Murder In The Heartland
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling author examines the shocking case of a Kansas woman who murdered to become a mother.
On December 16th, 2004, a 911 operator in rural Missouri received a frantic call from the mother of twenty-three-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett. The eight-months-pregnant mother-to-be had been found bleeding on her family room floor—her unborn baby gone.
More than 150 miles away, in Melvern, Kansas, Lisa Montgomery proudly showed off “her” new baby, duping many while arousing the suspicions of others. Across the nation, televisions broadcast the first Amber Alert for an unborn child.
Here is the true story of the frantic search for a baby born under shocking conditions, of the lucky break that led to the killer, of a tortured history of sexual abuse, and the pain that lingers in two American towns. With the exclusive cooperation of key witnesses and participants, award-winning investigative reporter M. William Phelps reveals what really happened that fateful December day.
“The most disturbing and moving look at murder in rural America since In Cold Blood.” —Gregg Olsen
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The disturbing 2004 Missouri murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, eight months pregnant, whose unborn baby was ripped from her womb by her alleged killer, Lisa Montgomery, is the subject of Phelps's undistinguished latest true-crime book. Having lied about a nonexistent pregnancy, Montgomery deliberately planned the crime, selecting her victim after meeting her through their mutual involvement in breeding rat terriers. Immediately after the savage killing, Montgomery presented the newborn girl as her own to friends and family, most of whom rapidly put aside the suspicious circumstances, which included the new mother's claim that she had been discharged only hours after the delivery. Once an alert was issued for the missing baby, it was only a matter of time before the police put the pieces together. Montgomery's trial is due to begin in late 2006. In the hands of a writer such as Ann Rule, this grim tale could have served as a meaningful entry point into the killer's psyche, but Phelps (Perfect Poison) overwrites and fails to offer much insight.
