Slay Suspect's Ex-Spouse Speaks Out

Dec. 29, 2004 -- -- Carl Boman, the ex-husband of the Kansas woman accused of killing an expectant mother and cutting the baby from her womb, says his former wife was desperate to avoid having to admit that she wasn't really pregnant.

"I've known her for 20 years and I think she felt she was probably backed into a corner. It's something that's been going on for quite awhile in her life and I think she had to have proof to cover up some of her lies," Boman said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Boman's ex-wife, Lisa Montgomery, is accused of strangling eight-months-pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, and cutting the baby from her womb during a Dec. 16 attack at Stinnett's home in Skidmore, Mo. The baby girl survived.

Authorities say Montgomery, 36, had been telling friends and family members that she was pregnant for months and showed off Stinnett's baby as her own. Meanwhile, Boman says Montgomery hasn't been pregnant since 1990, when he says his ex-wife had her tubes tied.

Just days before Stinnett's killing, Boman filed for permanent custody of two of the four children he had with Montgomery. He said their children no longer wanted to live with her. Boman had already been awarded temporary custody of the four children.

Boman says he believes his wife is sane, despite the horrific details of the crime she's been accused of committing. He says his heart goes out to the Stinnett family and that he wishes someone could have done something to prevent Bobbie Jo's death.

"Looking back now, I could see it coming. I guess you just really never know anybody," Boman said.

Stinnett's body was discovered in a pool of blood by her mother. Officials say Montgomery called her current husband, Kevin Montgomery, from Topeka, Kan., on December 16 and told him she had just delivered a baby girl. Authorities found Stinnett's daughter a day later with Montgomery and her husband in Melvern, Kan.

The infant, named Victoria Jo Stinnett, spent a few days in a Topeka hospital before going home with her father, Zeb Stinnett.

Kevin Montgomery has said he believed the baby his wife presented to him was theirs. He has not been charged and prosecutors have not said if they suspect he knew anything.

Lisa Montgomery is scheduled to return to court Thursday for a detention hearing, and prosecutors have already asked that she be denied bond. The defense has not said if it will seek her release.

Boman says his children have had a hard time coping with the horrifying accusations their mother now faces. "We want to try to get as much as a normal life as we can. We just pray about it. We're just trying to stick together."