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On Christmas Eve, a federal court ruled that the government had acted illegally when it set a new execution date for Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row. For Montgomery, whose life has been shaped by chronic violence and the failures of those in power to stop the abuse, it was one of the few times the government had ever stepped in to protect her.
Diane Mattingly sat on the witness stand in October 2007, prepared to share an account of her life that she had shared with few before. She’d been asked to do so by investigators working on behalf of her half-sister, Lisa Montgomery, who was on trial for capital murder and facing the death penalty. It had been about a year since Mattingly received a call on the landline in her Kentucky home. “Is this Diane?” asked a voice. “I’m part of Lisa’s team.”
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Mattingly was elated her stepmother (Montgomery’s biological mother) had sent her away to foster care when she was 8, and she hadn’t seen her sister in 33 years, though she’d tried to find her. The pair used to be inseparable. Mattingly was four years older than Montgomery and had thought of her as her baby, dressing her up and staging tea parties. “Oh my God, really? I’ve wanted to find her my whole life,” Mattingly excitedly told the woman on the phone, who identified herself as an investigator.
Killer who ripped unborn baby from victim should be spared from execution beg family
Lisa Montgomery will be given a lethal injection in January, however her sister Diana claims the jury was not told of her mental health problems caused by years of rape and torture
Lisa Montgomery was sent to prison in 2007 (Image: via REUTERS)
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Dec. 18, 2020
This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.
On Jan. 12, Lisa Montgomery is set to become the first woman executed on federal death row in nearly 70 years. The last executions, both in 1953, were of Bonnie Heady, killed in a gas chamber in Missouri, and Ethel Rosenberg. Ms. Montgomery would be only the fifth woman put to death in a federal civilian execution, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
On Dec. 16, 2004, Ms. Montgomery drove to Skidmore, Mo., where she strangled a pregnant woman named Bobbie Jo Stinnett, then sliced open her belly and took the baby to the home she shared with her husband, Kevin, in Kansas. The baby survived.
Opinion | Why Lisa Montgomery Shouldn t Be Executed nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.