Lisa Montgomery, the only woman executed by the U.S. federal government in nearly seven decades, was put to death by lethal injection on January 13, 2021, following a conviction for the 2004 kidnapping and murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett. The case drew national attention due to the extreme nature of the crime—in which Montgomery cut a fetus from the womb of a pregnant woman—and the subsequent legal battles centered on Montgomery’s mental competency and history of severe trauma.
The execution took place at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a series of last-minute court rulings lifted a stay of execution. According to the U.S. EST. Her death marked the end of a protracted legal process that questioned whether a person with profound neurological impairment and a history of documented abuse could be held fully accountable under federal law.
The 2004 Crime in Missouri
On December 16, 2004, Lisa Montgomery traveled from her home in Kansas to the residence of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in Skidmore, Missouri, under the guise of purchasing a puppy. Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, was found strangled in her home by her mother shortly after Montgomery departed with the infant. The child, Victoria Jo Stinnett, was recovered unharmed by authorities in Kansas the following day after an intensive search led law enforcement to Montgomery’s residence, as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Montgomery confessed to the crime during police interviews. Prosecutors argued that she had meticulously planned the kidnapping, citing her extensive internet research on cesarean sections and the purchase of supplies used to restrain the victim. In 2007, a federal jury in Kansas City convicted Montgomery of kidnapping resulting in death, rejecting defense arguments that she was suffering from a psychotic break at the time of the offense.
Legal Arguments Regarding Mental Health
Throughout her appeals, Montgomery’s legal team presented evidence of significant neurological damage and a history of extreme physical and sexual abuse, which they argued left her unable to understand the reality of her actions. Defense attorneys cited a history of childhood trauma so severe that they claimed it resulted in brain damage and dissociative disorders, according to court filings documented by the Death Penalty Information Center.
The government’s position, maintained throughout the litigation, was that Montgomery’s actions were calculated and intentional. While medical experts for the defense testified to her “organic brain damage,” the prosecution successfully argued that she remained criminally responsible. The legal debate became a focal point for advocates opposing the federal death penalty, who argued that the execution of a woman with such a documented history of severe mental illness and abuse violated moral and legal standards regarding competency.
The Final Legal Challenges
The path to Montgomery’s execution was marked by significant procedural hurdles. In the weeks leading up to the January 2021 date, multiple courts considered requests to stay the execution based on the question of whether Montgomery remained competent to be executed—a legal standard requiring an inmate to understand the reason for their punishment. On January 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit temporarily halted the execution to allow for a competency hearing, but the Supreme Court of the United States subsequently vacated that stay, as noted in updates from the Supreme Court of the United States.
The execution of Lisa Montgomery was the first federal execution of a female inmate since 1953, when Bonnie Brown Heady was executed for kidnapping. Her case remains a significant reference point in legal discussions regarding the intersection of severe trauma, mental health, and the application of the death penalty in federal capital cases.
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