Betty Gore‘s Neighbor Richard Parker Found Her Baby Bethany

In a tragic real-life plot reminiscent of a stealth mission gone wrong in an RPG game, a devious Texas housewife snuck into her neighbor’s home and brutally assassinated the young mother with an axe.

The victim, Betty Gore, was known as a sweet and caring mother to her two little daughters Lisa and Bethany. On that fateful summer day in 1980 while the girls were home, the deadly intruder – Betty‘s neighbor Candy Montgomery – crept in wielding an axe she had taken from the Gore‘s backyard toolshed. In a frenzied attack fueled by jealousy over Betty‘s husband Allan, Candy ruthlessly struck her 41 times leaving a horrific bloodbath in the master bedroom.

With their mother dead, poor 1-year-old Bethany was left trapped in her crib crying for hours. The murderer Candy Montgomery fled the gruesome murder scene believing the girls would be discovered soon by their returning father.

Neighbor Richard Parker Heroically Finds Bethany

But hours went by until neighbor Richard Parker decided to check up on the Gore household which had appeared quiet all day. Richard recounted to the Dallas Morning News his chilling discovery:

"We opened the door and went in. We got as far as the dining area, we saw blood…We didn‘t go any further. We came back out. And one of the men walked around the house and we could hear a baby crying."

Richard and the men traced the faint cries to Baby Bethany‘s upstairs bedroom. She was still strapped into her crib, neglected in a soiled diaper and parched with thirst. Richard rescued little Bethany from the crime scene devastation barely in time.

Richard Parker was justifiably hailed a hero by local Wylie residents. His critical decision to check up on the seemingly empty house led to 1-year-old Bethany being found and saved that evening.

The crime scene itself was like something ripped straight from a gruesome survival-horror game. Blood soaked the bedding and walls of the master bedroom where the violent attack occurred. Broken wooden handle pieces from the axe used in the brutal murder were scattered around Betty‘s lifeless, disfigured body.

So while crazed housewife and scorned lover Candy attempted to sneak in for a stealth kill, justice would soon come knocking thanks to observant neighbor Richard Parker. Parker‘s notification of the authorities and rescue of helpless baby Bethany led to a murder investigation that made national headlines for years to come.

The Gore Girls Later Lose Their Father As Well

With their doting mother ripped away from them so violently, the Gore girls suffered immense trauma. After the trial, Betty‘s parents were given custody of Lisa and Bethany. The sisters moved to Kansas to live with their grandparents.

Father Allan Gore did not regain custody per his apparent lack of ability to care for the girls. Allan soon divorced his second wife Elaine. He moved to Florida amidst rumors Elaine was abusive to Lisa and Bethany.

So the Gore sisters endured the nightmare of their mother‘s horrific murder in their own home, only to lose their father as well shortly after. One can only imagine the psychological devastation these poor girls have struggled with their whole lives since witnessing such carnage at such a young, tender age.

Today the grown Gore daughters are reportedly raising their own children in other states. No doubt still haunted by memories of that gruesome day when their innocent young lives were shattered by jealous rage.

The crime story that began with bloody betrayal and ended with bittersweet rescue still intrigues the curious decades later. We owe brave neighbor Richard Parker continued thanks for selflessly charging into the chaos to save precious little Bethany Gore. And we should keep the Gore girls in our thoughts, as they still have to live with the ghosts left behind from the gory murder scene that no one should ever have to see.