"She was hyperventilating," Henry said. Mattingly, 57, recalled the day her half-sister was brought home in a pink bundle after being born Feb. 27, 1968, in Pierce County, Washington. The judge reached no conclusion aboutwhether sexual activity occurred but said he considered it "inexcusable" that Shaughnessy didn't report the situation to authorities and get counseling for Montgomery. Kleiner built a makeshift shed on the side of the trailer for Montgomery, where he began molesting, and then raping, her. Her mouth was covered with duct tape so frequently that she learned not to cry. Judy Shaughnessy had already raised two convicted felons at the time. Shaughnessy forced Montgomery to have sex with men in exchange for money and services, and also punished her children by killing the family dog in front of them,smashing its head with a shovel, the attorneys said. They married in 1986. More recently, the states that have been carrying out executions, such as Texas and Tennessee, have halted and delayed executions because of the pandemic. Lisa Montgomery tried to get counseling the year before she killed Stinnettbut wasn'tconnected to a quality provider, her attorneys said. He recalled that Montgomery begged him not to tell anyone, for fear that Kleiner would kill her. Montgomery, 52, the only woman on federal death row,is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Jan. 12 in the U.S. Penitentiary at TerreHaute, Ind. And I am just asking for somebody - once - not to fail her.". Teddy Kleiner, the son of Shaughnessy and Jack Kleiner, was 45 years old when he was fatally shot in 2019 in North Topeka. "If I had, would they have taken Lisa out of the home also?" More: Lisa Montgomery's execution, delayed by attorneys' COVID-19 cases, rescheduled for Jan. 12. "The whole community over there's traumatised by this.". "I'm asking him to have compassion on her as a person that has been failed over and over and over again. Porterfield compared the chronic abuse to pouring lighter fluid onto a spark. As Montgomery grew up, court records say, observersnoticed that she increasingly appeared to be "spaced out," "not emotionally present" or in "her own little world.". U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner upheld the jury's recommendation the following April. Skidmore has suffered lasting effects as a result of Stinnett's murder, said Strong, the investigator who helped prodMontgomery to confess. Lisa Montgomery - the only female inmate on federal death row in the US - has been executed for murder in the state of Indiana. Montgomerys mother, Judy Shaughnessy, who was 20 at the time of her birth in 1968, drank heavily while pregnant with her daughter. Lisa Montgomery has been charged in the December 16 death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant at the time. He married Judy Shaughnessy, who would become Montgomery's mother, in 1967 in Miami, Okla. Patterson was the second of six husbands Shaughnessy would have during her life, which ended in 2013. After playing with the dogs in the backyard that day, Montgomery strangled Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, who was pregnant, and cut open her abdomen to remove her 8-month-old fetus. The case was ruled a homicide and remains unsolved. Both became infected with COVID-19, believing it to be transmitted duringthe prison visit. In recommending execution, the jury spelled out six aggravating factors supporting capital punishment. There is a decision that has to be made, separate from guilt, about whether someones behavior is so morally reprehensible that they deserve the death penalty, she said. Investigators quickly realised that "Darlene Fischer" did not exist, and tracked Montgomery down the next day using her emails and computer IP address. Its also people hearing it, knowing it and doing nothing about it. Defense attorney Fred Duchardt told jurors that sexual abuse during her childhood had caused Montgomeryto become mentally ill and killed her soul. But what happened at the modest clapboard house where Stinnett lived with her husband still haunts some of those involved in the investigation. Henry says Montgomery's original legal defence after she was arrested and charged with murder was woefully inadequate, and presented few of the details about her abuse, trauma and mental illness. A home videoshowsCarl Boman raping and beating Montgomery, said her half-brother, Teddy Kleiner, who gave a sworn statementsaying he had seen it. A herd of rat terriers greeted them. "I fell in love immediately.". I felt sick watching the video. A survivor of incest and sex trafficking, she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy, and cerebellar dysfunction, said Amy Harwell, a federal public defender in Tennessee who is working on Montgomerys case. Mattingly said her heart sank when she realized Montgomery wasn't coming with her. For one thing, the wider world won't let them forget. A clemency petition asking Trump to reduce Montgomerys sentence to life without parole is expected to be filed in the coming weeks. Stinnett wasn't breathing and was cold. Often, theyd physically fight, and Mattingly would try to protect Montgomery from the chaos. I couldn't believe how good it felt to be part of a loving family. Multiple medical experts have given statements agreeing with that diagnosis. Montgomery's lawyers argue that because of a combination of years of horrific abuse, and a raft of psychological issues, she should never have been given the death penalty. On her way out the door, Mattingly said, Shaughnessy leaned over and told her it was all her fault she was being taken away. "Oh, they're here, I've got to go," she said. When Mattingly and Montgomery were young, Shaughnessy beat them and doled out cruel forms of punishment, like taping Montgomery's mouth shut, or pushing Mattingly out into the snow, naked. That was ultimately dropped in favour of an insanity defence, but Henry believes the damage to Montgomery's credibility was already done. "She always wanted to be a mom," says Baumli. When Lisa was a small child, Judy allowed men to rape her for money, including allowing her to be gang raped on multiple occasions. Montgomery's execution, scheduled less than 60 days, will be the first of three federal executions in January before Trump leaves office. The murder 16 years ago is never far from the minds of the town's residents. While all five are haunted by Stinnett's murder, they are also "bonded for life," Strong said. Harper told a dispatcher her daughter's womb appeared to have "exploded" and that blood was "everywhere." These days, she requires a regimen of psychotropic drugs to function. Her lawyers are pursuing an insanity defense. As one family story goes, Montgomerys first words as a toddler were, dont spank me.. Kleiner and Shaughnessy divorced in 1985, with Shaughnessy contending she once walked in on Kleiner and Montgomery having sex. . She said it was over and over, one man right after the other, and went on for hours, her cousin said in a sworn statement. "It was pretty awful.". Victims of severe childhood sexual abuse can overcome their trauma with certain factors, Porterfield said, such as the presence of a nurturing adult who provides love and connects them to resources to promote healing. Montgomery took Stinnetts baby, clamped the umbilical cord and used baby wipes to clean her. Read about our approach to external linking. The couple had three children in rapid succession. Montgomery's older half-sister, Diane Mattingly, told reporters last week that Shaughnessy repeatedly beat Montgomery and Mattingly. When she was 18, Montgomery married her stepbrother. At one point, one of Montgomery's brothers found a home movie that showed Montgomery's husband raping and beating her. It was clear that she was traumatized, that she was somewhere else, he said. Mattingly said she was fortunate to have been moved to a lovinghome of high school history teacher and coach Floyd Gwin;his wife, Zella Gwin;and their three biological children. Weddle said she moved to Melvern when she retired nine years ago because she wanted peace and quiet after more than 30 years as a Topeka police officer. Kleiner was never charged. In late December, Montgomery's legal team submitted a petition to President Donald Trump that makes the case that after a lifetime of abuse - which they characterise as torture - she is too mentally ill to be executed and deserves mercy. The baby girl survived, andMontgomery took her home and briefly passed her off as her own until investigators arrested her the next day. As long as she was given cigarettes, Montgomery continued to talk, Strong said. Since receiving her execution date, she's been placed on suicide watch in an isolated cell. "My sister was crying and in pain. If her execution goes forward, she will be the first federal female inmate to be executed in almost 70 years. Montgomery was already vulnerable to serious mental illness, she added. She had this ability to find what hurt you the most and use that against you, Mattingly said. Montgomery claimed to live in northwest Missouri. Montgomery often read her Bible or did things with her hands, including writing, quilting, and making placemats and bookmarks, Dorr said. What you need to know about Montgomery and her victim, Bobbie Jo Stinnett. She enacted this in the grip of a very broken mind.". Montgomerys case is not about whether she is responsible for the crime; she is. However, in the tiny town of Skidmore, Missouri, where the crime was committed, there is little sympathy for that argument. Even at the age of 8, Mattingly recalled being worried about what would happen to Montgomery without her there. "I would say, 'President Trump, I want you to look at the life that Lisa had led, I want to look at all the people that have failed her, I want you to look at the rape, the torture, the mental abuse, the physical abuse that this woman had endured,'" she says. Please, honey.". Randy Strong, one of the investigators who would later get Montgomery to confess, said she apparently used part of a clotheslineto create a garrote, slipping it over Stinnett's head from behind, probably as she was on her knees putting a puppy into a dog carrier. After she gave birth to four children, Judy pressured Lisa into an involuntary sterilization. The Trump administration announced it was reinstating executions last summer after an almost 20-year hiatus. She was broken by people who were supposed to be her caregivers. Her story quickly fell apart and she confessed to the killing. As Fritz patted Montgomery on the back of her hand, Strong said he noticed dried blood and tissue embedded beneath her fingernails. But the psychological abuse targeted at her was even more damaging. When Lisa was a small child, Judy allowed men to rape her for money, including allowing her to be gang raped on multiple occasions. According to sworn statements from her family, her mental health declined rapidly after that. For Montgomery, her lawyers argue, it began before she was born. It is hard to know if Montgomery understands that she is close to being executed; her mental state does not allow for much lucidity. He was pumping her, Shaughnessy testified. To help keep her mind occupied, Henry said, Montgomery was initially given one crayon and one piece of paper, but nothing else. Shaughnessy beat her children with belts, cords and hangers, put them in cold showers and put duct tape over Montgomery's mouth to silence her, the attorneys said. Mattingly and Montgomery were best friends. "That's how evil this woman is," Strong said. Montgomery's cousin told her legal team that he lived with "regret for not speaking up about what happened to Lisa". Protecting her half-sister became her "sole purpose in life, she said. Judy Shaughnessy, drank during pregnancy. 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