GUILTY MO - Bobbi Jo Stinnett, 23, slain, fetus stolen, Skidmore, 16 Dec 2004

[englishleigh]

How long does it take to do a DNA profile on a sample? It seems like it takes a little bit of time. If the strand of hair that was found in Bobbi's hand was from a wig, they would have known it early on.

And Lisa didn't look that big to me either. I suppose she could have hit her on the head (from behind), catching Bobbi by surprise, but I still think there's more going on.

Also, when Lisa arrived, Bobbie had to have known who she was. She knew Lisa as Lisa, not the name Lisa was using when she set up the time to look at the puppies. I'm surprised Bobbie even let her in the house. The only explanation would be if Lisa was wearing a wig, and had somehow disguised herself enough to where Bobbie might not recogonize Lisa right off the bat.

CREEEEEPY to think of Lisa in disguise, she's creepy, anyway....I just cannot imagine what Bobbie went through...did she recognize Lisa eventually if she was wearing a disguise? Ick...can you imagine how creepy that must have been?? I also think there is more going on and it will be very interesting if we are right. They keep insisting that Kevin is not a suspect...I wonder if Lisa had two other men helping her? If so, though, wouldn't she have ratted them out by now?

 

[luvbeaches]

CREEEEEPY to think of Lisa in disguise, she's creepy, anyway....I just cannot imagine what Bobbie went through...did she recognize Lisa eventually if she was wearing a disguise? Ick...can you imagine how creepy that must have been?? I also think there is more going on and it will be very interesting if we are right. They keep insisting that Kevin is not a suspect...I wonder if Lisa had two other men helping her? If so, though, wouldn't she have ratted them out by now?

I keep thinking Bobbi had to have recogonized Lisa. I have Ragdolls (cats-pets), and I have gone to a couple of cat shows (looking for cat toys, trees and to see the different types of breeds), and I see the same people over and over at these shows. Of course this is just my experience (and I haven't been to that many shows), but I know what a small world it is when it comes to Ragdoll breeders. They all seem to know one another, and they "hang" together at these shows. They also all hang out on two or three different Ragdoll boards.

I can't imagine one of them doing what Lisa did to Bobbie, and not be recogonized. Especially since we know they had had their picture taken together at a show. I guess there's a possibility that they didn't know each other all that well, but if Bobbi was well-respected within the rat terrier world, and Lisa wasn't (from what I have read), then I would think Bobbi would really know who Lisa was.

I would think Lisa had to have had a wig on....if only to allow her access to Bobbi's home. My guess is Bobbi realized who Lisa was very early on.


I know that the good Ragdoll breeders know all about the bad ones, or the ones who are not well-respected within the Ragdoll comminuty.

As bizarre as this whole thing is, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if her husband wasn't involved, and Lisa had somehow found a couple of other "helpers." I am questioning how the Montgomery's are going to explain away the fact that they knew Lisa had had her tubes tied. Of course, I am operating under the idea that the story in the paper today is correct. We don't know for sure if the Montgomery's were really contacted by Lisa's family or not. If I had to bet, I put money of them trying to tell the Montgomery's about Lisa's problems.

 

[raisincharlie]

Thank you for the DNA info. I guess I won't be surprised if she did it by herself, nor will I be surprised that she had help. If alone, she could have easily hit Bobbi on the head. This is all so sad. I still can't believe how sick and evil some people are.

Every article posted gives a more confusing set of details about this woman, I don't know if anyone could figure her out. From these articles it appears to me that LM was actually a very intelligent person on some levels. It would not surprise me if she did this alone, and like you, it somehow would not surprise me if she had help. As for ratting them out if she had help, I just don't see much motivation for her to do so. Seems to me that prison is a definite step up in lifestyle so to speak.

I also think the hit on the head is the more likely scenario, as much as I don't want to think it, I don't think Bobbie Jo was strangled until after the deed was either in progress or completed. It is terribly sad, and scary as he11 to think there are such creatures walking the face of this earth.

 

[luvbeaches]

Every article posted gives a more confusing set of details about this woman, I don't know if anyone could figure her out. From these articles it appears to me that LM was actually a very intelligent person on some levels. It would not surprise me if she did this alone, and like you, it somehow would not surprise me if she had help. As for ratting them out if she had help, I just don't see much motivation for her to do so. Seems to me that prison is a definite step up in lifestyle so to speak.

I also think the hit on the head is the more likely scenario, as much as I don't want to think it, I don't think Bobbie Jo was strangled until after the deed was either in progress or completed. It is terribly sad, and scary as he11 to think there are such creatures walking the face of this earth.

From that article in the paper, it does seem that Lisa was very intelligent, yet very manipulative. The only reason she might rat out the others, if it were to get her life, instead of the DP. Missouri has no problem putting people to death, and she probably knows this. It does seem like she will be moving up in the world by going to prison. It made me sick to read the part about pulling the potatoes out of the oven and putting them on the floor and then calling the kids for lunch.

I would also like to think that Bobbi was unconscious prior to her being strangled. She is one of the sickest people that have come along in a long time, and if the story in the KC paper today is true, then this came as no surprise to her family. Too bad no one wanted to believe them.

 

[raisincharlie]

From that article in the paper, it does seem that Lisa was very intelligent, yet very manipulative. The only reason she might rat out the others, if it were to get her life, instead of the DP. Missouri has no problem putting people to death, and she probably knows this. It does seem like she will be moving up in the world by going to prison. It made me sick to read the part about pulling the potatoes out of the oven and putting them on the floor and then calling the kids for lunch.

I would also like to think that Bobbi was unconscious prior to her being strangled. She is one of the sickest people that have come along in a long time, and if the story in the KC paper today is true, then this came as no surprise to her family. Too bad no one wanted to believe them.

You know the saddest thing about that is that apparently her mother and sisters knew but the authorities will do nothing until someone either harms themselves or someone else. That is actually disgusting - it is obvious from what has been reported this woman needed some kind of mental intervention.

Such a long history here of lying, manipulating, seeking attention, and disgusting behavior towards her own children. I have to wonder why the Montgomery family would not listen, at least observe, and note the obvious in all the lies. Of course I doubt anyone could imagine a person doing what she did.

 

[luvbeaches]

Such a long history here of lying, manipulating, seeking attention, and disgusting behavior towards her own children. I have to wonder why the Montgomery family would not listen, at least observe, and note the obvious in all the lies. Of course I doubt anyone could imagine a person doing what she did.

If they admit they believed Lisa's family, then how would they explain they believed Lisa was pregnant? So Lisa's hubby says he believed she was indeed pregnant, and you have to think that surely Lisa and her husband told his family about the impending birth, so did they not question this? If Lisa's mom and sisters did indeed approach all of them (including Lisa's husband), then it's pretty hard for me to believe that they didn't at least scratch their heads...and then when she showed up with the baby, I can't believe her husband paraded around town showing off the newborn. This is why they have the attorney, IMO. How do they reconcile this? They were told Lisa was sterile, yet none of them did a thing when she showed up with her child from Long John Silvers?

However, I am basing these questions on the fact that what was written in the article (today) to be true.

I do believe the system failed Lisa. She needed help a long time ago, and didn't get it. Sadly, we hear this over and over when these types of horrific crimes happen.

 

[raisincharlie]

If they admit they believed Lisa's family, then how would they explain they believed Lisa was pregnant? So Lisa's hubby says he believed she was indeed pregnant, and you have to think that surely Lisa and her husband told his family about the impending birth, so did they not question this? If Lisa's mom and sisters did indeed approach all of them (including Lisa's husband), then it's pretty hard for me to believe that they didn't at least scratch their heads...and then when she showed up with the baby, I can't believe her husband paraded around town showing off the newborn. This is why they have the attorney, IMO. How do they reconcile this? They were told Lisa was sterile, yet none of them did a thing when she showed up with her child from Long John Silvers?

However, I am basing these questions on the fact that what was written in the article (today) to be true.

I do believe the system failed Lisa. She needed help a long time ago, and didn't get it. Sadly, we hear this over and over when these types of horrific crimes happen.

You are right - there is a reason they have a lawyer. Somebody knows something IMO. It can't be about keeping the kids, they are already gone. If Kevin can prove he was at work, what's there to worry about ? Something isn't right - something rotten in Melvern ? Puzzling, there is more to it than anyone is saying.

 

[englishleigh]

I would also like to think that Bobbi was unconscious prior to her being strangled. She is one of the sickest people that have come along in a long time, and if the story in the KC paper today is true, then this came as no surprise to her family. Too bad no one wanted to believe them.

Sadly, though, I don't think Bobbie was strangled after being knocked unconscious...she was strangled unconscious...how else do you explain the police saying there was quite a struggle (which I'd assume means furniture and knick-knacks knocked askew), and Bobbie being found with the blond hair in her hands? She obviously was pulling the heck out of someone's hair...that blond hair belongs to whoever strangled her...Lisa does not have blond hair...and if it's wig hair, I think they'd know that since it tends to be synthetic.

 

[luvbeaches]

You are right - there is a reason they have a lawyer. Somebody knows something IMO. It can't be about keeping the kids, they are already gone. If Kevin can prove he was at work, what's there to worry about ? Something isn't right - something rotten in Melvern ? Puzzling, there is more to it than anyone is saying.

Somthing rotten in Melvern, is what I am thinking also. It will be interesting to hear the rest of the story. There has to be more.

 

[luvbeaches]

Sadly, though, I don't think Bobbie was strangled after being knocked unconscious...she was strangled unconscious...how else do you explain the police saying there was quite a struggle (which I'd assume means furniture and knick-knacks knocked askew), and Bobbie being found with the blond hair in her hands? She obviously was pulling the heck out of someone's hair...that blond hair belongs to whoever strangled her...Lisa does not have blond hair...and if it's wig hair, I think they'd know that since it tends to be synthetic.

Boy, I had forgotten that! You're right...she had to have been conscious while the attack was happening.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I'm just hoping she was all the way dead before the "surgery" started.

 

[luvbeaches]

I'm just hoping she was all the way dead before the "surgery" started.

Ughhhh...one can only hope.

 

[mainepotato]

According to this article, she was still (barely) breathing when her mom found her. I hope that she was unconscious. I can't imagine the pain and horror.

http://www.nydailynews.com/12-18-2004/news/story/263151p-225301c.html

 

[englishleigh]

I'm just hoping she was all the way dead before the "surgery" started.

Me, too, or at least unconscious to the point where she didn't feel anything. This is gross, but I've been thinking about the blood loss...she was lying in a pool of blood....police estimate that Becky got there no more than 15-20 minutes after Lisa left...so I think she WAS still alive when the "surgery" happened...b/c she lost so much blood so quickly, her heart must have still been pumping. Poor Bobbie...I really pray the strangulation was the worst thing she had to endure.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Me, too, or at least unconscious to the point where she didn't feel anything. This is gross, but I've been thinking about the blood loss...she was lying in a pool of blood....police estimate that Becky got there no more than 15-20 minutes after Lisa left...so I think she WAS still alive when the "surgery" happened...b/c she lost so much blood so quickly, her heart must have still been pumping. Poor Bobbie...I really pray the strangulation was the worst thing she had to endure.

Its almost too much information for me to handle. I have no idea how her mother is functioning. She's got to be beside herself with grief.

 

[englishleigh]

Its almost too much information for me to handle. I have no idea how her mother is functioning. She's got to be beside herself with grief.

I know....I'm sure she'll never be able to get rid of that picture in her mind...how horrible.
I feel for her and for Zeb....I hope the baby is helping them. It is so spooky & sad to go to that message board and see the posts between she and Lisa aka "Darlene Fischer" the night before....heartbreaking.

 

[CW]

Updated Jan. 10, 2005, 9:47 a.m. ET


Relatives of woman accused of stealing newborn say they offered warnings


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Members of Lisa Montgomery's family say they tried to warn people that the woman was making up stories about being pregnant, and their concerns increased after they learned in November that she had purchased a kit for home births.

Montgomery, 36, of Melvern, Kan., is accused of strangling a pregnant Missouri woman Dec. 16 and cutting her 8-month-old fetus from her body. The baby was found the next day in Melvern after Montgomery and her husband spent the morning showing the newborn off around town as their own.

Montgomery's mother, Judy Shaughnessy, told The Kansas City Star she knew something was wrong when she began receiving congratulations about being a grandmother again.

"I just said, `Yeah, right, she either stole it or bought it," Shaughnessy told the newspaper for a story in Sunday's editions.

Montgomery had been incapable of having children since undergoing tubal ligation surgery in 1990, her family said. But Shaughnessy said her daughter was able to fool her husband, his parents and their community.

"I tried to tell them and tell them, but nobody listened," Shaughnessy said.

Montgomery's two half sisters, Patty Hedberg and Jerri Kleiner, said they also tried to warn Montgomery's in-laws that she had faked at least five pregnancies.

The sisters and their mother said they found out in November that Montgomery had purchased the kind of birth kit used by midwives to deliver babies. Kleiner said she started to worry that her sister would do something drastic to get a baby.

Starting in the late 1980s, Montgomery had four children in a little more than three years. She had her tubes tied after the fourth was born in 1990, but in 1994 she told her first husband, Carl Boman, that she was pregnant with twins.

Her half sisters said that after she met her second husband, Kevin Montgomery, in 1999, she told him twice that she was pregnant. The first time, he gave her money for an abortion, they said.

During a 2003 custody battle for her brother's newborn child after he was put in jail on drug charges, Montgomery testified at hearings that she was pregnant then, too. She later testified that she miscarried and donated the fetus to science, relatives said.

Then Montgomery announced last summer that she was again pregnant.

"All her lies were catching up with her," Shaughnessy said. "I think the desperation got to her."

Shaughnessy said that last year she had looked into having her daughter committed to a psychiatric institution but was told that probably wouldn't happen unless Montgomery harmed herself or someone else.

The FBI says Montgomery traveled to the Skidmore, Mo., home of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett on Dec. 16, killed her and took her baby. Officials said she confessed to the crimes.

"There is a difference between evil and insane, and I think she's evil," Kleiner said.

Stinnett's mother, Becky Harper, said she wishes someone would have listened to the warnings about Montgomery's mental state.

"Let's just don't let her get off with being insane, OK, because the woman is not," Harper said.

 

[englishleigh]

DADDY'S MIRACLE
by Jeremy Olshan, NY Post

January 12, 2005 -- MAITLAND, Mo. — The husband of murdered womb-snatch victim Bobbie Jo Stinnett yesterday lovingly showed off a tender picture of him cradling the couple's miracle baby — and said every day with her gives him hope amid his nightmare.

"It's been rough," said an emotional Zeb Stinnett, 24, of the four weeks since his young wife was brutally slain by a sicko acquaintance and then had her 8-month-old fetus cut from her belly.

"But I just look at [the baby], pick her up, and that usually does it," the first-time dad told The Post in an exclusive interview.

He beamed as he talked about his newborn daughter, Victoria Jo, who miraculously survived her 23-year-old mother's gruesome murder.

The boyish-looking Stinnett is off for up to 12 weeks paternity leave from his job at the local Kawasaki manufacturing plant. He's staying at his mom's home, where he can get some relief from his demanding new full-time job as Mr. Mom.

New to changing diapers and filling about eight bottles of formula a day on little sleep, Stinnett says his situation is a far cry from where he thought he would be a little less than a month ago.

Bobbie Jo was his childhood sweetheart. They were dreaming of soon trading their small rental cottage in Skidmore, Mo., for a home they would buy for their growing family with help from money she was earning as a dog breeder.

But the couple's lives changed horribly on Dec. 16, when disturbed dog breeder Lisa Montgomery, 36, drove to their home and allegedly strangled Bobbie Jo before stealing the baby and trying to pass it off as her own.

Stinnett knows he'll have to one day tell his daughter what happened to her mom. But it's not something he's dwelling on at the moment.

"The most important thing right now is my daughter," the dad said. "A lot of people set too high expectations these days. I just want her to be normal."

He said that as a special tribute to his wife, he will start calling the baby Tory Jo, a nickname that Bobbie Jo loved — which he wasn't so keen on. He also has held onto two of her favorite rat terriers, Belle and Tipsy, as well as her pet Dalmatian, Maddy.

Bobbie Jo's mom, Becky Harper, gets to help out by baby sitting.

Like any new grandma, Harper proudly crowed about her only grandchild, who sleeps in a crib that last held her now-10-year-old son, Tyler.

"I think she looks just like Zeb," Harper said of Victoria Jo.

"Zeb says she's got Bobbie Jo's chin and eyes."

Harper was the one who found her daughter's bloodied corpse inside the house.

Bobbie Jo was supposed to pick her up at home to drive her to a garage, where she was having work done on her truck that fateful day.

When Bobbie Jo didn't show up, Harper walked to her daughter's home — and found her.

"I keep thinking, I wish I had gone over there earlier," said the mom, who still keeps a smiling photo of Bobbie Jo on her refrigerator door.

Of her daughter, a heartbroken Harper added: "She wanted [the baby] so bad. And now she's not even going to get to raise her.

The horrific slaying shocked the nation, as it became clear Montgomery not only knew her tragic victim — but the pair and their families had been friendly with each other.

Montgomery, the mother of four, apparently had wanted to give her new husband a child and lied about being pregnant, friends and authorities said. She murdered Bobbie Jo to fulfill her twisted dream, they said.

Send donations for the family, made out to Zeb Stinnett, to: Nodaway County Sheriff's Dept., c/o Stinnett Family, 404 N. Vine, Maryville, Mo., 64468.


http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/38053.htm

 

[mainepotato]

that's very sweet. I'm so glad that his little girl is alive and healthy and is able to bring him some comfort.

 

[englishleigh]

http://www.kctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2800788&nav=1PuZV7Y3

Suspect in Slaying of Pregnant Woman Indicted

Also on KCTV5.com
E-Mail KCTV5's Investigative Team

By BILL DRAPER
Associated Press Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A federal grand jury issued an indictment Wednesday that allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty against a Kansas woman accused of killing an expectant mother and stealing her unborn child.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek a death sentence for Lisa Montgomery, 36, of Melvern, Kan., who was indicted on a single count of kidnapping resulting in death. But, said U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, "Clearly, in this document, we have protected that option."

Montgomery is charged with driving to the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore on Dec. 16, strangling the eight-months-pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett and cutting the baby from her womb.

Stinnett, 23, was found by her mother in a pool of blood, her midsection sliced open. Authorities have said that on the day of the killing, Montgomery called her husband from Topeka, Kan., and told him she had just delivered a baby girl. The girl survived the attack and is at home with her father.

Graves said Wednesday that Montgomery would be arraigned sometime during the next week.