Harmony Montgomery’s dad wants police footage barred from murder trial

A New Hampshire father charged in the killing of his missing 5-year-old daughter[1] wants key pieces of evidence barred from his upcoming trial, including body camera footage from an encounter with police.

In the footage, father Adam Montgomery explains to police how he had not seen his daughter Harmony Montgomery for nearly two years after evading questions about her whereabouts for nearly half an hour. He had sole custody of his daughter at the time.

Harmony disappeared in late 2019 but authorities were not aware she was missing until 2021. Last year, police announced they believed she was killed in Manchester, New Hampshire in early December 2019.

Her remains have not been found.

Montgomery, 33, pleaded not guilty in October 2022 to charges of second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with Harmony's disappearance.

In August, Montgomery was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison on two counts of armed career criminal charges in an unrelated case. Montgomery received an additional sentence of 7.5-15 years for two theft charges.

Unsealed court documents last summer gave new insights based on testimony from Harmony's stepmother, Kayla, who told investigators that Montgomery struck his daughter in the face and head on three separate occasions because she had a bathroom accident.

A trial against Montgomery is scheduled to start in February 2024 and his defense attorneys want a New Hampshire judge to block a recording of a police encounter early in the search for Harmony.

The encounter happened on Dec.

31, 2021, after police found Montgomery sleeping in a car in a parking lot on Harvill Street in Manchester, New Hampshire.

A judge previously ruled in September that statements made to law enforcement that morning by Montgomery would not be allowed during a trial. No rulings have been made on whether the footage will be allowed in court yet.

"We just need to find out where she is to make sure she's OK," an officer tells Montgomery in the video.

"Right now, I have nothing to say to you guys," Montgomery responds.

Montgomery, dressed in a black hoodie and smoking a cigarette, avoids answering most of the questions by police detectives throughout a 53-minute video.

"Why are you so concerned that I want to check on your daughter?" asks Detective Jack Dunleavy.

"I have nothing else to say," Montgomery said, which he repeated throughout the interview.

Police assured Montgomery they did not have a warrant for his arrest but were concerned for Harmony's whereabouts and that her biological mother said she hadn't seen her for two years.

After avoiding answering questions for nearly half an hour, Montgomery tells the detective that Harmony's mother, Crystal Sorey, had picked up Harmony nearly two years earlier and he hadn't seen her since.

The detective told Montgomery that Crystal also hadn't seen her daughter in two years.

"I didn't know where she was staying but somewhere in Mass.," Montgomery said.

"You haven't seen your daughter in two years?" the detective asks.

"No," Montgomery responded.

"That's not concerning to you?" asked the detective.

"It is but at the time I had no way of getting a hold of Crystal," Montgomery said.

At one point, detective Dunleavy said, "I just want to know she's OK.

I didn't sleep at all last night knowing I could have a kid that's dead."

Why defense wants footage barred from trial

Defense attorneys for Montgomery, Caroline Smith and James Brooks, wrote in a motion that he used his "right to silence" when law enforcement found him that morning.

The attorneys argue that the entire encounter should not be admissible because it would make jurors speculate about what happened and make them prejudicial against Montgomery.

In their own motion, officials from the New Hampshire Department of Justice argued that, at the time of the encounter, Harmony had not been seen for about two years, and that the purpose of the encounter was for police to figure out her whereabouts.

It was not until much later that police came to suspect that Montgomery had killed his daughter and disposed of her corpse in an unknown location.

Prosecutors argue that the video footage would be a small piece of a larger investigation into the disappearance of Harmony.

During Montgomery's sentencing in August on armed career criminal charges, he publicly denied that he killed his daughter and asked the judge to only consider the facts in this case when determining his sentence.

"I loved my daughter unconditionally and I did not kill her," he said. "I understand that I was found guilty by a jury and I'm not here to dispute that at all.

The only consideration that I ask of you this morning is for you not to consider anything as it relates to the case regarding my daughter, Harmony."

References

1. ^ charged in the killing of his missing 5-year-old daughter (www.masslive.com)
2. ^ What we now know about Harmony Montgomery's killing after unsealing of affidavit (www.masslive.com)
3. ^ Adam Montgomery found guilty on gun charges unrelated to Harmony's death (www.masslive.com)
4. ^ Unsealed record details journey of Harmony Montgomery's body after killing (www.masslive.com)