Lisa M. Montgomery

Lisa Marie Montgomery, (born February 27, 1968) is a woman from Melvern, Kansas who confessed to the 2004 murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an expectant mother, in an attempt to kidnap her unborn baby. [cite web |title=Kansas Town Stunned By Kidnap-Murder Case |url=http://www.local6.com/news/4005020/detail.html |publisher=local6.com |date=2004-12-19 |accessdate=2007-10-24]

Montgomery met Stinnett online in a rat terrier chatroom. Posing as "Darlene Fischer," Montgomery told Stinnett that she, too, was pregnant. The two women chatted online and exchanged e-mails about their pregnancies. ["True Stories of Law & Order: SVU" (page 155) by Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo. (Berkley, 2006. ISBN-10: 0425217353)] Montgomery then arranged a meeting at Stinnett's home under the pretext of wanting to buy a rat terrier. On December 17, 2004, Montgomery strangled the pregnant woman in her home and cut the premature infant from her womb. She later attempted to pass the infant girl off as her own child. [cite web |title=Bobbi Jo Stinnett Murdered for her Baby by Lisa Montgomery |url=http://www.karisable.com/stinnett.htm |accessdate=2007-10-24] After Montgomery's capture by police, the days-old baby, named Victoria Jo Stinnett, was recovered and returned to the care of her father, Zeb Stinnett. [cite web |title=Dad united with kidnapped girl |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/12/18/missouri.fetus/index.html |publisher=cnn.com |date=2004-12-19 |accessdate=2007-10-24]

Trial

At a pre-trial hearing, a neuropsychologist testified that head injuries which she had suffered some years before could have damaged the part of the brain which controls aggression. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6990419.stm |title=The women who kill for babies |first=Chris |last=Summers |publisher=BBC |date=2007-10-01 |accessdate=2007-10-26] During her trial in federal court, her defense attorneys asserted that she suffered from pseudocyesis, a mental condition that causes a woman to falsely believe she is pregnant and exhibit outward signs of pregnancy. [cite web |title=Jury considers death for convicted fetus thief |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21458179/ |publisher=MSNBC |date=2007-10-24 |accessdate=2007-10-24]

Park Dietz, a Forensic psychiatrist and witness for the prosecution, testified during the trial. Dietz had worked on other high-profile cases, including those of child killers Andrea Yates and Susan Smith, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski. [ [http://www.parkdietzassociates.com/index7.htm Park Dietz Associates - In The News ] ]

On October 22, 2007, jurors found Montgomery guilty of murder. On October 26, the jury recommended that she be sentenced to death for her crime. [cite web |title=Jury: Lisa Montgomery should be executed |url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/334555.html |publisher=kansascity.com |date=2007-10-26 |accessdate=2007-10-26] The prosecutor in the case Matt Withworth claims that Lisa Montgomery planned the murder for a long time before she did it, according to a report from the BBC. On April 4, 2008, a judge upheld the jury's sentence recommendation for death. [Bill Mears. [http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/04/pregnant.slaying/ Woman gets death sentence in fetus-snatching murder.] CNN, 2008-04-04.]

Sources

* [http://lisa-montgomery-news.newslib.com/ Lisa Montgomery News]
* [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=montgomery&Middle=&FirstName=lisa&Race=W&Sex=F&Age=&x=17&y=20 BOP.gov: Lisa Montgomery]
* [http://crime.about.com/b/a/139015.htm About.com: Montgomery could face a death sentence]
* [http://www.karisable.com/stinnett.htm KariSable.com: Bobbie vs montgomery]
* [http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/12/20/missouri.fetus/ CNN: Woman accused of stealing baby appears in court]
* [http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2007/10/prosecutors-mak.html KansasCity.com: Opening statement in Lisa Montgomery trial]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/17/national/main661617.shtml CBS: Stolen baby suspect in court]

References