WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Patrick Duffy recalled the 1986 night two armed teens shot and killed his parents inside their Montana bar.
- Sean Wentz and Kenneth A. Miller received prison sentences of 190 years and 180 years, respectively.
- Duffy learned about the killings from his sister before “Dallas” producers arranged a private jet to Montana.
- The actor said chanting and his Buddhist practice helped him process the devastating loss with his two sons.
Patrick Duffy has revisited the horrific night his parents were shot and killed inside their Montana bar 40 years ago, revealing how his Buddhist practice helped him endure a devastating family tragedy, as reported by Page Six.
The 77-year-old “Dallas” star discussed the Nov. 18, 1986, killings during a Monday appearance on Steve Kmetko’s “Still Here Hollywood” podcast. Duffy said the violence followed an earlier confrontation at the bar in Boulder, Montana.
His father, Terrence, had thrown Sean Wentz and Kenneth A. Miller out of the establishment after they became drunk and caused trouble. Both teens were 19 at the time.
The pair later returned carrying shotguns, according to Duffy’s account. By then, the bar was empty except for Terrence and Duffy’s mother, Marie.
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“It was very late at night,” Duffy recalled. “There was nobody in the bar except my father and my mother. And they walked in with their shotguns.”
Duffy said Terrence saw Wentz and Miller enter and began moving toward them. Citing testimony from his parents’ 1987 murder trial, the actor said his father told the pair, “I told you to,” before they opened fire.
Marie had been working on a crossword puzzle at the opposite end of the bar when the shooting began. She rushed toward her husband, but she was also shot and killed.
After killing Terrence and Marie, the gunmen jumped over the bar and took money from the cash register. They also grabbed a couple of bottles of liquor before fleeing the scene.
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A group of people later entered the bar after a shift change at the Montana Developmental Center, a nearby state institution, according to the Los Angeles Times. They discovered the bodies of Duffy’s parents inside.
One woman initially believed Marie had fainted after seeing her lying on the floor. She then noticed blood on Terrence and ran outside to alert a friend.
After the killings, Wentz and Miller allegedly stole a pickup truck from a car dealership. They then visited Wentz’s 22-year-old girlfriend, who contacted police after the pair mentioned that people had been shot dead.
Wentz was ultimately sentenced to 190 years in prison, while Miller received a sentence of 180 years. Duffy learned about the deaths the next morning through a deeply emotional telephone call from his sister.
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The “Step by Step” star said his sister, a Washington state police lieutenant, called him in tears while traveling to Montana. As reports of the killings spread, film crews assembled outside Duffy’s California home.
Producers of “Dallas” arranged for a private jet to take the actor to Montana. Before leaving, Duffy faced the painful responsibility of telling his sons, Padraic and Conor, that their grandparents had been murdered.
Duffy was married to ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser, whom he wed in 1974, at the time of the tragedy. The couple shared Padraic and Conor, who were preparing to leave for school when their father spoke to them.
“They were getting up to go to school,” Duffy recalled. “And I said to the boys, I said, ‘Padraic, Conor, we have to go in now. I’m going to chant with you.’”
Duffy had practiced Buddhism for 15 years, and chanting was already part of his family’s usual morning routine. Faced with the sudden deaths, he turned to that familiar practice with his sons.
“I said, ‘We have to chant for Grandma and Grandpa because they’ve both been killed and we have to chant for them because they’re going to understand it and hear,’” he remembered telling Padraic and Conor.
The actor said Buddhism gave him a way to process the loss of both parents. Its teachings about the continued cycle of an entity’s life offered a framework, even though Duffy acknowledged that he had not studied that part of the philosophy.
“The Buddhist philosophy is one of continuous life cycle of your entity, for the lack of a better word,” he explained. “But I didn’t study that at all. I was just chanting because it felt good. It felt right. It made my life feel better.”
Duffy went on to build a career spanning decades in Hollywood. He became widely known through his roles on “Dallas,” “Step by Step,” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” while carrying the memory of the brutal night that took both of his parents.
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