The story behind Candy Montgomery and the 1980 North Texas ax killing is heading to TV – again

DALLAS — A brutal ax killing that shocked the small North Texas town of Wylie in 1980 is being brought back to life for the second time.

HBO Max released its premiere date for Love and Death starring Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery, a North Texas woman who killed Betty Gore by slicing her with an ax 41 times, following a confrontation about Montgomery’s months-long affair with Gore’s husband. 

The new true-crime series, which premieres April 27 on HBO Max, takes a look back at the harrowing tale of the two churchgoing couples enjoying small-town family life, until that fateful Friday the 13th of June 1980.

It’ll come nearly one year after Hulu’s five-night event “Candy,” which chronicles the same story with Jessica Biel casted as Montgomery.

Watch the HBO Max “Love and Death” trailer here: 

For a breakdown of the story behind Candy Montgomery and the 1980 ax killing, including the affair, the crime and trial and the aftermath of the trial, click here.

After “Candy” aired on Hulu, WFAA spoke with a consulting producer for the show, who said he no longer believes her four-decade old claim of self-defense.

“I am still of a mixed feeling about this case,” Jim Atkinson told WFAA. “I have trouble still with the idea that it was self-defense. I think that this story will…it’s almost Shakespearean,” he said. “It will go on and on. It’s an amazing story. It’s rich and it’s resonant. And it has lessons to it that I think are eternal in a certain way.”

The upcoming HBO Max series stars Olsen as Candy, Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore, Patrick Fugit as Pat Montgomery and Lily Rabe as Betty Gore.