THE US government has executed the first woman on death row in nearly seven decades, the vile “womb-snatcher” Lisa Montgomery.
The federal death-row inmate received the lethal injection on January 13, 2021 – but what happened to her victim’s baby, who was abducted during the slaughter of her pregnant mom in Missouri?
What happened to Victoria Jo Stinnett and where is she now?
Victoria Jo Stinnett was forcefully ripped from her mom’s womb on December 16, 2004, in Skidmore, Missouri.
Victoria’s mother, Bobbie Jo, was eight months’ pregnant when she was attacked and slain in Skidmore, Missouri.
The local sheriff described it as the most gruesome crime he had ever seen.
Her mother’s killer was Lisa Montgomery of Melvern in Kansas, who pretended the girl was her own baby.
After Bobbie Jo was found dead in a pool of blood, and, according to an affidavit, with her murderer’s “blond hair clenched in her hands”, the snatched infant was found alive and rescued.
Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Epsey chillingly told reporters back then: “We may have not ever recovered this little baby if the Amber Alert system was not put into place.
“I’m overwhelmed with the fact that we’re going to be able to get this baby back.”
US Attorney Todd Graves said: “The baby is fine. The baby is doing great.”
Baby Victoria Jo was released from hospital the night before her mom was to be buried in Skidmore.
The infant was given back to her dad, Zeb Stinnett, who has raised her with support from his and Bobbie Jo’s families.
The girl’s relatives appear to have gone to great lengths to protect her from the media glare since the horrific attack.
Sadly, as pointed out by federal prosecutor Matt Whitworth, “every time [Victoria] has a birthday, it will also be the anniversary of the slaughter of her mother – every year, for the rest of her life”.
She turned 16 on December 16, 2020.
Who was her mother Bobbie Jo Stinnett?
Before dog breeder Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered at the age of 23, she had been looking forward to welcoming the birth of her first baby.
She and Victoria Jo’s smitten dad, Zeb, were childhood sweethearts.
A New York Post story in January 2005 explains that the couple had been dreaming of trading their small rental cottage for a new home to raise their child.
But their hopes were horrifically crushed when twisted killer Montgomery fatally strangled Bobbie Jo, cut open her body, and kidnapped their baby.
In December 2004, as part of a premeditated murder-kidnap scheme, Montgomery drove from her home in Kansas to Bobbie Jo’s home in Missouri, purportedly to purchase a puppy.
Montgomery – who was pretending to be pregnant – had contacted Bobbie Jo about her rat terriers being sold on the internet.
Once inside her victim’s home, Montgomery attacked and strangled Stinnett – who was eight months pregnant – until the mom-to-be lost consciousness.
Using a kitchen knife, Montgomery then cut into Stinnett’s abdomen, causing her to regain consciousness.
A struggle ensued, and Montgomery strangled Stinnett to death.
Montgomery then removed the baby from Stinnett’s body, kidnapped the infant, and tried to pass her off as her own to family and friends.
Horrifically, Bobbie Jo’s mom, Harper, discovered her daughter’s hacked body.
Bobbie Jo was supposed to take her to a garage, for work on her truck, but never showed up.
Harper told the New York Post: “I keep thinking, I wish I had gone over there earlier.
“She wanted [the baby] so bad, and now she’s not even going to get to raise her.”
Montgomery – who already had four teenage children at the time – subsequently confessed to murdering Bobbie Jo and abducting her baby.
In October 2007, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found Montgomery guilty of federal kidnapping resulting in death, and unanimously recommended a death sentence, which the court imposed.
Her conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal, and her request for collateral relief was rejected by every court that considered it.
The killer was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 8, 2020, at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Indiana, before the date was moved to January 12, 2021.
A last-minute stay of execution, which was granted by a federal judge on January 12, was overturned by the Supreme Court and Montgomery was executed the following morning.
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