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Lisa Montgomery: 'Womb raider' had no last words as US executed first female federal inmate in 67 years

Lisa Montgomery was convicted for killing Bobbie Jo Stinnett in 2004 and carving out her unborn child

'Womb raider' killer Lisa Montgomery has been executed after the Supreme Court cleared all stays just after midnight on Wednesday, January 13.

Montgomery was convicted of killing a pregnant woman and carving out her unborn child. She became the first woman to be executed by the federal government since the year 1953 early on Wednesday and was put to death using lethal injection. The 52-year-old woman was convicted in October 2007 of one count of kidnapping, resulting in death, as per the Kansas City Star. According to federal court records, she was convicted in December 2004 for strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, from Missouri. 

The Associated Press revealed that Montgomery was declared dead a little after 1.30 am ET on Wednesday. The Supreme Court had denied Montgomery's request for a stay late on Tuesday, January 12, which ended in many legal procedures throughout the day. Post the Supreme Court's decision, Montgomery's attorney Kelley Henry released a statement on Wednesday which read: "The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight. Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame."

On Tuesday night, the Supreme Court by a 6-3 vote, had allowed the execution to go forward. According to a legal affairs writer who shared the news of Montgomery's death, "As the execution process began, a female executioner standing over #LisaMontgomery's shoulder, leaned over, gently removed Montgomery's face mask and asked her if she had any last words. "No," Montgomery responded in a quiet, muffled voice. She said nothing else."

It is reported that Montgomery's lawyers had asked POTUS Donald Trump for clemency, saying that she had committed her crimes after a lifetime of being abused and raped. 

They had filed 7000-page clemency where they asked Trump to commute her sentence to life in prison. Judge James Patrick Hanlon had decided to block Montgomery's lethal injection which had been based on evidence that she was unable to understand the government's rationale and reasoning for her execution. 

The judge had granted the stay of execution in order to allow the court to conduct a hearing to determine whether she is competent to be executed. Her lawyer said, "Mrs Montgomery is mentally deteriorating and we are seeking an opportunity to prove her incompetence." However, the Supreme Court handed down the decision with Montgomery becoming the fifth woman to be put to death by the US government in history. 

According to federal prosecutors, in December 2004, Montgomery had driven to Stinnett's home on the pretext of buying a puppy. When she got inside the home, she attacked and strangled the victim until she lost consciousness. She then used a kitchen knife to cut into Stinnett's abdomen to get the fetus. 

She also tried to pass off the baby as her own as per Kansas City Star. The child was successfully recovered later on and is currently believed to be 16 years old. She has not publicly spoken out about the tragedy. After taking the child, Montgomery had called her husband to come and pick her up in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant located in Topeka, Kansas. 

She told her husband that she had given birth to the baby earlier in the day at a nearby birthing center. The next day after she committed the crime, Montgomery was arrested after showing off the child named Victoria Jo. Court records reveal that Stinnett's death had been carried out in "an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner". 

There were mixed reactions to her execution on social media. One user wrote, "I hope she didn’t suffer, I hope she has found the peace that was denied to her in life." Another added, "Brutal. Just wrong." A user who did not sympathize with her said, "I bet she died easier than her victim who she cut into and ripped a baby from her womb and then strangled her to death."