'Love & Death' on HBO Max: Why was Candace 'Candy' Montgomery acquitted of murder charges?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The story of Candance "Candy" Montgomery has been recreated many times by several streaming services. While the cast changes in every adaptation, the crime story remains spine-chilling and still brings out many questions about the case. The case is as interesting as it is frightening. There are many layers to the murder that ensued on June 13, 1980. The case isn't just about a decision or a reaction that happened in the heat of the moment, but a psychological reaction that brought back many memories for Candy and her childhood. This was presented in court as a disassociative reaction that was brought back because of a bad childhood memory.
The story of Candy Montgomery was previously told by Hulu's miniseries 'Candy' and now HBO Max is retelling the tale of love, affair, and murder through their platform. The cast of 'Love & Death' consists of Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Lily Rabe, and Patrick Fugit in the lead.
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'Love & Death' on HBO MAX: Release date and how to watch
Housewife Candy Montgomery found not guilty of killing neighbor Betty Gore
The part of the story that still baffles people after so many years is the fact that Candy confessed to killing Betty Gore under hypnosis and also came out to confess about having an illicit affair with her husband Allan Gore. But she was found not guilty by a jury on October 29, 1980.
There is a grounded reason for her drastic reaction to killing her best friend, which goes back to her childhood days. If you've learned anything from 'Mindhunter', you must know that a criminal or a murderer doesn't just happen one night while one is having a cup of tea. There are many psychological things that are always happening in the background that triggers one bad memory and lead someone to take drastic action. Although all these hypotheses don't really change the fact that Candy is a killer, they do shed some light on the psychological aspect of a crime.
A childhood trauma trigger
Candy was under hypnosis where she confessed to killing Betty but there were more revelations that took place. She also shared that Betty was the one who attacked her first and who cut her toe after a fight erupted between the two women when Betty confronted Candy about her affair with Allan.
The psychiatrist testified that Candy started to hit Betty with an ax and only stopped "at the point of utter exhaustion" because Betty told her to "shush" as they tussled over the ax. A rage took over Candy when Betty asked her to be quiet. Something took over her after the word "shush" was uttered by Betty and that brought back a deeply rooted childhood trauma response that led Candy to hit Betty with the ax 41 times.
