Jury selection begins today in the murder trial
of Texas housewife Candy Montgomery.
Almost four months to the day that Betty Gore,
30-year-old mother of two, was found chopped to death
in her own home.
The trial itself is expected to start tomorrow,
when the prosecution swears in its first witness.
Knock, knock!
Hey.
How we doin'?
Got any big plans for today?
- I really do love the hair. - Thank you.
You are gonna be okay, honey.
I don't think I've ever felt so dependent on other people
as I do right now.
Hey, Sherry.
- Hey, Pat. - Pat, do you think I look okay?
This is what Don Crowder wants me to wear.
Yeah. Yeah, you look fine.
How are you doin', Pat?
I'm good. Good.
You know, it's...
I'll get it.
Hey.
We set?
All right.
Hey, why can't I go inside with her?
Only the parties and lawyers can get side access.
Sorry.
- I'll be right behind you. - I know you will.
Okay.
Sherry, make sure that the kids don't watch the news.
- Of course. I promise. - Okay.
- Doing all right? - Oh yeah, fine. How are you?
Good.
As you can see behind me, people are lining up to get in.
This is clearly the hottest ticket in what is normally a sleepy town.
The reason Judge Ryan moved it to the old courthouse,
it holds more people.
What do Texas prisons look like?
There are two women's prisons.
I think that's her!
There's one that you definitely do not want to go to.
The other one is not that bad.
How do they decide which one you go to?
You'd go to the good one.
Oh, my God.
I don't think I can do this.
Yes, you will.
We may ask you a bunch of questions.
The idea is to wind up with 12 impartial jurors
who can evaluate the evidence in an unbiased manner.
Now, if you're not selected, don't take it personally.
It's very important that you understand not just what this proceeding is about,
but also what it's not about.
It's not a personality contest
or a question of who you think should win or lose
or does the best job.
The best job is the decision you make on the evidence,
and only the evidence that you hear in this courtroom.
Now, Judge Ryan has gone over the outline
of what the indictment is to you in a murder case.
The ultimate fact issue to be proved to a jury
is that a defendant killed the deceased.
Alright then. We're gonna let Mr. Crowder make a remark or two. Mr. Crowder?
My name is Don Crowder.
First, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for bein' here.
Your commitment to public service.
There is no greater strand of fabric to criminal justice,
to democracy itself, than jury duty.
Now
it's not proper for me to discuss the facts
with you at this time.
Mr. O'Connell didn't talk about 'em either.
But
there is somethin' I've gotta tell you now
for me to be able to discuss the law.
On Friday, June 13th, 1980,
Candace Montgomery killed Betty Gore.
She did so with an axe.
And she did so in self-defense.
We haven't chosen to try our case in the papers,
which is why you've never heard that before.
But we've got quite a story to tell.
You're gonna hear what happened that day, June 13th, and guess what?
You're gonna hear it from the only living person who was there.
Candy Montgomery will take the stand.
She'll tell you exactly what happened.
Of course, a few of them were stunned. Who wouldn't be?
The truth can be a shocking thing.
Y'all better buckle up.
For anyone comin' to this with preconceived notions,
buckle up and get ready.
That's all I got.
Ron.
Listen.
Seems they're not gonna let you in the room
since you might be a witness.
Unfortunate, because it's very important the jury know from the get-go
that God is in Candy's corner.
That truth shouldn't have to wait till you testify.
It would be good for the jury to hear from God, Pastor,
even if it's on television.
- I understand. - Good man.
Hey.
- Pat. Hey. - Don.
Chin up, man.
A lot of folks gonna be takin' their cues from you.
Come on, now.
It's just everybody's looking at me like I've been
cuckolded, and the whole world...
Okay, look.
Doesn't matter if she fucked 100 men.
Long as she doesn't do it again, right?
And she won't.
Come on now.
Chin up.
I'm sure it'll be on the news.
They're saying that Betty tried to kill that woman.
- I guess so. - Well, that just...
That just doesn't make sense.
That's something you'd say right away.
"I had to do it." Four months?
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I'm coming down there for the trial.
Bertha, she
she can't bring herself to.
But I'm coming.
Okay.
Alright. Bye.
Everybody's being just so quiet.
With Halloween right around the corner? Ian?
Honey, will we be going with "Star Wars" again?
I don't know. Everybody's "Star Wars."
Sally Reynolds, she says she wants to go as you
but her parents won't let her.
That's not appropriate dinner talk at the table, young lady.
You think it was wise for Don to just announce
that you did it like that?
We agreed.
No trial talk either.
I'm just worried he may not be up for this.
You know what? I'll get that.
Hi, Jackie.
Can you and I have a private word?
Well, if I knew that you were comin', I could have put a...
She tried to kill you. That's your story?
Yeah. It's true.
I refuse to believe that.
Why did you keep that from me?
I had to. Don said...
Don said, did he?
You know, I never lied to you.
Yes, you did!
I asked you point-blank, and you lied to me!
I didn't murder Betty Gore. You have to believe me.
No.
I don't.
It would be good if you were there for me.
At trial.
That won't be happenin', Candy.
I drove six hours.
If I go in and come right back out?
I just wanna see her.
Sorry, ma'am.
Before we all get started, I have one other matter.
Counsel will recall that on the 12th day of July,
this court issued an order restricting counsel
from talkin' to the media.
After jury selection yesterday,
seems Mr. Crowder held himself a little presser,
jabberin' on to whoever was handy to listen.
Likely 'cause you've never tried yourself a criminal case before.
Anything you'd like to say to me, Mr. Crowder?
Your Honor, I thought that the order had been lifted.
Especially since last Friday,
you invited the media into your chambers for a photo shoot.
I might also ask...
You're not asking this court a question, Mr. Crowder.
I asked you if you would like to make a statement.
And I'm responding.
It was my impression that the gag order was lifted.
Well, you got that wrong.
This court finds you in contempt for violation of its order
that was entered on the 11th day of July, 1980.
This thing isn't about your limelight, Mr. Crowder.
Ain't that the pot calling the kettle a grandstander?
Movin' the trial to this buildin',
so you could get yourself on television.
Your punishment is assessed at a $100 fine, plus costs,
plus 24 hours in the Collin County jail.
- Are you kiddin' me? - Out of abundance of precaution,
so your confinement will not interfere
with your proper representation of your client,
I will suspend the issue of that commitment
until the day next preceding the conclusion of this trial
at which time a writ of commitment will issue.
Well, howdy-doody, Judge.
What did you say?
Bring in the jury.
Prosecution calls Allan Gore.
I'd been calling her all day.
And I knew something wasn't right with her not answering.
And at some point, you called your neighbor, Richard Parker?
Yes, I made several calls and asked
that he go look.
Look in the house.
And what, if anything, did he find?
They found Betty dead. I was told that she was shot.
Who told you she'd been shot dead?
Jerry McMahan.
After Jerry McMahan told you Betty'd been shot,
did you make any further calls?
I
Called Candace Montgomery.
What, if anything, did you tell her?
I told her.
Betty'd been killed.
After you told the defendant that your wife had been killed,
what response, if any, did she make?
It seemed like a normal shock reaction.
She didn't say that she killed Betty
in self-defense with an axe?
No.
Your Honor, may I approach?
Let me show you what's been marked for identification
as State's Exhibit number K6.
Let me ask you to look at that exhibit.
Tell the jury whether that looks familiar to you.
It looks like my axe.
Do you see anything other than what may be on it
that would be inconsistent with being your axe?
No.
Now.
Sir. You know the defendant?
- Yes. - And, at some point,
you two became involved in a sexual affair?
Yes, in the fall of 1978.
Over what period of time did you two engage in a sexual affair?
From about early December '78 until October '79.
- What caused it to stop? - It stopped
because I decided I didn't feel like I could share myself
with Candy.
I wanted to concentrate on my own family.
Had you told your wife about the relationship with the defendant?
No, I did not.
Did you have any reason to believe Betty knew about the affair?
No, I did not.
But you can't rule it out, that Betty could've known.
I can't rule it out. No.
And on June 13th, the morning of, how did she seem? Your wife.
She was a bit agitated. I was going away on a business trip.
And that would always unsettle her.
Unsettled. Agitated. Was she depressed?
Perhaps.
She'd battled depression before.
She had some postpartum.
Plus, as I said, when I would travel...
And on the morning of June 13th,
did she seem agitated or depressed over anything,
besides your goin' away on a business trip?
Yes, she
she thought she might be pregnant.
And this was causing her stress?
- Yes. - In fact, you were a bit worried
about Betty and her state of mind that day.
So much so that, as you testified, you made repeated calls
to check on her. From the airport,
your hotel. You repeatedly called.
- I did. - And sir,
on the night of your wife's death, when you called the Montgomery House,
did you tell Mrs. Montgomery that you were very concerned
that your wife had committed suicide?
I don't recall saying that
but the thought had entered my mind. Yes.
She could have very dark thoughts, your wife.
Yes.
Your wife and Candy Montgomery
- were friends? - They were.
- Fair to say they were good friends? - Yes.
And prior to June 13th, 1980, had you ever been aware of any cross words
between Betty and Candy?
- No. - Had they had any physical fight
before June 13th, 1980?
- No. - Any verbal altercation?
- No. - Can you think of any reason
why Candy would wanna harm your wife?
No.
Your relationship with Candy Montgomery.
This started out as an affair of the flesh?
Yes.
Did it end up being something different?
We became very good friends.
This was not any torrid love thing, was it?
- No. - You never discussed
marriage or running away from your families?
No.
Never talked about gettin' divorced from your spouses?
- Never. - This was not some
whirlwind romance.
In fact, sometimes during your rendezvous,
you two wouldn't even have sex.
You'd just talk.
That's correct.
Fact of the matter is, Mr. Gore,
neither one of you were very good at this, were you?
No.
And when it finally petered out, were there hard feelings?
- No. - Not by you? Not by Candy?
- No. - She wasn't tryin' to get back with you?
- No. - Does it make any sense to you whatsoever
that Candace Montgomery would have got in her car
on June 13th, 1980,
and drove to your house to murder your wife
for the purpose of getting you back?
- No. - Murder her for any reason?
No.
Now, you testified that the axe was hanging in your garage
on the morning of June 13th when you left.
To my knowledge, yes.
And, to your knowledge, had Candy Montgomery
ever been in your garage prior to June 30th, 1980?
- Not to my knowledge. - To your knowledge,
would she have any reason to know there was an axe in your garage?
No.
Your wife, of course, knew
the axe was in your garage.
Yes.
You might as well have been a defense witness.
I was under oath. I had to tell the truth.
Pity you don't remember the oath that you took with Betty.
Well, that's not fair.
She's dead, Allan.
She got chopped up with an axe
which never would have happened if you hadn't cheated on her.
And the woman who did this?
You helped her today.
Was that the plan?
No, it was not the plan.
You looked at that bloody axe
and you had no reaction.
You showed no remorse.
Betty's dead.
Why doesn't that bother you?
We weren't getting along too well.
I still think they were in on it together.
He probably told her exactly where she could find that axe.
Stop your nonsense.
Well, honest to God, Sherry, sometimes I wonder
if you were in on it, too. The way you protect her.
I said stop your nonsense
and I mean it.
This way, ladies.
Okay. Thanks.
Oh, my goodness. This may be my best batch yet.
Get some butter on them while they're hot.
What else did he say? Don.
- About how it went. - Well, I told you,
Don's not much talkin' to me.
Yeah, why?
Because he evidently likes to keep his distance
when the actual trial starts.
But, Robert said it went very well.
Can I have a popover before grace?
No, you may not,
but let's get grace over with before that popover gets cold.
We'd like to thank you, dear God,
for this food which we are about to receive,
and thank you for your love.
And for givin' me strength. Amen.
Amen.
I don't understand why I can't be in the room.
Because the judge said so, Pat. Do you not listen?
No witnesses or potential witnesses, which you would be.
So can we now just try and enjoy our supper,
which happens to include some of my finest popovers ever?
Can I ask one trial question?
Is it hard?
Yes, sweetie. It's very hard.
But, life is sometimes 'cause it's meant to be.
And we forge on.
Right?
We forge on.
We first saw the blood in the bathroom, and then we heard the baby.
Bethany.
She was in her crib,
crying, covered in her feces.
She'd been there a long time.
Door was partially open, so I looked inside and, and I saw.
There was blood everywhere.
A massive amount of blood.
I saw her foot, the body, and an axe on the floor.
Mostly just blood.
On the walls. The floor.
Lester couldn't tell Allan, so I did.
She left the church around 9:30.
She got back around 11:30.
Said she'd been at Betty's and lost track of the time.
She had on a dark brown shirt,
jeans, and blue sneakers.
She seemed normal when she got back.
A little flustered over missin' the puppet show,
but, other than that, she was just regular Candy.
We cleaned the house the day after, me and some of the other neighbors.
We didn't want Allan to arrive home and see it that way.
- Mrs. Montgomery! Mrs. Montgomery! - Not right now, folks.
Please. Thank you.
Excuse us. Not right now, folks.
Mrs. Montgomery! Do you have anything to say for yourself?
Excuse me.
What the hell are you on?
I don't know what you mean.
Don't lie to me, Candy.
You're takin' somethin'. What is it?
Serax. It helps with my nerves.
You need to understand somethin' That kind of carnage?
Prosecution aims to depict you as inhuman.
You looking like a zombie plays right into their hands.
Do not get cross with me.
Do not get cross?
It's the newspapers that are callin' me a zombie and a monster.
And they all want me to break down and act like one, don't they?
They would all just be so thrilled if I jumped
up and down and screamed.
I will not be giving them that satisfaction.
If you look shut-down and robotic,
- you go to jail. - Well, I have to hold it together.
Otherwise...
No more Serax, Candy. The jury needs to see you as human.
Vulnerable.
They won't find in your favor unless they want to.
If you need to cry, cry.
But unfeeling buys you prison.
I thought you weren't gonna talk to me once the trial started.
That's the last thing I'm gonna say.
He's probably not wrong.
The jury needs to see you as human.
That's not possible.
If you had any idea what was being said.
I wish I could be in there.
I'm glad you're not because.
I don't think that I could look at myself through your eyes
if you were hearin' what was bein' said.
As bad as what the newspapers are sayin'.
Well.
You never told me
what you thought after Don told you on the phone
what happened.
I can't imagine what you must think.
I'm not sure I want to.
I'm just
grateful
that it didn't go the other way, you know?
Betty was bigger than you.
It could have easily gone the other way.
It's okay to be a little bit broken,
- Candy. - No, it's not.
Because if I let myself be that, I might never get back.
I'd never be unbroken.
Tomorrow's gonna be a lot worse. All the police detectives.
You just have to be
strong.
There was a time when I thought that this was it, you know?
Everything.
Just to be able to stand underneath the stars.
A home.
A family.
And people go lookin' for somethin'.
They don't even know what it is. They just want.
And they go lookin'.
At the end of some rainbow, maybe.
The Lord is not just my shepherd, but he is also Candy Montgomery's.
It comes down to goodness and mercy in the heart.
There is both in the heart of Candy Montgomery.
Damn, that's a good pastor.
Look, I can't discuss the case, so I won't.
Should you be talking to us at all?
I can talk about the weather. I can talk about the Dallas Cowboys.
Not like the judge has a problem with free speech.
After all, he's a judge, right?
- Far as that gag order, I... - Why are you baiting him?
Fat fuck. If he holds me in contempt again,
I can argue bias on appeal.
Get a new trial on grounds of "fat-fuck-ism."
Only thing is we're not losing.
They didn't even nick us today.
Tomorrow will be tougher.
It was pure carnage.
That's why I called in so much backup.
The first thing I noticed was all the blood.
All dried and congealed.
Caked.
Clotted.
And dried.
Means it had been there a while.
Many, many hours.
It was obvious there was a big struggle.
You have no idea who attacked who first?
I do not.
Mrs. Gore took part in the fight?
She had defensive wounds, so yes.
But whether she held the axe...
You solve all the crimes you investigate, Chief?
- No, sir. - Some are carried out
with more care than others. That fair to say?
- Of course. - Not a lot of care in this one.
Well.
- There was blood all over. - A lot of blood.
There were fingerprints left by the killer.
There was hair left, Candy's fingernail.
- The murder weapon. - And the body.
If Candy Montgomery planned to murder Betty Gore,
can you imagine it being carried out more ineptly?
Probably not.
And if somebody was intent on killing somebody
and not getting themselves killed in the process,
would using an axe be one of the better death instruments
to accomplish that task?
- No, sir. - No, sir.
A killing done in broad daylight, with Candy's car parked right out front.
Fair to say if she wanted to get away with it,
she did a terrible job. Fair to say?
- Fair to say. - Fair to say.
Clearly, this is no longer a whodunit but a why-dunit.
Did they wanna get back together?
Did she want him all for herself?
Why did she keep swinging long after Betty Gore was neutralized?
Hammering her with that big axe.
While the defense keeps hammering self-defense.
Whatever the defense, they've got a big, big problem.
Forty whacks.
Self-defense doesn't explain 40 whacks.
There's a reason they're savin' the pathologist for last.
He's gonna paint a grisly picture, shock the shit outta the jury.
And it's no coincidence they're puttin' him up right after lunch.
All it takes is one juror to vomit and it's
life in prison.
Why aren't they attacking us more in our theory?
I don't get it.
It's like they're rope-a-dopin'.
It's possible they don't want to even dignify it.
Forty whacks, like you say,
they're gonna say self-defense is preposterous.
He seems nice.
The prosecutor.
Excuse me?
He seems like a nice man.
Candy?
Did you take Serax again?
Oh, my fucking God.
I need to hold it together.
Try and get this.
The prosecution is probably going to rest today.
Which means you could be taking the stage as soon as tomorrow.
Your head needs to be clear.
And focused.
Otherwise
you're going to jail.
Would you be interested in having an affair?
It's just somethin' I've been thinkin' about
and I wanted to say it so I don't have to think about it anymore.
Bye, Dada.
I have here exhibits marked 22 through 29.
As I pass them for the jury to see,
I'd like you to go through your external examination
with respect to the injuries you observed.
Of course. Starting with the right hand,
there was multiple chop-like wounds.
Incision wounds on the right forearm, running five inches in length.
Chop-like wounds on the left upper arm, extending into the musculature
from the top of the right shoulder in the back,
extending five inches down into the back.
The right thigh had two parallel gaping chop wounds.
The right side of what was her face.
Irregular, gaping, multiple fractures.
The right eye had collapsed into what would've been the sinuses.
Frontal scalp, right side, a diagonal gape.
Top of the right ear, running across the top of the head,
a wound measuring 10 inches in length
produced by seven chop wounds going through the bone
into the cranial vault.
Top of the head, a C-shaped wound
with the open point of the C directed downward.
Evidently, that blow was produced from the top down.
So six cluster wounds on the right side, which could have caused death.
The crater in the back of the head that went through to the brain cavity
that could have caused death.
The wounds that ran across the top of the head
could have caused death.
And also, some of the glancing blows could have caused death
by producing some hemorrhage inside the cranial cavity.
And, Doctor,
does the term "defensive wound"
have any significance in the practice of your profession?
They're defined as wounds to the extremities.
Arms and legs.
It's usually the back of the hands.
Can be the palm of the hand or the back of the forearm,
or the back of the arm, that a victim received
as they tried to ward off a weapon.
Would those wounds on the arms and the wrists
and the forearms indicate defensive-type wounds?
- Yes, sir. - Mrs. Gore was trying to protect herself?
- Yes, sir. - And, Doctor,
in your testimony, you said, "On the right side of what was the face."
- What did you mean by that? - Half of her face.
The right side was nothing but a mass of tissue and blood.
The eye socket and cheekbone had been crushed into mush.
So, face, there really was no face.
And, Doctor, are you able to determine
whether wounds are inflicted pre or post-mortem?
- Yes, sir. - How are you able to tell?
Well, once you're dead, you have no more blood pressure.
When the heart stops, there's no bleeding.
The body can leak, but that blood
won't get into the tissue, causing it to discolor.
Now, if this occurs while the victim is alive,
this blood will get into the tissue, essentially like a bruise.
With respect to Betty Gore's autopsy, can you make any such finding
as to if any of those blows occurred after death?
There was only one wound, and that was on the back of the right forearm.
So for all those other wounds you just described,
- Betty Gore was alive? - Yes, sir.
As Candy Montgomery swung that axe
over and over and over and over,
for almost all of those 40 swings,
Betty Gore was alive?
Yes, sir.
Is it fair to say she suffered?
What do you think?
- Objection. - Sustained.
Doctor, according to your medical report,
there were two cranial wounds which were pointed at the top,
but squared off at the bottom.
- Yes, sir. - Can you explain that?
The only explanation is that the axe would've become stuck.
The killer would've had to wiggle it back and forth
like a woodchopper on top of a split log.
She would have had to wiggle it to remove it from the bone
to then continue swinging.
How do you know she resumed swinging again?
Because there was another blow that went even deeper.
That had to happen right after.
That went directly into the cerebellum.
This killing, Doctor,
have you ever seen anything like it before?
Never.
I pass the witness.
Mr. Crowder?
Mr. Defense Counsel, this would be where you get to talk.
You testified that for most of these blows,
- the victim was alive? - Yes, sir.
Which means her heart was beating?
Yes, sir.
Does that mean she was conscious?
Not necessarily.
In fact, for
the kinds of blows we're talking about on the top of the head,
there's a likelihood that for much of this,
she was unconscious.
True?
Could be true.
Chief Abbott and Dr. Stone testified
that a great struggle took place between Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore.
Do any of your findings dispute this?
No.
And from your examinations, are you able to make a determination
- as to who attacked who first? - No.
Are you able to exclude the possibility
that Candy Montgomery was attacked by Betty Gore,
and that Candy acted in self-defense?
There is no way of me knowing that.
Which means you can't rule it out.
No.
Nothing further.
Prosecution rests, Your Honor.
Mr. Crowder, you may call your first witness.
As the hour is late, Your Honor, we would ask that we begin in the morning.
The hour's not that late. Call your first witness.
Approach, Your Honor?
Your Honor, my first witness is Candy Montgomery
and she's not ready to testify.
Why not?
She took some medication
in order to calm her nerves.
She's gonna need some time.
I'll give you 10 minutes.
She's gonna need more than that.
We should wait and go tomorrow.
Counsel, you got 10 minutes.
Tick.
Tock.