Woman charged in fetus kidnapping in court
Judge appoints public defenders
 |  Lisa Montgomery shown in a December 20, 2004, booking photograph. |
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|  VIDEO |
 Suspect's ex-husband's attorney talks about faked pregnancies.
 Bobbie Jo Stinnet is buried in Missouri.
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- The Kansas woman accused of strangling a pregnant woman and cutting the eight-month fetus from her womb appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate judge who appointed two attorneys to defend her.
Lisa Montgomery, 36, faces federal charges of kidnapping resulting in murder in the December 16 death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in her home in Skidmore, Missouri.
Montgomery wore orange jail coveralls and chains on her hands and feet. She was soft-spoken and subdued as she discussed her finances with U.S. Chief Magistrate John T. Maughmer.
Maughmer appointed public defenders Anita Burns and David Owen to represent her.
She is scheduled to be back in court on Thursday for a detention hearing.
Prosecutors allege that Montgomery strangled Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut the fetus from her womb.
The mother of four allegedly took the baby to her hometown of Melvern, Kansas, and told people the child was hers.
Authorities recovered the baby on December 17 and gave her to her father, Zeb Stinnett. She was in good condition.
The FBI said Montgomery has confessed to the crime. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. After the hearing, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said further arrests remain a possibility.
Montgomery was arrested in Kansas, and waived her right last week to a preliminary hearing and identity hearing in U.S. District Court there. The court transferred custody from the District of Kansas to the Western District of Missouri, where the crime occurred.
Acquaintances have said Montgomery and Stinnett knew each other for more than a year because they were both interested in showing rat terrier dogs.
Authorities said Montgomery used a fake name to contact Stinnett through an online chat room about the dogs the Stinnetts bred and sold.
Montgomery allegedly obtained directions to Stinnett's home and visited her there December 16.
Stinnett's mother found her body hours later, officials said.
At Thursday's hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET), Maughmer will decide whether Montgomery will continue to be detained. She could be freed on bond, but that is considered unlikely. If her detention continues, the case will proceed to a grand jury.
