Woman charged with killing woman, taking baby from womb; child OK

Friday, December 17th 2004, 8:37 pm

By: News On 6

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) _ A woman was charged Friday with killing a pregnant woman and kidnapping the baby that was cut from her womb. Authorities found the infant was found in good health, ending a day of frantic searching.

U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said Lisa M. Montgomery, 36, of Melvern, Kan., was charged with kidnapping resulting in death in the slaying of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was found nearly dead Thursday in her Skidmore home. Paramedics tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Although DNA tests were pending to confirm the baby's identity, authorities called off the Amber Alert issued for the child.

``We're confident we have the little girl that was taken from Skidmore,'' Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey said during a news conference in Maryville.

Graves said Montgomery contacted Stinnett through an online message board. Montgomery was seeking to buy a dog from Stinnett, who raised rat terriers, he said.

Graves would not give a motive for the crime.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Sheldon Lyon had said earlier in the day that authorities were questioning a man and a woman who were in the same place where the baby was found in eastern Kansas. A red Honda hatchback matching a description offered earlier by police was in the driveway of the home.

Graves said the investigation was ongoing but would not say if additional charges might be filed or if there was another suspect.

Espey said there was no indication of forced entry into Stinnett's small white home in this community of about 500, located north of St. Joseph in the extreme northwest corner of Missouri.