Murder in the Heartland (36 page)

Lisa Montgomery claims there’s no way she will admit guilt and cut a deal with the United States government.

“She still has not acknowledged she is guilty of any crime,” a source who speaks to Lisa quite often told me. “It seems as if she is ‘away’ for a while. She is really angry at Kayla [Boman] and wonders why she doesn’t contact her and blames [Carl Boman] for that. She bragged recently about completing a Spanish course. She talks about her prison life as if it is temporary and she is on vacation. She talks about her mother in a negative way, calling her a liar. [Rebecca] hasn’t seen her mother in three months…Kayla and Ryan haven’t seen her in six months.”

As for Victoria Jo, I’m told she is a happy, healthy baby girl, now two and a half years old. In downtown Skidmore, a small red-brick memorial stands near downtown. Its inscription reads: “In memory of Bobbie Jo Stinnett…loving wife, mother, daughter & sister.” It is a moving tribute to a young woman who lost her life fighting for her child, a small dedication to a woman whose fatal mistake was simply to trust someone she thought was a fellow expecting mother.

If you would like to receive updates about this story and my other books, or find out other news about my career, I encourage you to log on to my MySpace Web page (http://www.myspace.com/mwilliamphelps) and add me as your “friend.” I routinely send out bulletins regarding the cases I cover in my books. My next one,
Because You Loved Me
, due out during the fall of 2007, is the true account of two teen lovers who met on MySpace and the subsequent murder of one of their mothers. I am grateful to all my readers and thank every one of you for giving my books a chance. Your opinions mean the world to me.

M. William Phelps
Vernon, CT
December, 2006