations of 15,000 or less. In this week's episode, I am talking about what led up to the brutal murder of Betty Gore in 1980 in Wylie, TX.
Hello and welcome to Crime on the Clarkfork, the true crime podcast that only covers cases that happened in areas with populations of 15,000 or less. In this week's episode, I am talking about what led up to the brutal murder of Betty Gore in 1980 in Wylie, TX.
Hi and welcome back to Crime on the Clarkfork, the true crime podcast where I tell you about big crimes that happen in small places with each case having occurred in areas with populations of 15,000 or less. My name is Mackenzie Spence and I am your host. If this is your first time here, welcome! If you are a seasoned listener, I am glad you are back for another episode!
I want to apologize yet again for the gap in episodes, life has been insane. In April, I had a couple of trips. I went to Boise for a comedy show for a weekend, then went to Iceland with my little brother and had such a good time, but like any vacation, it had to come to an end and I have to return to real life, including catching up on my work and continuing to unpack my things in my new place, then I had a weeklong conference in Connecticut, all while also finishing up my semester of grad classes, so my hands are definitely full right now. With that being said, I am excited to bring you another episode, this one heading down to Texas. Also, a huge thank you to my Aunt Jeanne for recommending this case. I am always looking for cases, so when I get one recommended, I try to get to it as fast as I can.
So let’s get into it.
The sources for this episode are: Texas Monthly, Biography.com, City of Wylie TX, CBS News, AllThatInteresting.com, and FindaGrave.com
Wylie, TX. 1980. Population: 3,152.
PART ONE
It was the night of June 13, 1980 when Betty Gore was found lifeless in her home in Wylie, Texas. Lester Gayler had received a phone call that evening from his neighbor, Betty’s husband, Allan, asking if he would be willing to walk over to the couple’s house as he had been unable to get Betty on the phone all evening as Allan was on a work trip out of town. Gayler and two other men that were at Gayler’s home agreed to go and check in on Betty to make sure she was okay. When they arrived to the property, the front door was unlocked, and after knocking to see if Betty would come to the door, they eventually just entered the home. Parker and Jerry, the two other men who accompanied Gayler, walked into the house and down the hallway to the main bedroom where they were hearing the Gore’s baby crying. Gayler went the opposite direction into the kitchen of the home and then into the laundry room where he made a grisly discovery.
Betty was laying in a pool of her own blood in that small laundry room, no larger than 12 by 6 ft. With her in the room was a washing machine, a dryer, a freezer, and a small cupboard that held some of her children’s toys. Along with that, the small room was also where the dogs were fed, so two metal dog bowls sat near the freezer and a brand new toy wagon sat in the corner. The last item that sat in the room with Betty’s lifeless body was a mother goose nursery rhyme book with a white cover and was one of the only things in the room not covered in Betty’s blood. When Gayler opened the laundry room door, the first thing he noticed was Betty’s lifeless arm in a pool of dark, red blood. To see her face, the man had to walk around the pool of blood on the floor and they were met with Betty’s lips parted, showing her front teeth, and her mouth positioned in a half-grin, as if she was attempting to smile at them. Her hair was a mess, matted with blood that took the color of tar. Her left eye was wide open, staring down at her arm and her right eye was missing. In fact, the entire right side of her face was completely gone. Not far from Betty’s head, half hidden under the freezer, was the murder weapon. A 3-foot long, wooden ax. When looking around the room, Gayler noticed ax marks in the walls of the small laundry room as if the assailant had missed Betty completely a couple of times, but unfortunately, the assailant had hit Betty more than 40 times with the ax before fleeing the scene.
When police arrived on the scene, they were horrified by the gruesome scene of the crime. Betty’s 11 month old daughter was found in her crib in Allen and Betty’s room, crying and dehydrated. When they made their way to the bathroom, they noticed that it seemed as if the murderer had decided to take a shower after the attack, leaving bloody footprints on the green bath mat, blood on the tile floor, and their hair in the tub’s drain. Moving to the laundry room, the assailant had left a bloody thumbprint on the door of the freezer, which they had attempted to wipe clean, as well as a bloody footprint not belonging to Betty. Based on the two bloody footprints that the investigators had found on the scene, the officials knew that the assailant was most likely a woman as the the footprint was simply too small to be a man’s. They also noticed that there was no sign of forced entry into the house, which pointed to the idea that the murderer may have been someone Betty knew and felt comfortable enough to let into her house without her husband home.
Betty Gore was a teacher at a primary school in the town of Wylie, Texas. She was someone who was anxious by nature and, just before her murder, had been struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of her and Allen’s second child, Bethany. Growing up, Betty was frequently the center of attention due to her beautiful smile, pretty features, and overall innocence. When she was in college, she was taking a math class that was taught by Allen and the two fell in love. When the two eventually decided to get married, Betty’s family was surprised about this as Allen was a small man who was rather plain and, even at his young age, had the beginnings of a receding hairline. Regardless of how her family felt, the two got married in January of 1970 and they then settled in Dallas, TX. After getting married, the two had their first child, Alisa. Then, in 1976, Betty took a job as a teacher in Wylie, TX. She didn’t love her job as the children were very hard to control and she hated having to be left alone at home when Allen had to travel for work. Even with her unhappiness with her position as a teacher, she continued to teach at the school and in 1978, Allen and Betty decided it was time to have their second child. Betty had the pregnancy planned down to the week of the birth. Betty wanted the baby to be born in the middle of summer so she wouldn’t have to miss any part of the school year. The problem with Betty being so specific with the time the baby was born was that her and Allen did not have a very active sex life. In fact, their sex life was nearly nonexistent at this point in their relationship. Now, with Betty being on a timeline, her and Allen had to have sex every night during her estimated peak fertility period and this caused Allen to feel like he was being used.
Even with their sexual relationship at a standstill, Allen wanted to make their relationship better. He was a man who didn’t believe in divorce, so he started to look into ways to better their relationship. One thing that Allen had considered to help their marriage was a program called Marriage Encounter. Allen and Betty were active in their church, and some of their church friends had traveled to Dallas for this program and stated that it created new meaning in their relationship. While Allen didn’t 100% understand what the program entailed, he trusted his friends' glowing recommendations and had a strong feeling the program would work after seeing how much happier the other couple was after they had returned. Allen approached Betty with the idea of the two of them traveling to Dallas for the weekend to become encountered to help their relationship. Betty did not take this suggestion well and countered by asking why Allen thought they would need something like that. Stressing that she was already so busy and asking Allen if he thought there was something wrong with them and their marriage. Allen knew that if he said he did think they needed it, Betty would become upset, so he dropped the idea.
As stated earlier, Allen and Betty were actively involved in their church. Many of their couple friends were those who attended the same church, including Candy and Pat Montgomery. Candy and Pat had a daughter that was the same age as Allen and Betty’s oldest child, Alisa, so the two families were rather close. In 1978, Allen and Candy were playing volleyball together at the church. The two went for the same ball and collided. What seemed like a small encounter to everyone else, was much larger for Candy. It was at that moment that she knew she wanted to have an affair with Allen Gore.
Pat and Candy had been married in the early 1970s. At this time, Pat was an electrical engineer for Texas Instruments and Candy was working as a secretary. Candy and Pat moved to Wylie, TX in 1977 with their two children, a son and a daughter. By the time they had moved, their marriage had settled into a routine. Pat was still working at Texas Instruments and bringing in $70,000 a year. Due to his high income, he was able to provide everything to Candy, which made her feel more than okay with staying home to take care of the home and children. The problem? She was incredibly bored.
Leading up to the collision with Allen on the volleyball court, Candy had been dancing around the topic of having an affair with some of her friends. After the fateful day on the court, Candy started to notice little things that Allen would do. Including joking with her a little more than he did with other women at church, teasing her about her volleyball skills, and giving her a wink every once in a while. Both Allen and Candy were in the church choir and Candy noticed that Allen and herself would chat and loiter in the parking lot a little longer than necessary after practice. She also noticed that Allen would joke with her more than with the other women in the church. As the weeks passed after the volleyball game, Candy became more and more obsessed with having sex with Allen. Candy was nearly 29 years old at this time and incredibly sexually frustrated in her boring marriage. So, she decided to do something about it.
One night after Allen and Candy’s choir practice, Candy noticed Allen getting into his car in the parking lot. She sauntered over to his car and opened the passenger side door. She leaned into the car and told Allen that she wanted to talk to him sometime soon about something that had been bothering her. Surprised by Candy opening the door to his car, Allen asked if she wanted to talk right then. Without even looking at Allen, Candy slid into the passenger side seat and closed the door. She started her proposition by letting Allen know that she had been thinking about him a lot over the past couple of weeks and that she wasn’t sure if she wanted Allen to do anything with this information or not. Allen sat silent while Candy spoke and she continued to let him know that she was very attracted to him and she was tired of thinking about it. With that, Candy got out of the car, closed the door, and walked away, leaving Allen with his own thoughts.
While Allen wasn’t surprised that Candy had come out and talked about what was on her mind as that was simply her nature, he was surprised that Candy was interested in him sexually. On top of being surprised about Candy’s words, he was also quite pleased with himself that Candy was the woman who was interested as she was one of the most attractive women in the church.
The next couple of days left Allen in his head about what Candy had said. He wondered if, at their next interaction, whether she would say anything else to him. He considered giving her a call on the phone, but decided against it in the long run. He also began thinking about how different Candy was from his own wife. Candy was someone who was always doing something, staying busy, very self-confident, and a warm presence whereas his wife was constantly anxious, depressed, and solemn.
About a week after the choir practice, Allen and Candy saw each other again. They were both at the church for another volleyball game and afterwards, the two offered to stay behind to clean up the gym. After they were done cleaning, the two walked to the parking lot together and when the two reached Candy’s car, Allen asked Candy what she had in mind. Candy told Allen to get into her car, so he got into the passenger seat while she maneuvered into the driver seat. Candy looked at Allen and asked if he would be interested in having an affair with her. Even with the constant thinking over the past week, Allen was taken aback by the directness of Candy’s question. He didn’t know what to say. Candy went on to say that it was something she had been thinking about for some time and simply wanted to say it out loud so she no longer had to think about it. Allen gathered his thoughts and told Candy that he didn’t think it would be a good idea. He loved his wife and wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt her. He went on to tell her that when the couple had been living in New Mexico, Betty had cheated on him and it hurt him a lot, which is something he didn’t want Betty to have to feel.
Candy was surprised by the amount of thought Allen had put into his answer. She told him that it was fine that he didn’t want to have an affair with her and stressed that she didn’t want to hurt her husband, Pat, either. Allen went on to tell Candy that Betty was also pregnant, the mechanical sex had worked, and that it would be unfair to Betty and the baby to do something of this nature while she was pregnant. Candy thought for a minute and told Allen that it was simply something that she wanted to get off her chest to see if it would be something he would be interested in too and that it was up to Allen to decide. She told him that she didn’t want to hurt either of the marriages and that it would simply be for sex, nothing else. She then told him that she wouldn’t bring it up again. With that, Allen leaned over to the driver seat, planted a kiss on Candy’s lips, and quickly got out of her car.
Two or three weeks passed since this encounter before Allen gave Candy a call on the phone. He was heading to McKinney, TX the following day to pick up some tires for his car and asked if Candy would like to go with him to talk more about what they had talked about before. During the 2-3 week time, Candy had begun to feel foolish. She was embarrassed that she had thrown herself at Allen in the way she did just to end up rejected by the man. She really wanted to forget the entire thing had happened, but, due to the kiss in the car, she simply couldn’t. She poured over the fact that if Allen was truly against the proposition, he wouldn’t have kissed her in her car that night. To add to this, Pat and Candy had been fighting more than they usually were.
Candy agreed to meet Allen in McKinney the following day. The two met at a repair shop and Allen immediately broke the ice by giving Candy a birthday card that said “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” on the front with a bag of Red Hot candies on the inside. The two then got into Candy’s car and they drove to a local teahouse where they talked for an hour about everything except themselves. They spoke about their kids, Allen’s work, the church, but as soon as the meal they ate together was cleared, Allen brought up the idea of the affair. He told Candy that he had never done anything like it before and Candy told him she hadn’t either. Both agreed that they didn’t want to see either of their spouses hurt and that they would have to be incredibly careful so no one but the two of them would know. Allen let Candy know that, if they were to do this, he wanted to make sure that neither of them became emotionally involved with the other and Candy agreed. The two came to the conclusion that they should think about it a little more and really hash out what hazards could come into play and if it would be worth it for both of them in the long run. Candy agreed and the two drove back to Allen’s car and split for the day.
Within the following week, Allen called Candy’s home again and asked if Pat was home. When Candy told him that Pat was at work, they began to chat more about what risks could come of the affair as well as the fear of losing both of their marriages in the process. In the end, they both agreed that they were attracted to each other and were both excited about the possibility of starting an affair. Before hanging up, Candy told Allen that if he didn’t have sex with her soon, he would never be able to live up to the expectations she had built up in her head about what he is like in bed. With that, the two hung up the phone.
The following month, Candy and Allen had multiple meetings where they began strategizing how they would pull off the affair. They spoke of the hazards, such as what if someone saw them or when would they do it. They also talked about ways they could avoid the hazards as well as how they could ensure neither got emotionally attached to the other. They agreed that as long as the affair was limited to sex, they would be okay. The planning eventually turned into daily phone calls to Candy while he was at work. He was becoming much more comfortable with the idea of having an affair with Candy. Much of this had to do with the fact that he could go to lunch with Candy, talk to her intimately on the phone, and then return to his wife in the evening after work. Candy also had no qualms around Pat during this time because she was so confident that he would never find out. Even with all of this planning, Candy and Allen hesitated to actually start the affair.
It was now November and Candy decided that she would invite Allen to her house for lunch rather than them going out for lunch like they had been doing in the previous months. She made her homemade lasagna and told herself that if nothing happened soon, she would drop it and not spend another second on the idea. It was truly up to Allen if this thing was going to happen. His indecision was annoying Candy and made her wonder if he would even be man enough to do it anyways. When Allen walked into Candy’s home, the first thing he saw was a large piece of butcher paper that had two columns on it. Whys and Why-Nots. Based on their previous couple of conversations, Candy was under the impression that Allen was leaning towards not having the affair with her, so she thought this little gesture would break some of the tension that she was feeling. The two ate lasagna together, and when they were finished, Candy grabbed the butcher paper and brought it to the living room where they both sat down. The two went through each item on the list one-by-one and discussed them with each other. Allen was most concerned with the risk of one of them becoming emotionally involved, specifically himself becoming emotionally involved. Candy told him that they simply wouldn’t let that happen. She finally told him that it was up to him. She had done all she could do and made up her mind. She wanted to. They ended up not making a final decision that day. A few days later, Allen called Candy and told her that he wanted to do it. They were moving forward with the affair and it would start on December 12th, 1978.
It was the morning of December 12th, 1978. The day the affair was to start and Candy spent the entire morning getting ready for her rendezvous with Allen. She started by dropping her daughter off at school and then her son at preschool. After dropping off the kids, she drove home and started working on the lunch she had planned for this special day: marinated chicken, salad with cherry tomatoes, thousand island dressing, and cheesecake. She packed all of the food, plates, and utensils into a picnic basket and even went as far to include a tablecloth. She grabbed some undergarments and a nightgown and put them both in her purse. By 10:45am, she was ready to go and by 11am she was in her station wagon, scoping out motels that were close to Allen’s work and convenient enough for their planned lunchtime hookup. After driving around for a while, she spotted the perfect place. Just 2-3 minutes from Allen’s office, the Continental Inn.
She pulled into the parking lot of the motel and walked into the lobby to book a room for the afternoon. Candy approached the front counter and asked to book a room and the woman at the counter asked for her drivers license and payment up front. Not expecting to have to use her real name, this shook Candy and she attempted to get the room without having to show her ID. The woman at the counter insisted that she needed an ID to book the room, so Candy eventually complied and handed over her drivers license and booked the room under her real name. She then handed over the $29 that the room cost and the woman gave her the key to the room. After the room was figured out, Candy got into her station wagon and drove around to the back of the motel, parked, and walked to the motel room. She began unpacking what she had brought with her and then called Allen at work to tell him the name of the motel and that they were in room 213. Allen said he would be there in a few minutes and hung up the phone. While waiting for Allen, Candy kept herself busy by continuing to get the room ready. She set up their lunch feast on the bed and got into her favorite negligee that fell all the way to her ankles. She then sat in a chair by the window and waited for Allen to arrive. While sitting there, Candy began to get really nervous. There was so much buildup to this day that the fact that it was actually happening began to worry her. Maybe it was the calculated way that the two had planned the affair or the fact that sex is not something that should be taken lightly, either way, she was anxious.
Allen, on the other hand, was also nervous about starting the affair. As he drove to the motel, he began to wonder if he was only doing this to please Candy. He did find Candy attractive, but he also didn’t want to feel as anxious as he was on the way to the motel the entire time. He got to the motel, parked his car, and made his way to room 213. When he got to the door, he turned the knob and pushed it open. As soon as he saw Candy in her negligee, smiling at him, he had a rush of bravery and decided that he was there and he was going to do it. Candy told Allen that she had made lunch for the two of them, so they sat on either side of the bed and made small talk while eating. When they finished the cheese cake, they both began putting away the plates and containers that Candy had brought the food in. When the cleanup of lunch was done, Candy went back to the chair by the window and Allen asked if she was going to just sit there, to which Candy said yes. Allen walked over to Candy, placed his hand on her shoulder, and just like that, the nervousness that both of them had dissolved.
The two had sex, which was gentle, brief, and conventional. Candy was surprised by the seemingly lack of sexual knowledge that Allen had. When she began to french kiss him, it was apparent that he had never done that before, but he seemed to be a quick learner. After the deed was done, Candy told Allen that they both should take showers so they didn’t smell like each other when they returned home to their spouses that evening.
While the sex was rather brief, both Allen and Candy enjoyed the experience, so much that it was obvious to both of them that they would want to repeat the event again. They planned it for the following week. The day of the next meeting arrived and Candy made another lunch for the two, this time teriyaki beef strips. When she got to the motel, she noticed another motel across the street and Candy was not someone who splurged, so she went there to see if they could get her a room for less than the $29 that the continental inn was charging. Candy walked into the Como motel and immediately got the impression that the motel didn’t have many overnight guests. She asked for a room and the clerk told her it would be $23.50 with a $2 key deposit. She gladly handed the clerk the money, took the key, and drove her car around the back of the motel and headed to the room.
Allen and Candy continued to attend their rendezvous at the Cosmo Motel every other week through the end of the year and the first three months of 1979. Candy would always pack a lunch for the two to enjoy together before having sex and then lean back on the bed and talk about their children, spouses, and lives with one another after the deed was done. They would stay like this until it was time for Allen to return to work or Candy had to go pick up her son from PreSchool, but always before leaving, the two would take showers to remove the scent of each other off their bodies. Finally, before they both left, they would grab their things, kiss each other, and head back to their lives away from each other.
As the months went on, the two felt more alive than they had in a while, but after the 3rd or 4th time at the Cosmo Motel, Candy started to have second thoughts. Not because she was feeling guilty, but because it seemed that the sex wasn’t going to get much better than it was at that point. At first, it felt good, but even with coaching, Allen simply wasn’t improving in bed. Another, bigger issue was that Candy was starting to think she was liking Allen too much. During these months, the two had begun exchanging greeting cards with each other and, if Candy was near Allen’s office running errands, she would stop by and leave little presents under his windshield. Allen would even go out on his lunch period to see if Candy had been by to drop off a gift for him.
It was February, just 2.5 months after beginning the affair that Candy told Allen that she thought she was getting in too deep. Allen asked her what she meant to which she told him that she didn’t want to fall in love with him and that they were getting too serious. Allen, confused, asked Candy why she thought it was getting too serious. Candy told Allen that she thinks about him too much. Allen attempted to calm Candy’s nerves by telling her that if they didn’t let it get too serious, then it wouldn't. He also told her that he thinks the relationship is temporary, but that it needed to run its course. Since Allen didn’t seem too worried about it, Candy’s nerves died down a bit and eventually agreed to continue the affair. She was also afraid that if they ended the affair, she wouldn’t be able to talk to Allen anymore and she didn’t want to lose him as a friend.
Allen also doubted that he would fall in love with Candy, but he also needed her. He felt great about himself and Candy was the one to thank. While he didn’t want the affair to get out of hand, he was actually surprised how easy the affair had made other things in his life. He liked Pat, Candy’s husband, and Allen truly didn’t think he was doing anything to hurt him. There was also no change in his relationship with Betty. It was as if everything was fitting together perfectly and he was enjoying it.
Candy went to Georgia to visit her family for a month in April of 1979 and the two missed each other, but when Candy returned, they began meeting again at the Como Motel. They spent most of their time together talking about each other's lives, including the fact that Betty was now seven months pregnant. Betty did not have an easy first birth with Alisa, so Allen was nervous as the day got closer to Betty giving birth. He knew that if Betty were to go into labor while he was at the Como with Candy, he would never be able to forgive himself. Due to this, in early June, Allen told Candy that they needed to stop the affair so he could be there for Betty whenever she needed him. Candy completely understood and agreed that the affair should stop. Little did Allen know, Candy was more than happy to start the affair because, as she had thought at the beginning, the sex was not getting any better and she was also tired of having to wake up early on the mornings of their affair to cook their lunch.
Betty and Allen’s daughter was born in early July and the little girl brought her parents together, especially for the first week of her life when the family decided not to tell anyone about the birth. The closeness didn’t last very long and by the end of July, Allen didn’t see why the affair should be paused any longer. The two returned to the Como motel at the end of July, but there was something different about the affair. The sex was still good, but the spark and excitement seemed to be gone. Candy seemed less herself and even began griping at Allan, which was not something that she did prior to the break in the affair. On top of this, Allen began to feel guilty about what he was doing, which was the first time since the affair had begun. He felt bad that he was participating in this affair while his wife, Betty, was at home taking care of their two children alone. He thought back to the week that the baby was born and how special it felt and wondered if he would ever get that feeling back.
When Betty finally felt like she was ready to travel after having the baby, Allen was ecstatic. This meant that they could take a trip to Kansas to visit Betty’s family who were anxious to meet the new baby. Allen took off a week of work for this trip and honestly, felt relieved that he was able to get away from Candy for a while, but he did not tell her that. Before the family left for Kansas, Candy and Allen made a plan to meet at the Como the day after they would return from Kansas as Candy knew she would be able to get a sitter for the kids that day. When Allen, Betty, and their kids arrived back home, it was late Thursday night. Normally, when they would arrive so late home, Allen would have taken the following day off of work, but he knew that Candy wanted to see him, so he decided to go into work anyways.
When he told Betty that he was going to go to work the next day, Betty did not understand. She wanted him to stay home and help with errands and was actually a little suspicious of why he HAD to go to work the following day anyways. When Allen realized that he wasn’t going to win this fight with Betty, he made up an excuse about church in order to call Candy. He went to the kitchen while Betty was in the master bedroom on the other side of the house and gave Candy a call. He managed to let her know that the following day was going to have to be called off without actually saying anything about the affair in case Betty was listening or could hear the conversation. When Candy picked up on what Allen was saying, she began to grow angry. Her and Pat were going on a two week vacation, which meant this was the last time Allen and her would be able to see each other for 14 days. Not wanting to hang up on Candy when she was upset, Allen continued to stay on the phone with her for a couple more minutes in hopes that she would calm down. Eventually, the two hung up and when Allen went to the bedroom, Betty commented on how long the phone call had lasted.
Once Candy and Pat returned from their trip on a Thursday afternoon, the following Friday Candy and Allen met at the Como Motel and he was late getting back to his office. That night, Betty was ready to have sex with Allen for the first time since she had given birth. Normally, Allen had become detached when he and Betty had sex since it had been so habitual in the past, but this night, Betty had taken control and was rather aggressive, which was not something that he had experienced with her in the past. But, since he had spent so much time with Candy that afternoon, he was really not feeling up to having sex with his wife and simply told her that he didn’t feel like it. This did not go over well with Betty and she began to cry. She felt humiliated and deeply hurt by Allen’s rejection, especially since it was the first time she had ever made the initial move. She was sure the rejection was because Allen no longer loved her or that she was too fat after having their baby. Allen tried to reassure his wife, but to no avail.
On the following Monday, Allen called Candy on the phone and told her that they needed to meet up so they could talk. They planned to meet for lunch and Allen told Candy about what had happened on Friday evening with Betty. Candy was not impressed with Betty and told Allen that it was ridiculous that she acted that way after being rejected only once. She asked Allen what he was going to do about it and he told her that he thinks that they should end their affair. Candy was taken aback by this and told Allen that he was now the one being unfair. He went on to tell Candy that he thinks that the affair was hurting his marriage and that he wanted to get his life back in order. Candy did not agree with this and Allen went on to say that he wasn’t saying they should definitely end the affair, but rather think about it so as not to hurt their spouses in the end. After this conversation the two left.
The following two weeks included phone calls between Candy and Allen. Each new conversation led to Candy becoming more and more cold to Allen as she couldn’t stand the fact that he seemed to have so little regard for her feelings. She would cry over the phone and tell Allen that she loved him to which Allen would reply that he knows that, but that they have become too close and that they seem to be using the other to fill gaps in their marriage.
After the rejection from Allen, Betty fell into a depression that lasted weeks. Allen tried to talk her out of it by spending more and more time with her, but it didn’t work. She began complaining about pain in her neck and shoulders and even went to the family doctor who prescribed pain medications. Betty returned to teaching in September, but was still sullen and depressed much of the time. Also in September, Allen quit his job to join a small, new company called ECS Telecommunications. This tiny company only had one product, a telephone answering system, but Allen had friends that worked with this new company who requested that he take a leap of faith with the new company and help build it from the ground up. On top of the excitement of working for a new company, he was making more money than before and had better stock options as well. The main problem was that this new job required a move and that meant convincing Betty. Eventually, Allen was able to convince Betty to move with the promise that this new job meant more money, but also that he would have more time to spend with her and their kids.
The next step for Allen was telling Candy about the new job. He told her that he had taken it and that meant that they wouldn’t be able to see each other as often as they had in the past. Candy was upset and asked Allen if they could meet one last time at the Como as she had an inkling that the affair was coming to a close. Allen agreed and they met at the Como where they had lackluster sex and then had a discussion about how they would be able to live without one another. Candy clearly didn’t want the affair to end. She had become attached to Allen. They decided to meet once again after this, but this time, instead of meeting at the Como, they had a picnic at a park in North Dallas where they sat under a tree and ate. Candy told Allen that she loved him so much and didn’t know if she would make it if they broke up. Allen didn’t know what to say, but what he had already told her about his marriage and wanting to make things right. On top of this, Betty had decided that she wanted to give Marriage Encounter a try (which was talked about earlier in this podcast), which was something she had disagreed with when Allen had brought it up in the past. Candy had a strong feeling that if Allen and Betty went to Marriage Encounter, it would mean the end of the affair for good.
Allen and Betty signed up for Marriage Encounter, which took place at Dunfey’s Royal Motor Coach Inn. It seemed that the encounter was not a counseling session for couples, but rather a total immersive experience. While the program was endorsed by the church, it was run by laymen. Friday night began the encounter with a dinner where the rules of the encounter were explained to the couples in attendance.
After the dinner, Allen and Betty were brought into a larger meeting room where they met their Encounter leaders, who were all couples who had gone through the program in the past. Another rule that came about was that the couples would not speak except in the confines of their motel rooms. The leaders would pose a question, send the couples to their rooms, the couples would write their responses to the question in their personal Marriage Encounter notebook, and then exchange their notebooks with their spouse with a kiss. They would then read what their spouse wrote and then talk about how it made them feel. After the designated conversation time was up, they would return to the meeting room and hear testimonials from alumni of the program and have more questions posed to them. They would also get resources such as “how to write a love letter” and “what is a feeling?”. They were also assured that everything that they wrote in their journals would be strictly private between the couple.
As the weekend went on, Allen and Betty fully immersed themselves in the teachings. On the final day, the two were remarried where they led each other through the traditional vows. On top of this, they were surprised by some of their Encountered friends who were there to celebrate their completion of the program. After the final celebration, the two got in their car and drove home, high on the emotions that they had that weekend. Before going home for the night, the two had to go and pick up Bethany, their baby, who was being watched by Candy while the couple were at the Encounter. When they pulled up to Candy’s house, Betty stayed in the car and Allen went inside to retrieve their child. Candy handed Allen the baby and asked how the Encounter was to which Allen responded that it was really good for them. When Candy asked what that meant, Allen simply said, I don’t know.
The next day, Allen was still riding the emotional high that came from the program. While he drove to work, he only thought of Betty, pushing all other thoughts out of his head. His life had changed in the matter of a couple of days and he wanted to put all of his energy into keeping it that way. Unfortunately, he knew that he would have to call Candy eventually and that she would want to meet up for lunch. They two met a week later at the park in North Dallas and had a picnic. He told Candy everything that had happened at Marriage Encounter and how it helped his relationship with Betty tremendously. When Candy asked what that meant for her, Allen realized that he had no desire to continue the affair or go to bed with Candy again. Even with this feeling, Allen couldn’t get himself to break it off with Candy, so they left their picnic with the question hanging between them, but agreed to meet again on that Wednesday. When they did, Candy was the one to break off the affair, telling Allen that he had made it obvious that he was going to leave it up to her to do and that she would no longer call, see, or bother him anymore. While they both cried over the decision, Allen was relieved that she had made the final call. It meant that he wouldn’t have to feel guilty about it.
Not long after the affair ended, Pat and Candy attended a Marriage Encounter session, but didn’t seem to get as much out of it as Allen and Betty had. Regardless, both couples went into the summer of 1980 at peace, but that wouldn't last too long.