October 2007
A woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and cutting the
baby from her womb was sentenced to death for the crime  by  a
Missouri  jury.  Lisa  Montgomery,  39,  was convicted of
strangling Bobby Jo Stinnet, 23, at her home on December 16,
2004. She then cut out Bobby Jo’s baby and tried to pass it off as her own, authorities say.

Lisa had apparently been lying to friends and family about being
pregnant. Her ex-husband had planned to use those lies to gain
custody of the children, according to emails recovered on her
computer.

A custody hearing had been set for January 25, 2005. Her
ex-husband, Carol Boman testified at trial that Lisa had called  him the day before Stinnet was killed, saying that she would  prove him wrong.

Prosecutors presented evidence at the trial that Montgomery had
searched the Internet for information on caesarean sections, birth certificates, and had looked into several hospitals, including one where she later claimed to give birth. They also found web
searches for information on Stinnet, including pictures of herself
and ultrasound pictures of her baby. Montgomery and Stinnet
both shared an interest in dog breeding, and prosecutors allege
that Lisa used this to set up a meeting with Stinnet, under the guise of adopting a rat terrier puppy.

When investigators went to Montgomery’s home in Melvin, Kansas on December 17, 2004, (a day after the murder), they
found  her  sitting  on  a  couch  holding  a  baby. Montgomery
initially denied knowing anything about the murder of the missing baby, but later admitted that police “had Bobby Jo’s baby.”