Lisa Montgomery (1968-2021) *52

resided in Melvern, Kansas, at the time of the murder. She was raised in an abusive home where she was allegedly raped by her stepfather for many years. She sought escape mentally by drinking alcohol. When Montgomery was 14, her mother discovered the abuse, but reacted by threatening her daughter with a gun. Montgomery tried to escape this situation by marrying at the age of 18, but both the first marriage and a second marriage resulted in further abuse.

Montgomery had four children before she underwent a tubal ligation in 1990. She falsely claimed to be pregnant several times after the procedure, according to both her first and second spouses.

At the time of her arrest, it was speculated that Montgomery's motivation stemmed from a miscarriage she may have suffered and subsequently concealed from her family. Montgomery's former husband later told authorities that she underwent a tubal ligation in 1990, and that she had a history of falsely telling acquaintances that she was pregnant. This led to later speculation for Montgomery's motive, which was that her former husband planned to reveal she was lying about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of their children and that Montgomery needed to produce a baby in order to counter the charge of habitual lying about pregnancy.