New Hampshire Supreme Court Overturns Murder Conviction
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has reversed the murder conviction of Adam Montgomery, previously found guilty of the brutal killing of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony. Her body has never been discovered, which complicated the case further.
The court determined that combining the trials for second-degree assault and second-degree murder compromised Montgomery’s right to a fair trial.
However, the court upheld his convictions related to other charges, such as abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Evidence presented during the trial indicated that Montgomery had physically abused Harmony in the months leading up to her disappearance. The jury was reportedly allowed to conclude, without sufficient evidence, that Harmony faced further harm in December 2019, leading to her death.
The court’s opinion noted that while the state had a strong case for the assault charges—highlighted by multiple witnesses who saw Harmony with a black eye in July 2019—only one witness tied Montgomery to the allegedly fatal December incident. This was his then-wife, Kayla Montgomery, whose reliability was challenged by the defense after she received a deal from prosecutors for her testimony.
Expressing their dismay, the adoptive parents of Harmony’s younger brother Jamison remarked, “We are completely disgusted by the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s decision. This monster has more protection than Harmony ever received.”
The murder case has now been sent back to a lower court, where Montgomery faces a new trial for that charge.
Harmony’s biological mother has lost custody and is no longer in touch with Montgomery, having been arrested in early 2021 after her daughter was reported missing.
Investigators uncovered that Harmony had been missing since 2019. Prosecutors allege that on December 7, the day they believe she died, Montgomery struck her in the head after she soiled herself during sleep, admitting to his then-wife that he thought he might have seriously hurt her.
Despite acquiring various pieces of evidence during the case, the defense tried to shift blame onto Kayla Montgomery, arguing she was the last person to see Harmony and insinuating that she played a role in the girl’s disappearance.
The court ultimately found that trying the murder charge alongside the other offenses could lead to unfair conclusions, noting the risk that jurors might improperly connect past assaults to the fatal injury in December.
