Woman Who Killed Pregnant Mother, Stole Baby on Suicide Watch

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 9, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Woman Who Killed Pregnant Mother, Stole Baby on Suicide Watch Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 9, 2005

Kansas City, MO (LifeNews.com) — The woman who stands accused of killing a pregnant mother and stealing her unborn child is the subject of a suicide watch as her case slowly moves forward. Lisa Montomgery became a household name after she strangled Bobbie Jo Stinnett, cut her open and stole her unborn child.

Authorities are concerned Montgomery may try to kill herself and she was placed on a suicide watch after they found a stash of medications in her cell.

Officials filed papers Monday in a federal district court referring to a potential plan by Montgomery to kill herself, the Associated Press reported. The files reported on how authorities discovered and dealt with the discovery of the stash.

Deputy U.S. Atty. Matt Whitworth wrote that a corrections officer search Montgomery’s cell on March 4 and discovered a letter and drugs she had been hiding.

According to Whitworth’s papers, the letter had a "had a strong suicidal theme."

AP reports that Montgomery was later placed on a suicide watched by a psychiatrist, was dressed in different clothes and given a blanket that would be too difficult to make into a noose. Corrections officers will now closely monitor her.

Montgomery’s trial was expected to begin next month, but both prosecutors and defense attorneys have asked for an April 2006 starting date because of the extensiveness of the case.

Montgomery drove to the home of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, an eight-month pregnant woman Montgomery had met through a dog show. Stinnett, 23, was found by her mother dead and with her midsection cut open.

The indictment says Montgomery killed Stinnett "in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner."

Montgomery had been claiming she was pregnant, as she had done on previous occasions, and called her husband at home and said she deliver a baby girl.

Family members of Montgomery say they tried to warn others that Montgomery was making up stories about being pregnant.

Montgomery’s family says their concerns were heightened when they learned she had purchased a home birth kit used by midwives to help deliver babies. She reportedly wanted to purchase a baby and demanded money from her ex-husband’s new wife.

Victoria, the unborn child who survived the attack, is healthy and now living with her father.