New Hampshire Supreme Court Overturns Murder Conviction in High-Profile Case
CONCORD, N.H. — In a significant legal development, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction of Adam Montgomery, who was accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery. Despite police suspicions that Harmony was killed in 2019, her body has never been found.
Montgomery was initially sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison in 2024, following a conviction for multiple charges including second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and falsifying evidence. However, the Supreme Court’s recent decision removed the second-degree murder conviction from the list, citing procedural issues.
The justices unanimously agreed that combining the second-degree murder charge with the assault charge compromised Montgomery’s right to a fair trial. They expressed concerns that the jury might have improperly linked the assault evidence to the murder charge. “There was a significant risk that the jury would draw the impermissible inference that because the defendant assaulted the victim before by striking her in the head, he must be the one who fatally assaulted her in December by again striking her in the head,” stated the justices.
The second-degree murder conviction was the most severe, accounting for 45 years of the total sentence. Montgomery was already serving an additional 32 ½-year sentence for unrelated gun charges.
The attorney general’s office has announced plans to seek a retrial on the murder charge. Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the office, stated, “We remain confident in the facts of this case, the evidence presented, and the exceptional work of our prosecutors, investigators, and law enforcement partners.”
In 2023, the state agreed to a $2.25 million settlement with Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, who had filed a lawsuit alleging that social workers ignored signs of abuse after Adam Montgomery gained custody of Harmony in 2019. Harmony was reported missing in 2021, and authorities declared her presumed dead in 2022.
During the trial, Adam Montgomery was absent, and his defense did not present any witnesses. His attorneys acknowledged his guilt in falsifying evidence and abusing a corpse but refuted the murder charge, suggesting that Harmony might have died while with her stepmother, Kayla Montgomery.
Kayla Montgomery, who served an 18-month sentence for misleading a grand jury, was a key witness for the prosecution. She testified about the events of December 7, 2019, claiming that Adam Montgomery fatally assaulted Harmony in a car out of frustration over bathroom accidents. She detailed how Montgomery moved Harmony’s body to various locations before finally disposing of it in March 2020.
Kayla added that she attempted to intervene but feared for her own safety due to her husband’s threats and physical abuse.
