US to execute first woman since 1953

NEW YORK: The US is to execute a female federal inmate for the first time in almost 70 years, the Justice Department said.

Lisa Montgomery strangled a pregnant woman in Missouri before cutting out and kidnapping the baby in 2004. She is due to be given a lethal injection in Indiana on 8 December.

The last woman to be executed by the US government was Bonnie Heady, who died in a gas chamber in Missouri in 1953, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The federal execution of Brandon Bernard, who with his accomplices murdered two youth ministers in 1999, has also been scheduled for December. US Attorney General William Barr said the crimes were "especially heinous murders".

Last year, the Trump administration said it would resume federal executions. In December 2004, Montgomery drove from Kansas to the home of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, in Missouri, purportedly to purchase a puppy, according to a Department of Justice press release. "Once inside the residence, Montgomery attacked and strangled Stinnett - who was eight months pregnant - until the victim lost consciousness," it says.

"Using a kitchen knife, Montgomery then cut into Stinnett's abdomen, causing her to regain consciousness. A struggle ensued, and Montgomery strangled Stinnett to death. Montgomery then removed the baby from Stinnett's body, took the baby with her, and attempted to pass it off as her own."

In 2007, a jury found Montgomery guilty of federal kidnapping resulting in death, and unanimously recommended a death sentence. But Montgomery's lawyers say she experienced brain damage from beatings as a child and is mentally unwell.