Murder in the Heartland Author:M. William Phelps ?The most disturbing and moving look at murder in rural America since In Cold Blood.? ? Gregg Olsen — On a December night in 2004, a 911 operator in Nodaway County, Missouri, received a frantic call from a woman who?d found her pregnant 23-year-old daughter in a pool of blood on the living room floor. Most shocking of all, the dying woman?s unbor... more »n baby had been viciously ripped from her womb.
?Get ready for some sleepless nights.? ? Carlton Stowers
Across the border in Melvern, Kansas, Lisa Montgomery showed off a beautiful newborn she proudly claimed as her own. While some shared her excitement, others harbored suspicions. Meanwhile televisions across the nation broadcast the first Amber Alert for an unborn child.
?Phelps is a first-rate investigator.? ? Dr. Michael M. Baden
Newly updated with the latest surprising developments, Murder in the Heartland goes behind the scenes of two picture-perfect American towns forever changed by one horrifying act of violence. With exclusive access to key witnesses, family members, and potential victims who narrowly escaped a similar gruesome fate, M. William Phelps tells a classic American tale of unthinkable murder and the quest for justice.« less
Very good book. Sad story, but unlike the other book on this same crime, "Baby Be Mine", it doesnt have all the horrible details of the murder, and focuses more on the people involved.
This book was just ok, it focused in my opinion too much on the suspect's life and very little about the victims. At one point the author went from current day to flashbacks to the suspects childhood and marriages and divorces to her first husband in movies thats a interesting turn in books it just confuses the reader. Also there was alot of stories about the history of the town and things that didn't have to do with this case. Its written alot with the suspects children's help and not much of Bobbi Jo is written about, if you want a good book about this case go read Baby Be Mine.
The part about the actual murder was pretty gruesome, but i found the rest of the book pretty interesting!!!! I had to look up the outcome of the trial online, but it is supposed to be in the paperback version!!!!!
Lisa Montgomery took an alias before she took a woman's life and her baby. A habitual liar, Lisa had to find a child to prove that she had been pregnant...her husband and children believed it and she was running out of options. Phelps' book focuses on the people around Lisa, her husband and ex-husband, her children, her mother, to tell the story and try to explain why a woman might commit such a horrible crime.
Like many true crime stories set in the heartland, this story makes you wonder how pathological the seemingly normal people we interact with everyday really are.
A well-written book covering the Lisa Montgomery-Bobbie Jo Stinnett-Victoria Jo Stinnett murder-kidnapping case. Timely since Montgomery's trial is due to start later in 2007. Reads like "In Cold Blood."
I've read hundreds of true crime books, but this one is the most horrid of all. In the afterword M. William Phelps said he took some rather scathing reviews from some of Lisa Montgomery's allies that he didn't get the entire truth. Phelps said he asked anyone who had any information to get in touch with him when he was writing the book. Those that took issue with him did not do so.
However, it doesn't matter what happened in Lisa's life before she committed that horrid act .... she did what she did and no excuse(s) in the world can could ever be understood nor condoned. This was a well thought out premeditated act of murder, period. She got what she deserved with the death penalty.
As far as the author .... it seemed at times he was regurgitating information (as many true crime writers will do), but if you simply bypass that process the book is well written.
WOW! Unbelieveable what some depraved people are capable of. To pick a victim, kill her and perform a crude c-section is terrible. Worse is that she has 4 children already so it is not like she was one of those crazy barren women who scheme to do the same. (not that they are any more deserving of someone else's baby) I can't imagine how the family could cope with such a brutal crime.
*Spoiler alert* (kinda)
She was sentenced to the death penalty after the book was published.