MANCHESTER, N.H. (Court TV) — One year after he was convicted of brutally murdering his daughter, Adam Montgomery has filed an appeal asking for a new trial.
Adam Montgomery arrives for his sentencing hearing at Hillsborough Superior Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Manchester N.H. Montgomery was found guilty of second-degree murder earlier in the year in the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony, who police believe was killed nearly two years before she was reported missing in 2021 and whose body was never found. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Adam was convicted in February 2024 of murdering his daughter, Harmony, whose body has never been found. At trial, he admitted to helping dispose of her body but denied killing the child before she disappeared in 2019.
The appeal argues Adam is owed a new trial because of three issues:
- The Court erred in joining charges for a July 2019 assault on Harmony with the murder charges.
- The Court erred in admitting prior bad act evidence.
- The Court erred in admitting bodyworn camera video from an encounter Adam had with police on Dec. 31, 2021.
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Harmony Montgomery is seen in an undated family photo. (Crystal Sorey)
The appeal echoes Adam’s argument at trial that he was not the one who killed Harmony, instead blaming his then-wife, Kayla Montgomery. Kayla testified at Adam’s trial, describing Harmony’s death in vivid detail, saying that he beat the 5-year-old in the backseat of the family’s car. But the appeal points to several inconsistencies in Kayla’s testimony, including the fact that no blood was found when the car was searched.
While Adam acknowledged multiple witnesses who testified to abuse in July 2019 that left Harmony with a black eye, he argues the only evidence tying him to the murder itself is Kayla, who is described as “unreliable” and having a “history of dishonesty and misplaced trust.”
Adam was sentenced to serve 56 years to life in prison for murder, in addition to the sentence he was already serving on unrelated charges.
