The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a man who was accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter and moving her body around for months before disposing of it.
Adam Montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder in 2024 in connection with the death of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery, in December 2019. He was also convicted of second-degree assault for having struck his daughter in July 2019, falsifying physical evidence and witness tampering. He was sentenced to 56 years to life in prison.
In its decision to reverse the murder conviction, the court argued that the murder and assault charges should not have been tried together and that doing so prevented Montgomery from the right to a fair trial.
“As compared to the evidence of multiple disinterested witnesses substantiating the July assault, the evidence of the December 7, 2019 fatal attack is substantially weaker,” the court ruled. “We therefore conclude that this disparity created a significant risk that the jury would rely on the strength of the evidence that the defendant struck the victim in anger in July to conclude that, as Kayla testified, he similarly — and fatally — struck the victim in December.”
The court also argued that evidence for the murder charge — largely presented through testimony by Montgomery’s wife, Kayla Montgomery — was not strong enough for conviction.
Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband stored their daughter’s body in multiple locations, including a ceiling vent at a homeless shelter and a walk-in freezer at his workplace, and about what she said were her husband’s plans to dismember their daughter’s body.
“This evidence, however, supports only Kayla’s testimony about the defendant’s actions after the victim’s death; it does not corroborate Kayla’s testimony that the defendant killed the victim on December 7 by repeatedly punching her in the head,” the court ruled.
The justices also challenged the state’s other evidence, testimony from one of Adam Montgomery’s friends.
Prosecutors said Adam Montgomery asked the friend to rent him a U-Haul in March 2020, which they said he used to move his daughter’s corpse, according to the ruling. The friend testified, according to the ruling, that he witnessed Adam Montgomery “pacing back and forth, repeating ‘I f**ked up’” that night.
“This evidence does support the proposition that the defendant displayed a consciousness of guilt for something he had done,” the justices wrote. “It does not, however, corroborate Kayla’s account of the victim’s death.”
Montgomery will not be freed from prison in the wake of the reversal. He is serving a minimum 32-1/2-year sentence in prison for unrelated gun crimes that began in 2023.
He also faces additional decades in prison for the assault charge he was found guilty of in connection with the July 2019 incident, which the court affirmed in its ruling.
His attorney, Pamela Phelan, said in a statement that the “court’s decision addresses important aspects of a fair trial.”
“Justice is only served when we provide a person accused of a crime a fair and just trial,” she said. “A trial that is not conducted with those principles in mind does not do justice to persons accused of a crime or people who are victims of crimes.”
Michael Garrity, spokesperson for the state Justice Department, said in a statement that the department plans to pursue a retrial on the murder charge.
“We remain confident in the facts of this case, the evidence presented, and the exceptional work of our prosecutors, investigators, and law enforcement partners,” he said. “We will continue our efforts to seek justice for Harmony Montgomery and all those who knew and loved her.”
Harmony was reported missing in 2021, nearly two years after prosecutors said she was killed. Her body was never found.
