The Grisly Execution of 'Womb Raider' Lisa Montgomery Sparks Shame Debate
Lisa Montgomery, chillingly nicknamed the 'womb raider', was executed by lethal injection in the early hours of January 12, 2021, after a series of postponements. The 52-year-old was the only female inmate on federal death row, having been sentenced for the abduction and murder of pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett in 2007. Montgomery strangled Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, before cutting out and kidnapping the unborn baby, who survived and was later named Victoria Jo by her father Zeb.
A Disturbing Crime and Swift Capture
Montgomery initially attempted to pass the baby off as her own, but her lies quickly unravelled. Police found her cradling the newborn girl, whom she claimed to have given birth to the day before, and soon realised her story did not add up. After her deception fell apart, she confessed to the killing, leading to her conviction and death sentence. The execution was delayed twice, first due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then by a judge, until a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for it to proceed.
Mental Health and Abuse Claims
Her execution sparked significant debate, as her lawyers and family argued that Montgomery was mentally ill and had suffered severe abuse as a child. They claimed the jury was not adequately informed of her extensive mental health problems, which they attributed to years of rape, trafficking, and torture. Montgomery had been held in a federal prison in Texas for female inmates with special needs, where she received psychiatric care, and was placed on suicide watch in an isolated cell after receiving her execution date.
Family and Legal Appeals
Before her death, Montgomery's family begged President Donald Trump to spare her life. Her sister, Diane Mattingly, expressed sympathy for the Stinnett family but pleaded for clemency, stating, "My sister does not deserve to die. She is not the worst of the worst for whom the death penalty was intended. She is the most broken of the broken." Her lawyer, Kelley Henry, emphasised that Montgomery was remorseful and had spiralled out of control due to her traumatic past, saying, "She was tortured from birth and repeatedly gang-raped. That causes your mind to detach from reality."
Aftermath and Condemnation
Witnesses reported that during the execution process, a woman removed Montgomery's face mask and asked if she had any last words, to which she simply replied "no." After the execution, Henry condemned the act, stating that everyone involved "should feel shame" and calling it "far from justice." According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the last woman executed in the US before Montgomery was Bonnie Headie, who died in a gas chamber in Missouri in 1954.
