Prosecutors plan to seek death penalty

By The Associated Press

Published: October 23, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman whose attorneys had argued that she was suffering from delusions when she killed an expectant mother, cut the baby from her womb and took the infant home was convicted Monday.

Jurors convicted Lisa Montgomery, 39, of kidnapping resulting in death in the 2004 attack on 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore. Jurors deliberated for about four hours before rejecting Montgomery's insanity defense. The jury could have acquitted her outright or found her not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys claimed Montgomery was suffering from pseudocyesis, which causes a woman to falsely believe she is pregnant and exhibit outward signs of pregnancy. They portrayed her as a victim of severe mental illness whose delusion of being pregnant was being threatened.

During closing arguments, federal prosecutor Roseann Ketchmark called the pseudocyesis claim "voodoo science.” She said Montgomery was driven by fear because she believed her ex-husband would expose that she was lying about being pregnant and use it against her as he sought custody of two children.

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