She Was Pregnant and Alone When She Let the Woman In. By Morning, the Baby Was Alive — and She Wasn’t

What began as an ordinary visit over a shared love of dogs turned into one of the most horrifying crimes in recent memory.

Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a dog breeder, first met Lisa Montgomery at a dog show in 2004, bonding over their shared passion for the animals. They continued talking on an online message board dedicated to dog breeding, where Montgomery — using a fake name — eventually arranged a visit to Stinnett’s home to see a puppy she claimed she wanted to adopt, according to authorities, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

That year, Montgomery drove from Kansas to Missouri to purchase the dog from Stinnett, who was 23 years old and pregnant, the Associated Press reported, citing authorities. Instead, Montgomery attacked Stinnett until she lost consciousness.

Her goal? To cut Stinnett’s fetus from her womb and return to Kansas to claim the child as her own. 

Prosecutors said in a statement that Montgomery used a kitchen knife to cut into Stinnett’s abdomen. According to prosecutors, Stinnett briefly regained consciousness and tried to fight back before Montgomery strangled her to death.

Stinnett was pronounced dead at the hospital after being found lying in a pool of blood inside her home, CBC News reported, citing authorities. An Amber Alert was issued for the kidnapped baby and tips led authorities to Montgomery’s home.

Victoria Jo, the premature baby, survived the attack and was reunited with her father, Zeb Stinnett, at the hospital, according to the outlet. Montgomery was arrested at the scene — but she claimed the baby was her own.

However, she later confessed to murdering Stinnett and abducting the child.

Montgomery was married at the time and had reportedly convinced her husband, Kevin Montgomery, that she was pregnant and had given birth, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

“I held that baby proudly,” he has said, per the outlet.

In 2007, Montgomery was convicted by a jury of federal kidnapping resulting in death. Prosecutors said Montgomery’s motive was to use the baby as a way to gain custody of two of her four children before her husband learned she was lying, the AP reported.

Jurors unanimously recommended a death sentence, which the court imposed. She was initially scheduled to be executed in December 2020.

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According to CNN, a federal judge granted Montgomery a stay of execution, pointing to the need to decide whether or not she was too mentally ill to be executed, which would have made her ineligible for the death penalty.

But the Supreme Court denied the court order and requests to President Donald Trump from family, supporters and her attorney were unsuccessful. Prior to this, federal executions had been on pause for 17 years.

Kelley Henry, Montgomery’s attorney, blamed the Trump administration’s “bloodlust” for her execution, the AP reported.

Montgomery was ultimately executed by lethal injection on Jan. 13, 2021, at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., per the AP. She was 52.

Montgomery became the first woman since 1953 to be executed by the federal government. The woman executed in 1953 was Bonnie Brown Heady, who kidnapped and murdered a young boy in Missouri, the AP reported.