Lisa M. Montgomery

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Lisa Marie Montgomery, (born February 27, 1968)[1] 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.[2]

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.[3] 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. [4] 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.[5]

[edit] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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. [8] 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.[9]

[edit] Sources

[edit] References

  1. ^ She was 36 at the time of the murder in December 2004.
  2. ^ Kansas Town Stunned By Kidnap-Murder Case. local6.com (2004-12-19). Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  3. ^ True Stories of Law & Order: SVU (page 155) by Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo. (Berkley, 2006. ISBN-10: 0425217353)
  4. ^ Bobbi Jo Stinnett Murdered for her Baby by Lisa Montgomery. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  5. ^ Dad united with kidnapped girl. cnn.com (2004-12-19). Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  6. ^ Summers, Chris (2007-10-01). The women who kill for babies. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  7. ^ Jury considers death for convicted fetus thief. MSNBC (2007-10-24). Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  8. ^ Jury: Lisa Montgomery should be executed. kansascity.com (2007-10-26). Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  9. ^ Bill Mears. Woman gets death sentence in fetus-snatching murder. CNN, 2008-04-04.