Lisa M. Montgomery
Encyclopedia
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.
Montgomery met Stinnett online in a rat terrier
chatroom called "Ratter Chatter."
Posing as "Darlene Fischer," Montgomery told Stinnett that she, too, was pregnant. The two women chatted online and exchanged e-mails about their pregnancies. 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. 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.
Lisa M. Montgomery, Federal Bureau of Prisons
# 11072-031, is held at Federal Medical Center, Carswell
in Fort Worth, Texas
. She could become the third woman to be put to death by the federal government since 1927.
, a mental condition that causes a woman to falsely believe she is pregnant and exhibit outward signs of pregnancy.
VS Ramachandran, the well known neuroscientist, appeared as an expert for the defense and testified that Montgomery suffered from severe pseudocyesis delusion. According to Dr. Ramachandran, Montgomery's childhood sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder predisposed her to pseudocyesis. Dr. Ramachandran testified that Montgomery's stories about her actions fluctuated because her delusional state fluctuated. Ramachandran stated that Montgomery was suffering from a severe mental disease or defect when she committed the crime and that she was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of her acts.
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.
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. The prosecutor in the case, Matt Whitworth, claimed 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 recommendation for death.
The case is detailed in two 2006 books: one by author Diane Fanning
titled Baby Be Mine. and a second by author M. William Phelps
titled Murder In The Heartland.
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
who confessed to the 2004 murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett
Bobbie Jo Stinnett
Bobbie Jo Stinnett was a 23-year-old pregnant woman found brutally slain in her home in Skidmore, Missouri. The accused, Lisa M. Montgomery, then 36, was convicted of strangling Stinnett from behind and then cutting the woman's unborn child, eight months into gestation, from her womb...
, an expectant mother, in an attempt to kidnap her unborn baby.
Montgomery met Stinnett online in a rat terrier
Rat Terrier
The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a rich and varied background as an all-around farm dog and hunting companion. Traditionally more of a type than a breed, they share much ancestry with the tough little mixed-breed dogs known as feists...
chatroom called "Ratter Chatter."
Posing as "Darlene Fischer," Montgomery told Stinnett that she, too, was pregnant. The two women chatted online and exchanged e-mails about their pregnancies. Montgomery then arranged a meeting at Stinnett's home under the pretext of wanting to buy a rat terrier
Rat Terrier
The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a rich and varied background as an all-around farm dog and hunting companion. Traditionally more of a type than a breed, they share much ancestry with the tough little mixed-breed dogs known as feists...
. 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. 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.
Lisa M. Montgomery, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
# 11072-031, is held at Federal Medical Center, Carswell
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
The Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility that provides specialized medical and mental health services to female offenders. FMC Carswell is located in the northeast corner of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth . Its address is...
in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
. She could become the third woman to be put to death by the federal government since 1927.
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. During her trial in federal court, her defense attorneys asserted that she suffered from pseudocyesisPseudocyesis
False pregnancy or hysterical pregnancy, most commonly termed pseudocyesis in humans and pseudopregnancy in other mammals, is the appearance of clinical and/or subclinical signs and symptoms associated with pregnancy when the person or animal is not pregnant. Clinically, false pregnancy is most...
, a mental condition that causes a woman to falsely believe she is pregnant and exhibit outward signs of pregnancy.
VS Ramachandran, the well known neuroscientist, appeared as an expert for the defense and testified that Montgomery suffered from severe pseudocyesis delusion. According to Dr. Ramachandran, Montgomery's childhood sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder predisposed her to pseudocyesis. Dr. Ramachandran testified that Montgomery's stories about her actions fluctuated because her delusional state fluctuated. Ramachandran stated that Montgomery was suffering from a severe mental disease or defect when she committed the crime and that she was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of her acts.
Park Dietz
Park Dietz
Park Elliott Dietz is a forensic psychiatrist and criminologist who was educated at Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University...
, 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
Andrea Yates
Andrea Yates is a former Houston, Texas resident who killed her five children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in the bathtub in her house. She had been suffering for some time with very severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis...
and Susan Smith
Susan Smith
Susan Leigh Vaughan Smith is an American woman sentenced to life in prison for murdering her children. Born in Union, South Carolina, and a former student of the University of South Carolina Union, she was convicted on July 22, 1995 of murdering her two sons, 3-year-old Michael Daniel Smith, born...
, serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His murders involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism...
and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski.
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. The prosecutor in the case, Matt Whitworth, claimed that Lisa Montgomery planned the murder for a long time before she did it, according to a report from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. On April 4, 2008, a judge upheld the jury's recommendation for death.
The case is detailed in two 2006 books: one by author Diane Fanning
Diane Fanning
-Early life and education:Fanning was born Diane Lynn Butcher in Baltimore, Maryland. She attended Perry Hall High School, then Lynchburg College in Virginia, where she majored in chemistry.-Career:...
titled Baby Be Mine. and a second by author M. William Phelps
M. William Phelps
M. William Phelps is an American crime writer, investigative journalist, and television personality.-Career:Phelps is the author of 14 true crime books and two books on history...
titled Murder In The Heartland.