Fetus Survives Killing of Its Mother

Washington Post

December 19, 2004

Author: Peter Slevin; Washington Post Staff Writer

An 8-month-old fetus cut from the womb of its strangled mother in Missouri turned up healthy and very much alive Friday in Kansas, where police arrested a woman for kidnapping and suspicion of murder.

The discovery of the baby girl provided the only glimmer of good news on the day after 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett was found murdered in Skidmore, Mo.

The FBI said Lisa M. Montgomery, 36, posed on the Internet as a customer for Stinnett's dog-breeding business, then killed her for her baby. The Web revealed message traffic between the two on the eve of the homicide.

Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey said the attacker probably had some medical knowledge. After the rescue, a pediatrician examined the newborn and Stinnett's husband, Zeb, was united with the baby girl.

"We have no indications that the child was hurt in any way," Espey told reporters. "The child's probably going to be okay."

Fast sleuthing by the FBI and private computer security specialists who traced e-mail messages to Montgomery's house in Melvern, Kan., led investigators to the newborn. An FBI affidavit released Friday night alleged that Montgomery admitted to strangling Stinnett.

Bobbie and Zeb Stinnett lived in a modest, whitewashed clapboard house and had been married about a year. They worked at a Kawasaki factory and raised rat terriers for sale, posting photographs of the dogs on their Internet site.

Although it remained unclear how Montgomery knew Stinnett was pregnant, the dog-breeding business provided her introduction, according to the affidavit drafted by FBI agent Craig Arnold.

Espey, who credited the Amber Alert system for saving the day, said he could not get his mind around the day's events.

"I'm overwhelmed with the fact that we're going to be able to get this baby back," he said.