Bobbie Jo Stinnett
Encyclopedia
Skidmore, Missouri
Skidmore is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 342 at the 2000 census. The small farming community which has a yearly "Punkin' Show", has made international headlines with high profile murders....
. The accused, Lisa M. Montgomery
Lisa M. Montgomery
Lisa Marie Montgomery, 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....
, then 36, was convicted of strangling Stinnett from behind and then cutting the woman's unborn child, eight months into gestation, from her womb. The child was not found at the scene of the murder.
Stinnett was discovered by her mother, Becky Harper, in a pool of blood about an hour after the assault. Harper immediately called 911, describing the wounds inflicted upon her daughter as appearing as if her "stomach had exploded". Attempts by paramedics to revive Stinnett were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville
Maryville, Missouri
Maryville is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2000 census. The town, organized on February 14, 1845, was named for Mrs. Mary Graham, wife of Amos Graham, then the county clerk. Mary was the first Caucasian woman to have lived within the boundaries...
, Missouri.
The child survived the procedure and was soon brought to Melvern, Kansas
Melvern, Kansas
Melvern is a city in Osage County, Kansas, United States, along the Marais des Cygnes River. The population was 429 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Melvern is located at ....
by her abductor, where the newborn was claimed by Montgomery as her own. Authorities found them a day later; the quick recovery and capture was attributed to, in part, the use of computer forensics
Computer forensics
Computer forensics is a branch of digital forensic science pertaining to legal evidence found in computers and digital storage media...
, which tracked Montgomery and Stinnett's online communication with one another. Both bred 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...
s and may have attended dog shows together. The investigation was also aided by the issuance of an AMBER alert
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
to enlist the public's help, DNA testing to confirm the infant's identity, and the enormous amount of media attention.
It is known that Stinnett was expecting the arrival of prospective buyers for a terrier at about the time of her murder. Additionally, there was no sign of forced entry. Authorities now believe that Montgomery, posing as a customer, arranged to visit her alleged victim's home on that day. An FBI affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
states that Montgomery confessed to the crime not long after she was in custody.
It is speculated that Montgomery's motivation stemmed from a miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
she may have suffered and subsequently concealed from her family. However, Montgomery's former husband has since told authorities that she underwent a tubal ligation
Tubal ligation
Tubal ligation or tubectomy is a surgical procedure for sterilization in which a woman's fallopian tubes are clamped and blocked, or severed and sealed, either method of which prevents eggs from reaching the uterus for fertilization...
in 1990, and that she had a history of falsely telling acquaintances that she was pregnant. How or whether Montgomery had recently become pregnant is unclear.
On December 20 — four days after Stinnett's murder — Montgomery was charged with the capital offense of kidnapping resulting in death and was convicted of this charge in U.S. District Court. On October 22, 2007, Montgomery was convicted of kidnapping resulting in the death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett. Four days later, the jury recommended the death penalty. The infant, since named Victoria Jo Stinnett, was reunited with her family, including her father Zeb.
The case was covered in a book, Baby Be Mine, 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:...
.
External links
- U.S. v. Lisa Montgomery - F.B.I. Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint
- USA v. Lisa Montgomery
- Picture of Stinnett from www.uniontribune.net
- Woman Convicted in Fetus Theft Case
- Woman found guilty of killing pregnant mother
