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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 12 January 2021

Woman set to die for killing woman, cutting baby from womb

By HEATHER HOLLING- to get custody of two of
SWORTH their four children. Need-
Associated Press ing a baby before a fast-
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — approaching court date,
Becky Harper sobbed as Montgomery turned her fo-
she spoke to a Missouri cus on Stinnett, whom she
dispatcher after stum- had met at dog shows.
bling across her expect- Montgomery’s lawyers,
ant daughter in a pool of though, have argued that
blood, her womb slashed sexual abuse during Mont-
open and the child she gomery’s childhood led
had been carrying missing. to mental illness. Her step-
“It’s like she exploded or father denied the sexual
something,” Harper told abuse in videotaped tes-
the dispatcher on Dec. 16, timony and said he didn’t
2004, during the desperate have a good memory
yet futile attempt to get when confronted with a
help for her daughter, Bob- transcript of a divorce pro-
bie Jo Stinnett, who had ceeding in which he admit-
been eight months preg- ted some physical abuse.
nant. Her mother testified that
Lisa Montgomery, who she never filed a police
strangled Stinnett with a complaint because he had
rope before performing a This undated file image provided by Attorneys for Lisa Montgomery shows Lisa Montgomery. threatened her and her
crude cesarean and flee- Associated Press children.
ing with the baby, awaits Stinnett, a 23-year-old dog handed her over to law dress fischer4kids@hotmail. But the jurors who heard the
execution Tuesday, just breeder. enforcement. The preced- com that was used to set case, some crying through
eight days before the presi- She was arrested the next ing hours had been a blur up the deadly meeting the gruesome testimony,
dential inauguration of day after showing off the in which he photographed with Stinnett had been sent disregarded the defense in
death penalty opponent premature infant, Victoria Stinnett’s body and spent a from a dial-up connection convicting her of kidnap-
Joe Biden. If the lethal in- Jo, as her own. She is now sleepless night looking for at Montgomery’s home. ping resulting in death.
jection is carried out as 16 years old and hasn’t clues — unsure of wheth- “I absolutely knew I was Prosecutors argued that
scheduled at the Federal spoken publicly about er the baby was dead or walking into the killer’s Stinnett regained con-
Correctional Complex in about the tragedy. alive and no idea what she home,” recalled Strong, sciousness and tried to de-
Terre Haute, Indiana, Mont- “As we walked across the looked like. saying rat terriers ran fend herself as Montgom-
gomery would be the first threshold our Amber Alert But then tips began arriv- around his feet as he ap- ery used a kitchen knife
woman executed by the was scrolling across the TV ing about Montgomery, proached her house. Like to cut the baby girl from
federal government in at that very moment,” re- who had a history of fak- Stinnett, Montgomery also her womb. Later that day,
about six decades. called Randy Strong, who ing pregnancies and sud- raised rat terriers. Montgomery called her
Montgomery drove about was part of the northwest denly had a baby. Strong, Prosecutors said her motive husband to pick her up in
170 miles (273.59 kilometers) Missouri major case squad now the sheriff of Nodaway was that her ex-husband the parking lot of a Long
from her Melvern, Kansas, at the time. County, where the killing knew she had undergone John Silver’s in Topeka,
farmhouse to the northwest He looked to his right and happened, hopped in an a tubal ligation that made Kansas, telling him she had
Missouri town of Skidmore saw Montgomery hold- unmarked car with another her sterile and planned to delivered the baby ear-
under the guise of adopt- ing the newborn and was officer. He learned while reveal she was lying about lier in the day at a nearby
ing a rat terrier puppy from awash in relief when she en route that the email ad- being pregnant in an effort birthing center.q

Winter storm coats Southern states with

blanket of snow

fostered some play time the roads if possible. rain in north Georgia. Snow-
for adults and children By Monday morning, a light fall totals of about 4 inches
cooped up in the pan- dusting covered grassy and (10 centimeters) were ex-
demic. As many as 6 inches elevated surfaces across pected for areas between
(15 centimeters) of snow northern Alabama and Center, Texas, and Natchi-
fell across parts of south- southern Tennessee. About toches, Louisiana, KSLA-TV
ern Texas, the National two dozen public school reported. State govern-
Weather Service in Houston systems delayed classes or ment offices in 29 parishes
reported Sunday night. The closed in Alabama, and will be closed Monday
snow contributed to slick transportation officials re- — including in Caddo Par-
roads and power outages, ported wrecks in areas that ish, where Shreveport is lo-
Family members hold a snow ball fight beside the skate park at but some families took time received wintry precipita- cated — according to The
Rose Park in Abilene, Texas Sunday Jan. 10, 2020. to enjoy the weather in ar- tion overnight. Advocate.
Associated Press eas like Austin and College As much as 2.5 inches (6.35 More than 110,000 custom-
A winter storm has brought Texas, Louisiana and Mis- Station. The system moved centimeters) of snow fell ers in Texas and over 50,000
snow to parts of the U.S. sissippi the day before. into Louisiana and Missis- northwest of Birmingham, customers in Louisiana
South, moving into Ala- The blanket of white falling sippi during the nighttime Alabama, forecasters said, were without power early
bama, Tennessee and across the region forced hours, with Louisiana State and bridges were icy in Monday morning, accord-
northern Georgia on Mon- some school and govern- Police warning people in spots. The weather service ing to poweroutage.us, a
day after blowing across ment office closures, and an online video to stay off said snow could mix with utility tracking website.q