Execution of Lisa Montgomery

On 12th January 2021, in the closing so-called lame duck days of (very pro-death penalty) Donald Trump’s first presidency, the US government executed Lisa Montgomery by lethal injection. She was first woman since 1953 to receive the federal death penalty - meaning by the order of the US government as opposed to one of the US states.

Horrific crime

She was arrested in 2004 after she strangled a pregnant woman, cut her unborn baby from her abdomen, and then kidnapped the child to pass it off as her own.

Abuse and illness

However abhorrent her crime was, it must be placed into the context of her tragic and traumatic life. Lisa’s parents were alcoholics and she was raised in a deprived and violent household. Reported to have suffered brain damage as a child, she was a victim of sex trafficking and physical abuse, has a genetic predisposition to mental health problems, and has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, complex post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative personality disorder. Yet all this mental strain went unrecognised and her mental health un-investigated - until after she was arrested and detained.

An abuse excuse?

Lisa has taken full responsibility for her crime. Since being in prison she has been able to receive the help she needed in the first place, to begin to stabilise her mental health. Yet psychological reports, which stated that she was psychotic when she committed the murder and that her childhood trauma could explain her behaviour as an adult, were ridiculed in court. Her legal team’s attempts to have these arguments weighed in her sentencing were dismissed as ‘abuse excuse’. Instead her poor personal hygiene and unkempt home were used to degrade her character - as a person and as a mother.

As for the ‘abuse excuse’ accusation: examining a suspect’s mental health history and unfortunate background is the very opposite of looking for an ‘excuse’. No, it is a search for a partial ‘explanation’ at least.

Executing the sick!

Capital punishment is a divisive subject. Lisa’s crime was abhorrent. But regardless of what one believes about the death penalty, surely it isn’t right to execute someone who committed their crime whilst seriously mentally ill? It’s time to ramp up campaining against capital punishment for detainees who commit serious crimes whilst seriously mentally ill.

Dr Rachael Pickering is our Chief Medical Officer. The original version of this article was published in January 2021. It had light editing before being republished in October 2025.

The Lord looked down from his sanctuary…
to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.
Psalm 102:18-20