untitled design

United States: Federal government executes woman, first in 70 years

 

This is the first federal execution of a woman in 70 years. Wednesday, January 13, “Lisa Montgomery, 52, was executed at the federal penitentiary of Terre-Haute” in Indiana, the Department of Justice said in a statement. He was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. (6:31 a.m. GMT). The Supreme Court had previously given the green light to the execution in the night, rejecting the final appeals of the convict’s lawyers despite the disagreement of three progressive magistrates.

In 2004, Lisa Montgomery killed an eight-month-pregnant woman in order to steal her fetus. Unable to have a new child, she spotted her victim, a dog breeder, on the Internet and came to her home in Missouri under the pretext of buying her a terrier. On the spot, she had strangled her, had opened her uterus, had taken the baby (who survived), before abandoning it in a pool of blood.

Severe mental disorders

Without denying the seriousness of her crime, her lawyers stressed that she suffered from severe mental disorders, consequences of violence and gang rape suffered in her childhood. She was sentenced to death in 2007 in Missouri. Monday evening, a federal judge had ordered to suspend his execution, the time to assess his mental state. “Mme Montgomery is so far removed from reality that it cannot rationally understand the administration’s motive for its execution, ”Judge Patrick Hanlon said.

An appeals court, seized by the Department of Justice, however, annulled this decision on Tuesday and the Supreme Court, profoundly changed by Donald Trump, validated its decision. The temple of American law, which had been seized of two other separate appeals, each time ruled in favor of the government lawyers.

The last federal executions of women date back to 1953, those of Bonnie Brown Heady for kidnapping and murder and of Ethel Rosenberg for espionage, the American media recalled. A strong supporter of capital punishment, like his most conservative voters, Donald Trump has also ignored a request for clemency sent by the supporters of Lisa Montgomery. Lisa Montgomery’s lawyer, Kelley Henry, described this new execution as vicious, citing in a statement “the thirst for blood of a failed administration”.

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular