Victoria Jo Stinnett

Montgomery was charged with the federal offense of "kidnapping resulting in death", a crime established by the Federal Kidnapping Act of 1932, and described in Title 18 of the United States Code.

Montgomery became the first female federal inmate since 1953 to be executed by the United States federal government, and the fourth overall.

Lisa Marie Montgomery (February 27, 1968 – January 13, 2021) resided in Melvern, Kansas, at the time of the murder.

Montgomery's mother's alcohol addiction led to Lisa being born with permanent brain damage.

She was raised in a physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive home where she was allegedly raped by her stepfather and his friends, and beaten, from the age of 11.

She sought mental escape through drinking alcohol.

When Montgomery was 14, her mother discovered the abuse and reacted by threatening her daughter with a gun.

Montgomery tried to escape by marrying at the age of 18, but both her first marriage and a second marriage resulted in further abuse.

Bobbie-Jo-stinnett">Bobbie Jo Stinnett (December 4, 1981 – December 16, 2004) was an American, 23-year-old, pregnant woman who was murdered in Skidmore, Missouri, in December 2004.

The perpetrator, Lisa Marie Montgomery, then aged 36 years old, strangled Stinnett to death and cut her fetus (eight months into gestation) from her womb.

Montgomery was arrested in Kansas the next day and charged with kidnapping resulting in death – a federal crime.

Stinnett's baby was safely recovered by authorities and returned to the father.

Bobbie-Jo-stinnett">Bobbie Jo Stinnett was born on December 4, 1981, and graduated from Nodaway-Holt High School in Graham, Missouri, in 2000.

Stinnett and her husband ran a dog-breeding business from their residence in Skidmore.

Stinnett and Montgomery had met through dog show events and had ongoing interactions in an online Rat Terrier chatroom called Ratter Chatter.

Montgomery told Stinnett that she was pregnant too, leading to the two women chatting online and exchanging e-mails about their pregnancies.

Montgomery had four children before she underwent a tubal ligation in 1990.

She falsely claimed to be pregnant several times after the procedure, according to both her first and second spouses.

At the time of her arrest, authorities speculated that Montgomery's motivation stemmed from a miscarriage she may have suffered and subsequently concealed from her family.

Prosecutors alleged that her former husband planned to reveal she had lied about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of her children; speculating that Montgomery needed to produce a baby to counter this charge of habitual lying about pregnancy.

On December 16, 2004, Montgomery entered Stinnett's house and murdered her by strangulation. Montgomery then cut Stinnett's unborn child from her womb and fled the scene.

There was no sign of forced entry; authorities believe that Montgomery, posing as customer "Darlene Fischer", had arranged to visit Stinnett's house on that day.

It is known that Stinnett was expecting the arrival of prospective buyers for a terrier at her home in Skidmore at about the time of her murder.

Stinnett was discovered by her mother, Becky Harper, lying in a pool of blood, approximately an hour after the murder.

Harper immediately called authorities and described the wounds inflicted upon her daughter as appearing as if her "stomach had exploded."

Paramedics were unsuccessful in attempts to revive Stinnett, and she was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville.

Montgomery allegedly called her husband, Kevin, that same day around 5:15 p.m. saying that, on a shopping trip to Topeka, she had gone into labor and given birth..

The following day, December 17, police arrested Montgomery at her farmhouse in Melvern, Kansas.

A witness would later report that on the morning before her arrest, Montgomery took the infant, her husband, and two teenage sons to a restaurant for breakfast.

Police had initially gone to Montgomery's home after tracing online communications to her IP address, hoping to interview her as a witness.

When they arrived, they found a car matching the description of the one at the crime scene and, when they entered the home, they found Montgomery inside, holding the infant and watching television.

Montgomery was arrested an hour later after her story fell apart and she confessed.

The kidnapped newborn, whom she claimed as her own, was recovered and soon placed in custody of the father.

The quick recovery and capture was attributed to the use of forensic computer investigations which tracked Montgomery and Stinnett's online communication.

The investigation was aided by the issuance of an AMBER alert to enlist the public's help.

The alert was initially denied as it had not been used before in an unborn child's case and thus there was no description of the victim.

Eventually after intervention by Congressman Sam Graves, the alert was implemented.

DNA testing was used to confirm the infant's identity.

Montgomery was tried and found guilty in 2007.

She was executed by lethal injection shortly after midnight on January 13, 2021, having exhausted the appeals process.