THE family of ‘womb raider’ Lisa Montgomery’s victim say her killer’s execution has brought them “closure” and her surviving daughter is “happy” and “living a normal life” after being kidnapped as a baby.
Montgomery, 52, who was pronounced dead at 1.31am, after receiving a lethal injection, became the first woman federal prisoner to be executed in 67 years.
She was killed after being convicted of the horrific murder of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, in 2004 – after she used a rope to strangle her and cut her baby girl from her womb with a kitchen knife.
Montgomery then attempted to pass off newborn Victoria Jo as her own.
Bobbie Jo’s brother-in-law, Ace Stinnett, told The Sun exclusively after her execution: “This brings us closure, we’re going on with our lives now.
“Justice has been served. We just wanted it to be over with. Bobbie Jo would be happy.”
The victim’s teenage daughter, Victoria Jo, who survived the attack, lives nearby with her dad, Zeb, in Missouri.
Father and daughter have never spoken publicly about Montgomery’s heinous crime which shook the small town of Skidmore.
“I don’t speak to them about what happened, but she [Victoria] absolutely understands,” Ace, 41, told The Sun.
“She’s 16 now, she’s getting along good, happy and living a normal life, he [Zeb] is bringing her up well.”
Reports confirmed members of Bobbie Jo’s family were present for the execution at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, although it is not known who watched from the public gallery.
Montgomery was reportedly “denied a prayer with her spiritual adviser” and declined to say any final words before her execution, according to an AP journalist.
Asked if he was disappointed that she didn’t apologize for Bobbie Jo’s death or the pain she caused her family, her brother-in-law insisted: “She would never have apologized.”
He branded her “evil” and said he didn’t believe she had mental health problems because the killing was premeditated.
Earlier this week, her lawyers launched an 11th hour bid to prevent her execution, arguing she was brain damaged, severely mentally ill and has suffered a lifetime of sexual abuse.
They told a court she was allegedly raped by her stepdad and his friends in a specially built room when she was just 11.
Ace described his sister-in-law as “loving and caring” and said the family got through the tragedy by “praying and consoling each other.”
According to the Associated Press, Montgomery “throbbed” during her execution as the lethal injection was pumped through her body.
She tapped her fingers nervously for several seconds, a heart-shaped tattoo on her thumb, showed no signs of distress, and quickly closed her eyes, the outlet reported.
As the lethal injection began, Montgomery kept licking her lips and gasped briefly as pentobarbital, a lethal drug, entered her body through IVs on both arms.
A few minutes later, her midsection allegedly throbbed for a moment, but quickly stopped.
As a curtain was raised in the execution chamber, Montgomery looked momentarily bewildered as she glanced at journalists peering at her from behind thick glass.
Judge James Patrick Hanlon’s decision to block her lethal injection planned for Tuesday was based on evidence that she was unable to understand the government’s rationale for her execution.
The judge granted the stay of execution to allow the court to conduct a hearing to determine whether she is competent to be executed.
If the Supreme Court had allowed the final decision on her execution to be pushed into to Joe Biden’s administration, Montgomery’s capital punishment may not have been carried out.
