The US court allowed the execution of the only woman sentenced to death: what was she guilty of?

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Lisa Montgomery strangled a pregnant woman (Photo: kansascity.com)

It is reported by the BBC.

Montgomery’s execution date was originally scheduled for last month, but was delayed after his lawyers hired Covid-19. Subsequently, the execution was postponed until January 12 by the Ministry of Justice.

Montgomery’s attorneys argued that a date could not be set while the suspension was in effect. The district court sided with the convict’s lawyers and overturned the order of the director of the Bureau of Prisons to designate her death.

But on Friday, January 1, a panel of judges concluded that the director had acted in accordance with the law by allowing the execution.

Montgomery’s legal team said it will file a motion with the judges to reconsider its decision.

If executed, Montgomery will be the first woman to be executed in nearly 70 years. According to the Execution Information Center, the last woman to be executed by the United States government was Bonnet Headey, who died in a gas chamber in Missouri in 1953.

Who is Lisa Montgomery?

Montgomery was convicted of the brutal murder of 23-year-old Bobby Joe Stinnett in Skidmore, northwest Missouri, in December 2004.

Montgomery attacked and strangled Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, until the victim passed out. Then she cut the woman’s body to remove the child and took him with her, trying to pretend to be her own.

In 2007, a jury sentenced Montgomery to death after finding her guilty of kidnapping and federal death.

Montgomery’s attorneys argued that their client suffered from a serious mental illness.

When did the United States resume the federal death penalty?

In late June 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision creating opportunities for reinstatement of the death penalty at the federal level.

On December 11, 2020, Brandon Bernard, 40, was executed in the United States. It was the ninth death penalty after a 17-year hiatus and the first in 130 years to be applied during America’s post-election transition. The recovery of executions in the United States has been criticized.

The current President of the United States, Donald Trump, intended to execute as many death row inmates as possible before leaving the White House. This is a violation of one of the country’s political traditions.

Prior to Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, five federal executions were planned in the United States.