Lisa Montgomery Pt. 1

·44 min·4 clips

Lisa Montgomery froze as her stepfather entered her room, triggering a flashback to her sister's assault.

This episode from the Parcast series "Female Criminals" begins the story of Lisa Montgomery, a woman who committed a notorious murder. The host narrates the episode, which is the first of a two-part series examining Montgomery's life and crimes. The episode details Montgomery's traumatic childhood, beginning with her birth in 1968 with fetal alcohol syndrome due to her mother Judy's drinking. It describes severe abuse from her mother, including being strapped to a high chair and beaten with belts and hangers. At age four, she witnessed her eight-year-old sister Diane being sexually assaulted by their mother's boyfriend. After Diane was removed by social services, Lisa became the sole target of abuse from her mother and her violent stepfather, Jack Kleiner. Jack began raping Lisa when she was 11 and later brought friends to assault her, with the abuse involving being tied up, beaten, and urinated on. A key insight is that Lisa developed dissociation as a coping mechanism, mentally checking out during traumatic events. Neuropsychiatric specialist Dr. George Woods links this to her long-term abuse. The episode introduces the concept of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), noting Lisa would have scored 9 out of 10, strongly correlating with future mental health issues. Her attempts to seek help failed, including when a cousin who was a sheriff's deputy drove her back home after she disclosed the abuse. Her mother Judy eventually discovered the rape but blamed Lisa and later forced her to have sex with handymen. As a teenager, Lisa was coerced into marrying her 26-year-old stepbrother, Carl Bowman, after becoming pregnant. Carl repeatedly beat and raped her, sometimes videotaping the assaults. After having four children, Lisa was coerced into sterilization but later became obsessed with having another baby, leading her to falsely claim pregnancies. Her mental state deteriorated, with experts later diagnosing bipolar disorder and complex PTSD stemming from her childhood traumas. In 2003, she anonymously reported her half-brother for meth manufacturing to gain custody of his infant son, Kyle, but lost the custody case to her own mother. The episode has a narrative, true-crime style that is both educational and psychological, delving into trauma and mental illness. The tone is serious and cautionary, with content warnings for graphic descriptions of abuse. Listeners interested in forensic psychology, the impacts of childhood trauma, and detailed criminal case studies would find this episode compelling. Those sensitive to descriptions of child abuse, sexual violence, and severe domestic abuse may want to skip it.

As heard by us

A bleak, measured look at abuse, neglect, and the slow accumulation of harm.

The episode takes a grim, careful look at abuse and neglect, opening with a warning before tracing Lisa Montgomery's childhood and the adults who failed to protect her.

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Why you'd press play

Play this if you want a true crime story that starts with the harm before the headline.

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