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This article recounts the execution of Lisa Montgomery – the first woman executed at the federal level in the United States after nearly 70 years – along with the context of her crime, the legal controversies surrounding her mental health, and the reinstatement of the federal death penalty under President Trump. The content is based on news sources and court records. We condemn all acts of violence. This article is for educational purposes only, not to glorify or advocate for crime.
Lisa Montgomery: The First Woman Executed at the Federal Level After 70 Years
On December 8, 2020, a rare event occurred in American judicial history. For the first time in nearly 70 years, the U.S. federal government executed a woman. Lisa Montgomery, 52, was put to death by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, at 1:31 a.m. . She was convicted of murdering Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an eight-months-pregnant woman, in 2004. Montgomery’s case was not just a brutal murder but also a story of deep psychological trauma, a failed defense system, and an ongoing debate about capital punishment in America. This article analyzes the crime, Montgomery’s life, and the historic significance of her execution.
1. The Horrific Crime of 2004
On December 16, 2004, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, who was eight months pregnant, was found dead in her home in Skidmore, Missouri. She had been strangled, and her abdomen was cut open, with the fetus removed . The victim was discovered by her own mother.
The perpetrator was Lisa Montgomery, 36, of Melvern, Kansas. Montgomery had approached Stinnett through an online forum for Rat Terrier dog breeders, where Stinnett advertised puppies and posted photos of her pregnancy . Montgomery, who had been sterilized years earlier but continued to fake a pregnancy, used the alias “Darlene Fischer” to arrange a meeting at Stinnett’s home under the pretext of buying a dog .
Once inside, Montgomery strangled Stinnett until she lost consciousness. She then used a knife to cut open the victim’s abdomen. The pain caused Stinnett to regain consciousness, and Montgomery strangled her again until she was dead. She removed the baby, took it home, and presented the child to her husband and neighbors as her own newborn daughter . With the help of an anonymous tipster and IP address tracking from the victim’s computer, the FBI located Montgomery within 24 hours. The baby, Victoria Jo Stinnett, was found alive and returned to her father .
2. A Life of Profound Trauma: “The Most Broken of the Broken”
Montgomery’s lawyers never denied that their client committed the crime. But they argued she did not deserve the death penalty. The reason lay in Montgomery’s dark past. According to reports and psychological experts, Montgomery was a victim of severe abuse from a young age . She was sold to strangers by her mother, raped by her stepfather, and lived a life of sexual slavery from the age of 11 or 12 . Sandra Babcock, a Cornell law professor and head of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, described Montgomery as “the most broken of the broken” .
This trauma led to serious mental health issues, including dissociative disorder and pseudocyesis – a condition causing a woman to falsely believe she is pregnant despite having been sterilized . Her lawyers argued she was in a psychotic state when she committed the crime. Former prosecutors also expressed the view that Montgomery fell into the category of offenders for whom the death penalty was not intended, as her actions stemmed from mental illness and trauma, not cold-blooded serial murder .
3. The Reinstatement of the Federal Death Penalty Under Trump
Montgomery’s execution took place as the Trump administration restarted federal executions in July 2020 after a 17-year hiatus . President Trump pushed through a series of federal executions at an unprecedented speed during the final months of his term. Montgomery’s execution was the eighth in 2020 .
In total, under the Trump administration, 13 federal prisoners were executed – more than any president in over 120 years. The last woman executed by the federal government was Bonnie Heady, who died in the gas chamber in Missouri in 1953 . Thus, Montgomery was the first woman in 67 years to face the federal death penalty.
4. Final Hours and Fierce Opposition
Montgomery’s supporters fought to the very end to save her. They submitted a clemency petition to President Trump, which was denied . Lawyers also filed appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing mental illness and the risk of COVID-19 made the execution unsafe. However, the court gave the green light. In her final minutes, Montgomery was reportedly calm. Concerning her last meal: some sources indicate she requested mashed potatoes, chicken, and apple pie, though due to her mental health struggles, she may have refused or barely eaten.
Montgomery’s death sparked intense opposition from human rights groups and defense attorneys. Kelley Henry, Montgomery’s lawyer, stated: “Lisa Montgomery has long accepted full responsibility for her crime, and she will never leave prison. But her severe mental illness and the devastating impacts of her childhood trauma make executing her a profound injustice” . More than 40 former prosecutors also signed a letter to President Trump urging clemency, arguing that Montgomery’s history of sexual abuse and child sex trafficking was “directly related to the crime she committed” and should not be dismissed as an “abuse excuse” .
A Divisive Case
Lisa Montgomery was a complex figure: both a brutal killer and a victim of a nightmarish childhood. Her execution closed a 70-year chapter in which no woman had faced the federal death penalty. For the victim’s family, it was the end of a long nightmare. For death penalty opponents, it was a barbaric sentence for “the most broken of the broken.” The question remains: Was justice truly served when a mentally ill woman, abused from childhood and disconnected from reality, was executed for a crime rooted in her trauma? Or was it simply state-sanctioned vengeance? The case of Lisa Montgomery will remain a stain and a question mark in American judicial history.
Primary Sources:
Reuters – “U.S. to carry out first federal execution of a woman in seven decades”
London Evening Standard – “Lisa Montgomery: US woman who strangled mother-to-be to become first female prisoner executed since 1953”
The Washington Post – “U.S. to execute first woman in 67 years for strangling acquaintance, kidnapping unborn child”
Democracy Now! – “Trump Races to Kill Lisa Montgomery in First Federal Execution of a Woman in Almost 70 Years”
CBS News – “Web Led Cops To Stinnett Suspect”
The New York Times – “Court Appearance for Woman Charged With Taking of Fetus”