Harmony Montgomery’s mother reacts as father Adam is convicted of her murder
GRAPHIC WARNING: Disturbing content. Harmony Montgomery, five, was last seen alive in late 2019, but authorities in Manchester, New Hampshire, only started looking for her two years later
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The mother of slain five-year-old Harmony Montgomery spoke to reporters outside a courtroom after the little girl’s father was convicted of her murder.
Jurors convicted Adam Montgomery on all charges following a gruelling trial which took place more than four years on from when Harmony was last seen alive in 2019.
Authorities failed to search for the missing child – who was known to protective services – for more than two years after she went missing.
Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband struck the Harmony several times after she had a bathroom accident.
She testified that, after killing her, the family drove to a Burger King. She fed her two young sons and placed a sandwich on Harmony’s lap without realising she was dead.
“After the defendant repeatedly struck Harmony. After he put the blanket over her. After she moaned. After the strange crying moaning stopped. After you did drugs and after the car died, you thought she was sleeping under that blanket,” the prosecutor said.
“Why did you think that she may be sleeping after Adam repeatedly struck her?”
“Because she would usually just go to sleep after,” Kayla answered.
The little girl’s remains were hidden in a ceiling vent at a shelter where the family stayed after her death. Montgomery snuck the remains into his workplace freezer, before disposing of them in March 2020. Harmony’s remains have never been found.
After the verdict was handed down, Harmony’s mother Crystal Sorey told reporters she was “grateful” that it was over – but vowed that she and authorities would not stop fighting to find her daughter’s body.
She also slammed Montgomery as a “coward” for failing to attend any of his trial.
In a press conference, Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg also vowed to continue to push to find Harmony.
“We’re still going to find her,” Chief Aldenberg told reporters as he choked back tears.
“This girl deserves better than the life that she had. This is never about winning or losing, this is about a five-year-old girl who was killed by her father. And I can’t think of a worse crime.”
Adam Montgomery’s defence tries to blame Harmony’s murder on wife in closing statements
Harmony Montgomery’s father posted ‘loving’ social media post two years before allegedly punching her to death
Rampant abuse, damning DNA evidence and a ‘betrayal’ prison letter: Harmony Montgomery trial’s key revelations
Montgomerys used SNAP benefits to pay for drugs
The Montgomerys’ dealer took food stamps as a form of payment for drugs.
As a result, Kayla Montgomery said, the whole family found themselves having to eat baby food.
“Who was eating baby food while you were living in that car?” the prosecutor asked.
“All of us,” Kayla Montgomery said as she broke down in tears. “Myself, and the boys and Harmony.”
Harmony Montgomery trial prosecutors use father Adam’s own words against him: ‘I f***ed up’
The defence rested their case without calling any witnesses but told jurors to take testimony from Montgomery’s estranged wife Kayla Montgomery with a grain of salt. Attorney Caroline Smith said that, while his client “did horrible things” to conceal Harmony’s body, he did not kill his “baby girl.”
Meanwhile, prosecutor Ben Agati warned jurors “not to be fooled” by Montgomery’s partial admission.
“Let’s quote people accurately,” Mr Agati said, referencing Ms Attorney’s closing arguments. “‘I f***ed up.’ His language, that he used...the night that he disappeared Harmony’s body to wherever place it is now, where he knows. His words, ‘I f***ed up.’ Not she, not we, not Kayla. ‘I’. Singular, personal, solo.”
Mr Agati argued that Montgomery had only conceded on two charges because he thought jurors would then “let the murder charge slide.”
“He admits what he can’t deny. He denies what he can’t afford to admit,” the prosecutor told the court.
He continued: “And the other parts of her body. Her torso, her face, her eyes, that smile...only the defendant, as we sit and stand here today, knows where they are. And he can’t afford to say where they are, because the evidence contained on them will show that he caused her death, so she won’t get the burial that she deserves.”
Adam Montgomery said police ‘were wasting their time’ trying to find Harmony’s remains
On Tuesday, the prosecution called Manchester Police Detective Matthew Larochelle to the stand. During direct cross-examination, the state played the recording of a call between Montgomery and an unknown individual that took place around the time that the FBI and other law enforcement organizations were searching for Harmony’s remains near the Merrimack River.
“One dude went to the police and I was blown away,” Montgomery told the other person on the call. “This dude was like, ‘Oh, my friend ... he passed away, but he was very cool with Adam. He told me Adam gave his daughter to him to bury by the river. I can bring you to the spot.’
“They had the FBI and everybody else there digging up the river. I’m like, is this real life right now? They wasted their time.’
When the other individual said that authorities were just doing their due diligence, Montgomery said the allegations were “outlandish” and that the search was a “waste of taxpayers’ money.”
“I get it, you’re trying to prove a case, kudos to you, But, at what cost, man? Just going to chase down people that f***ing call in from Arizona?” Montgomery said.
Montgomery claimed he ‘missed’ daughter after alleged murder
Tarah Hilbert, the building manager at the Union Street apartment where Montgomery, his estranged wife Kayla Montgomery and their two infant sons lived after Harmony was killed, told jurors that she befriended the Montgomerys six months after they moved to the building complex in 2020.
She then recounted a conversation in which Montgomery told her he had a daughter who lived with her mother in Lowell, Massachusetts.
“He said he had a daughter named Harmony and he hadn’t seen her in a couple of years because her mother had taken her,” Ms Hilbert said.
It is unclear when exactly the exchange took place, but it was at least eight months after Harmony was killed.
During cross-examination, defence attorney Caroline Smith brought up the context in which Montgomery volunteered that information.
“That conversation came up sort of the topic of him missing her, and you asked, ‘Well, where is she?’” Ms Smith asked. “And he said Lowell, Mass.”
Ms Hilbert agreed that this was correct.
Adam Montgomery found guilty of daughter Harmony’s 2019 murder
urors in Montgomery’s three-week trial in Manchester, New Hampshire, heard testimony from more than two dozen witnesses before the prosecution and the defence delivered closing arguments on Wednesday morning.
Montgomery, 34, was found guilty on a second-degree charge in connection with Harmony’s death in December 2019. Earlier in the trial, Montgomery had conceded on two lesser charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying information.
Shortly after 1pm on Thursday after nearly seven hours of deliberation, Judge Amy Messer announced that a verdict had been reached. Harmony’s mother Crystal Sorey, and her foster parents Michelle and Timothy Raftery were in the courtroom when Judge Messer read the guilty verdict. Montgomery himself only attended the first day of jury selection and did not return to the courtroom for the remainder of the proceedings.
Adam Montgomery found guilty of daughter Harmony’s 2019 murder
Earlier in the trial, Montgomery had conceded on two lesser charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying information
Harmony Montgomery prosecutors vow to find little girl’s body after father’s murder conviction
Adam Montgomery was convicted on Thursday on charges of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and falsifying information in connection with Harmony’s December 2019 death. According to testimony introduced in court, Montgomery beat Harmony to death after the little girl soiled herself in the back of his car.
Montgomery then went to horrific lengths to conceal and reduce Harmony’s remains. Her body has never been found, despite several massive multi-state searches along the route that Montgomery took on the night in March 2020 when he disposed of the remains.
The jury returned the guilty verdict after roughly seven hours of deliberation. At a press conference outside the courtroom, Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg noted that the department’s determination to find Harmony would not be impacted by the ending of the trial.
“We’re still going to find her,” Chief Aldenberg told reporters as he choked back tears. “This girl deserves better than the life that she had. This is never about winning or losing, this is about a five-year-old girl who was killed by her father. And I can’t think of a worse crime.”
Harmony Montgomery prosecutors vow to find her body after father’s murder conviction
‘The search for her will continue until we find her,’ prosecutor Ben Agati told reporters outside the courtroom