Murder By the Book: Candy and Betty

The classic homicide investigation begins with scrutiny of those closest to the victim, beginning with the spouse. It then continues in a widening circle to include other relatives, close friends, known enemies, neighbors, acquaintances and professional colleagues.

Allan Gore was questioned by investigators a number of times. During one interrogation, Chief Abbott asked Gore whether he'd ever cheated on his wife.

"Never," he replied.

But at sunrise the next morning, a phone call from Gore roused Abbott from bed, according to authors Bloom and Atkinson. The husband had suffered a sleepless night.

"I did have an affair," he told Abbott. "With Candy Montgomery."

It was an astonishing development. The husband of the victim had been sleeping with the last woman to see Betty alive. Could that be coincidence?

Police had had several informal chats with Candy in the days immediately following the murder. Now, a week later, they called her in for a more formal sit-down that included fingerprinting. She admitted to the affair with Allan Gore but calmly said she knew nothing about the murder. And she continued to insist that Betty Gore was alive when she left the Dogwood Drive bungalow that June 13 morning.

Dramatization: Police expert compares finger prints.

But Chief Abbott suspicions remained. They were confirmed a few hours after the interview when technicians judged that Candy Montgomery's thumbprint was a perfect match for the bloody print on the freezer door. Thirteen days after Betty Gore was hacked to death, her good friend was arrested for the murder.

Re-creation of Bloody Thunmb Print at Scene of Crime

The mousy woman, dressed in blue jeans and a striped pullover top, smiled stiffly for the media cameras during her perp walk. The next morning, her image was plastered on the front pages of Texas newspapers. And from kitchen tables and coffee klatches across the state came a flummoxed refrain: "This is an ax murderess?"