The first execution of a woman by federal authorities in the United States for 67 years has taken place in the dying days of the Trump presidency.
Lisa Montgomery was put to death by lethal injection at the Terre Haute facility in Indiana at 1.31 am on Wednesday. Montgomery was the 11th person to be executed since Trump lifted a ban on federal executions in July.
Montgomery, now 52, had been found guilty of a horrific murder she committed in Kansas in 2004. She was convicted by a jury of murdering 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was 8 months pregnant at the time, and then performed a caesarean section on the woman and stole her baby. She then fled with the new-born and attempted to pass it off as her own. The child is now 16-years-old.
Montgomery already had four children with her husband but was no longer able to conceive a child. The defence claimed that she was suffering from extreme mentally ill-health at the time of the killing and that she should not be held liable for her actions. She also suffered severe sexual abuse as a child.
Montgomery is alleged to have suffered from depression, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, and hallucinations. She is also thought to have been experiencing 'false pregnancy', a condition in which a woman falsely believes they are carrying a child.
The prosecutor argued that Montgomery had made well-thought-out plans to commit the crime and that this showed that mental-health issues did not play a significant part in the crime. This version of events was believed by the jury who agreed that she should be put to death.
Montgomery's attorney, Kelley Henry, read out a statement following her execution, saying:
"The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight. Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame. The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman. Lisa Montgomery's execution was far from justice."
It was said that Montgomery, during her time on death row, made small gloves and hats in order to keep her mind focused away from her impending execution. However, sometime before the execution, her glasses were removed for safety reasons and she was locked down, meaning she could no longer keep herself occupied during her final days.
Asked if she had any final words, she simply answered 'No'.
Two more federal prisoners are scheduled to be executed before Trump is replaced by president-elect Biden in less than 7 days. They have however, been postponed by a judge due to both being diagnosed with Covid-19. Corey Johnson is awaiting execution for killing 7 people during his time as a drug trafficker, while Dustin Higgs murdered three women in Maryland. It is thought that as soon as Biden takes office, he will immediately reinstate the federal ban on the death-penalty, meaning that the executions will not take place at all.
The United States is one of the few countries in the developed world that still has the death penalty.
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