'Dallas' Star Patrick Duffy Tears Up Recalling Night His Parents Were Shot Dead By Gunman in Montana Bar
'Dallas' star Patrick Duffy has opened up about his parents' murder at their Montana bar.
Nov. 12 2026, Updated 8:28 a.m. ET
Dallas star Patrick Duffy has opened up about his parents' brutal murder.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the veteran actor, 77, also teared up when recalling the emotional moment he told his children that their grandparents had both died.
Duffy's Parents Shot Dead In Bar They Owned
Duffy recalled the devastating attack on his parents.
His parents, Terence and Marie Duffy, were shot dead at the bar they owned in Boulder, Montana, in November 1986.
Sean A Wentz and Kenneth A Miller, then both 19, were charged with deliberate homicide and later convicted.
Wentz, the one who fired the fatal shots, was sentenced to 180 years in prison but released on parole in 2015. Miller, his accomplice, was released on parole in 2007.
'My Dad Threw Them Out For Being Drunk'
Duffy revealed what sparked killings.
Describing the gruesome killings, Duffy — who played Bobby Ewing on the popular CBS television series – said: "My dad had thrown these two boys out because they were, you know, drunk and boisterous and he just threw them out of the bar and they went somewhere, finished whatever they were drinking and the anger boiled up and they went back in. It was very late at night.
"There was nobody in the bar except my father and my mother.
"And they walked in with their shotguns. And as soon as my dad saw them, this is in the testimony that came out in the court is that my dad turned to them and apparently took a step towards him saying, 'I told you to.'
Joined Kids' 'Chanting' For Grandparents
The devout Buddhist explained how he told his children of killings.
"And then that's when they opened up on him and killed him. And then my mother was at the other end of the bar doing a crossword puzzle and took a couple of steps running towards dad and they shot her too."
He continued: "If that wasn't stupid enough and instead of just running, they jumped over the bar to the cash register, took the money and a couple of bottles of booze and then left. So what they did was compound what could have been, you know, manslaughter.
"I don't know the legalities of this, but it was in the commission of a felony. They were robbing a bar and committed murder. So they went off to prison."
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Duffy, here with 'Dallas' co-stars Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, broke the new to kids before they went to school.
On breaking the news of the murders to his young sons Padraic, then 11, and Conor, then six, Duffy — a devout Buddhist — told the Still Here Hollywood podcast with Steve Kmetko: "The first thing I did was it was just as the boys were getting up to go to school. I said, 'Padraic, Conor, we have to go in now. I'm going to chant with you.'
"Because we always chanted before they went off to school. 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.
"And they went, 'Okay.'"
