Lisa Montgomery executed: First female in nearly 70 years to be put to death in US

An American woman who murdered a pregnant dog breeder in order to steal her baby has been executed by lethal injection. WARNING: Graphic

An American woman who murdered a pregnant dog breeder in order to steal her baby has been executed by lethal injection, becoming the first female to be executed by US federal authorities in nearly 70 years.

Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1.31am local time at a penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

It said the execution was “in accordance with the capital sentence unanimously recommended by a federal jury and imposed by the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri”.

Death row inmate Lisa Montgomery has been executed. Picture: AFP

The US Supreme Court cleared the way for Montgomery’s execution just hours earlier — despite doubts about her mental state — after the Trump administration had pushed for the application of the death penalty.

Montgomery’s defenders did not deny the seriousness of her crime: in 2004, she killed a pregnant 23-year-old in order to steal her baby.

Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was kidnapped and killed by Lisa Montgomery.

The house in Skidmore, Missouri, where Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered.

But her lawyer Kelley Henry, in a statement, called the decision — the first for a female inmate since 1953 — a “vicious, unlawful, and unnecessary exercise of authoritarian power.” “The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight,” Henry said. “Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame.” The execution came after a legal back-and-forth that ended with the country’s highest court allowing it to proceed.

The Federal Correctional Complex Terre Haute in Indiana, where Lisa Montgomery was put to death by lethal in injection. Picture: AFP

Unable to have a child, Montgomery carefully identified her victim — 23-year-old dog breeder Bobbie Jo Stinnett — online.

Under the guise of buying a puppy, Montgomery went to Stinnett’s home, where she strangled her and cut the baby from her body.

In 2007 she was convicted of kidnapping resulting in death and handed a death sentence.

Her defenders believe that she suffered from severe mental health issues stemming from abuse she suffered as a child. She did not understand the meaning of her sentence, they said, a prerequisite for execution.

Defenders of Lisa Montgomery say she suffered from severe mental health issues.

On Monday evening, a federal judge offered the defence a brief lifeline, ordering a stay of execution to allow time to assess Montgomery’s mental state.

“The record before the Court contains ample evidence that Ms Montgomery’s current mental state is so divorced from reality that she cannot rationally understand the government’s rationale for her execution,” the ruling stated.

But an appeals court overturned that decision on Tuesday, leaving it up to the US Supreme Court to decide. It said the execution could go ahead.

More to come