My parents had a subscription to Texas Monthly when I was 10 years old - I was already a voracious reader by then so I regularly picked it up and read it cover to cover. (Didn't get the whole bum steer awards reference until a few years later admittedly). One month the cover was a scene depicting a woman floating in a sea of blood and her killer with some serious blonde frizz and giant 70s glasses (this was 86'-87' thereabouts) standing in the doorway with an ax. The story was about this pitiful bored housewife who lived in a small town outside of Dallas. She started an affair with her BFF's husband and when he broke it off she had to go back to her now even more pitiful and boring life. Meanwhile BFF and husband seem to be moving on to a now solid and happy marriage and have a third child together. One summer day scorned lady offers to take BFFs older two kids to pool along with her own 2 children and then for sleepover while BFF chills at home with 1 yo. Turns out BFF is alone for the evening as well as husband traveling for work. So Scorned leaves with the kids then swings back over to BFFs later with a bullshit excuse about someone missing a swimsuit - she then proceeds to pick up an ax laying again the laundry room wall and hacks BFFs body up almost severing her extremities in the process. Afterwards she showers and leaves dead BFF and screaming 1yo in her crib. Goes about her day, swims, makes some mac n cheese and hot dogs for the 4 kids (ok I made that part up) and now its 11pm at night and BFF hubby calls from his hotel as remember he's away on business- yo the wife ain't answering phone and I'm worried can ya'll go check? Sure thing, Scorned's husband hustles over there and finds BFF literally floating in her own blood as well as a dehydrated surely spooked as all get out screaming baby who has been alone in her crib for 15 hours. Takes a few weeks but evidence from shower drain (frizzy blonde hair) and flip flop prints find Scorned arrested and the whole sordid disaster of her life exposed. Here's the INSANE part - some crazy Texas jury let her walk without one second of prison time through an insanity plea based on the fact that she was abused as a child and BFF said something that morning about needing to hush bc baby was alseep. Reminded Scorned of some repressed scene from her childhood and so hacking up BFF, who's husband you covet hence your Scarlet Letter nickname, seems like a good way to release the tension. Scorned's name is candy montgomery. Her husband filed for the big D pretty quick and candy lay low for awhile, changed her name, got REMARRIED (?????) and was able to start seeing her own two kids again. I was 10 years old and even I knew something stunk about that verdict. I have since watched the made for tv movie (featuring the dark haired lady who starred opposite bette midler in that wind beneath my wings movie) and read the true crime novel about this case and more recently read an update article about ol' candy's attempt to go on living her best (ruined) life despite the fact that she brutally took another mom's life and had the audacity to feel sorry for herself afterwards bc her own mommy slapped her around a bit when she was a kid. Needless to say the fact that I'm even on this horrid site speaks to my now encyclopedic true crime knowledge, all starting with the article in TM.
God Bless everyone reading this I wish you all peace and health and safety. Life is precious, cherish yours and the lives of every other human you know.