'People Magazine Investigates': How a Seemingly Normal Suburban Texas Mom Went Down a Violent Path

Candy Montgomery decided to have an affair with her best friend's husband after accidentally colliding with him during a church volleyball game

Candy Montgomery. Photo: Steven Deffibaugh

By all appearances, there was nothing unusual about Candy Montgomery.

A stay-at-home mom, Candy lived with her husband and two children in the Dallas suburb of Wylie, Texas. She was a regular churchgoer, and it was at church where she met Betty Gore, a married mother and an elementary school teacher, and the two would become best friends.

But the relationship would ultimately lead to Betty's death — and Candy's everlasting infamy.

The tragic twist their friendship took is the subject of tonight's episode of People Magazine Investigates, titled "Candy and Betty," which airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery and also streams on discovery+. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)

Things began to go awry during a church volleyball game in the summer of 1978, when Candy accidentally collided with Betty's husband, Allan Gore. Candy thought Allan smelled good — and decided at that moment that she wanted to sleep with him.

Several months later, they began an affair, despite the fact that Betty was pregnant. Candy even threw Betty a baby shower while continuing to sleep with her husband.

Betty and Allan Gore, and their family. Ron Pomeroy

But Betty ultimately learned of the affair, leading to the horrific events of June 13, 1980, in which Betty was found brutally slain in her room, having been struck 41 times with an axe.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

"It looked like a scene from a horror film," former Collin County sheriff's deputy Steve Deffibaugh tells PEOPLE in its latest issue. "It was a Friday the 13th. Our thought was that we had a copycat of the movie The Shining."

The iconic Jack Nicholson movie had been released on May 23 of that year — just 3 weeks before Gore was killed. Press materials at the time showed Nicholson carrying an axe during his rampage in the now-classic horror film.

But as it turned out, Gore's death wasn't caused by a deranged movie fan, but rather someone she had once trusted.

See more on the murder of Betty Gore on People Magazine Investigates, "Candy and Betty," airing tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery and also streaming on discovery+.