Harmony Montgomery trial hears how girl’s remains were ‘crushed into diaper bag’: Updates
Officers saw missing 5-year-old in Sept 2019’: Police chief on Harmony Montgomery case
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Adam Montgomery’s estranged wife has taken the stand at his trial over the murder of his five-year-old daughter Harmony.
Mr Montgomery’s trial is under way in New Hampshire, more than four years after Harmony was last seen alive in late 2019.
Authorities failed to search for the missing child – who was known to protective services – for more than two years after she went missing.
In 2022, Mr Montgomery was charged with [1]second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, falsifying physical evidence, and witness tampering[2].
Kayla Montgomery told police that her husband struck the little girl several times after she had a bathroom accident.[3]
The little girl’s remains were first stored inside a duffel bag and then transferred inside a trash bag. Then, Kayla Montgomery said, her husband crushed the remains until they fit inside a CMC (Catholic Medical Center) tote bag that she was given at the hospital after delivering her son.
“It was a diaper bag,” Kayla said.
Montgomery then snuck the remains into his workplace freezer[4], before disposing of them in March 2020.
Harmony’s remains have never been found.
Show latest update 1707488629
Kayla Montgomery breaks down in tears after being shown photo of her and Harmony
Kayla broke down in tears as prosecutors showed an image of her and Harmony.
“He was working to get custody of her. It took to years,” Kayla said. “[Harmony and I] took pictures and play. We always did silly pictures.”
(CourtTV)
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 14:23
Kayla Montgomery takes the stand
The prosecution’s key witness is testifying.
Kayla said that she didn’t initially come forward to police because she had been threatened by her estranged husband.
“I was scared and I was told by Adam that … he had dropped Harmony with her mother,” Kayla said. “I was scared for myself and my children.”
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 14:20
What locations did jurors view on Wednesday?
The jurors visited the Gilford Street home where Harmony, her father, stepmother and siblings lived. Jurors were expected to get off the bus transporting them from the courtroom.
Jurors were later taken to the parking lot of Colonial Village Apartments, where the Montgomerys lived in their car after being evicted.
And finally, they went to an apartment on Union Street where prosecutors believe Montgomery hid Harmony’s body while he lived there with his family in 2021.
“In a few minutes, we are going to get on a bus to see a couple of locations in Manchester. In some ways, it’ll be the beginning of a journey that you will likely never forget,” prosecutor Ben Agati said.
“It’s also the last journey that Harmony Montgomery took when she was alive and where her body went afterwards. It’s a journey into the actions of the defendant on the days of the attack and after. We’re going to drive by the place where Harmony was first assaulted, or where she was killed, or where she was … crushed.”
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 14:00
Montgomery ‘hit Harmony’ every time she soiled herself
After the Montgomerys were evicted on 27 November 2019, Harmony began having bathroom accidents while the family lived out of the car.
“For ten days, she lived in a car. For ten days, she had bathroom accidents,” the prosecution said. “For ten days, Harmony was not able to control her own body. For ten days, she lived in fear because every time she had an accident, the defendant would hit her.”
The state said that Harmony was so bruised, that Montgomery had to cover her with a blanket every time he brought her in public.
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 13:00
Adam Montgomery pins blame for Harmony’s death on ex-wife in dramatic opening statement
Mr Brooks went on to say that Kayla Montgomery had created a web of lies to blame her husband and that Adam Montgomery had merely agreed to destroy evidence to “protect” his wife and keep custody of their young children.
“He’s not innocent here. He and Kayla moved the body to keep it hidden. You should find him guilty on those charges,” Mr Brooks told jurors. “Adam Montgomery did not kill Harmony … Kayla Montgomery was the last person to see Harmony alive and knows how Harmony died.”
Mr Montgomery said Harmony, Adam Montgomery, Kayla Montgomery and the couple’s two infants had been living in a car after being evicted from their home in December 2019. The family was living in their car and Montgomery was doing odd work in order to earn quick money, Mr Brooks claimed.
It was during one of those instances in which Kayla Montgomery was left alone with the children in the car that Harmony died, Mr Brooks alleged. The prosecution had previously suggested during their opening statements that Harmony died after her father repeatedly hit her in the head because she had soiled herself.
The state argued that Kayla Montgomery didn’t come forward with information sooner because she was being abused and “terrorised” by her husband.
“Harmony did not die in that intersection you saw yesterday,” Mr Brooks told the court. “Both Adam Montgomery and Kayla found Harmony’s body in the middle of the night after he returned from work at Colonia Village Apartments.”
The defence said Kayla Montgomery did not tell Adam Montgomery how Harmony died, but that he went on with a plan to destroy Harmony’s remains in order to “protect” his family. The couple then put off the decision to dispose of the body because they didn’t know what to do, Mr Brooks said.
“He had to protect [Kayla]. He had to protect their children,” Mr Brooks said. “If anyone found out, her children would be taken.”
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 12:00
Where is Harmony?
The girl’s remains have still never been found.
The Gilford Street property was the focus of much of the search with investigators seen in the home and the backyard for multiple days.
However, Manchester Police said the search concluded there.
It is not clear if anything of interest was uncovered and no other locations for searches have been identified.
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 11:00
Adam Montgomery’s past criminal history
Prior to the alleged murder of his daughter, Adam Montgomery has a history of violence and a long criminal record including convictions for shooting a man in the head in a drug deal just six months before Harmony was born.
He was also convicted in 2010 for attacking two women at gunpoint.
It has also emerged that Montgomery is a suspect in the cold case murder of a 28-year-old man in Lynn, New Hampshire, back in February 2008.
Darlin Guzman was found shot in the chest in the parking lot of the former White Hen Convenience store in Lynn’s Austin Square on the night of 10 February 2008. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
(AP)
A law enforcement source told Boston 25 News [12]that Mr Montgomery, who was 18 at the time, and two members of his family, who were not named, have been the focus of the murder investigation since day one.
The three family members had been in contact with the victim earlier that day and planned to meet with him at the convenience store, before the meeting culminated in gunfire, according to the source.
No one has ever been charged with Guzman’s murder but the source said Mr Montgomery remains the focus of the investigation to this day.
In June 2023, Mr Montgomery was found guilty of all counts in his trial relating to stolen weapons in 2019. He was sentenced to 32-and-a-half to 75 years in prison.
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 10:00
Adam Montgomery brought Harmony’s rotting body to work
Following complaints by other residents at the shelter where he lived and hid Harmony’s body, Montgomery decided to bring the bag with Harmony’s remains to work with him every day.
At the time, Montgomery worked as a cook and dish washer at a since-closed restaurant.
“[The bag] stood out to people, because he placed it in the freezer during his shifts,” a prosecutor said. “He brought it with him regularly to work and he stored it in a freezer where the company kept food, ingredients. People saw him bringing that in and out. They couldn’t have imagined what that bag contained.”
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 09:00
When was Harmony last seen?
The last confirmed sighting of Harmony was on 11 September 2019 when Manchester police officers were called to her father’s home on 77 Gilford Street in Manchester.
Harmony was living with her father as well as his wife Kayla Montgomery and their children at the property at the time.
Law enforcement said the last police callout to the property was in October 2019 but later confirmed they had muddled the dates and it was actually September.
Police interviews and statements from various family members also offered a timeline for her last known sighting.
Ms Sorey told police she had not been able to contact her daughter since they spoke on a video call in April 2019. After that, she said Mr Montgomery cut off all contact between her and her daughter.
(AP)
Mr Montgomery first claimed to investigators he last saw his daughter around Thanksgiving 2019, claiming that Ms Sorey had picked her up from Manchester to take her to live with her.
According to the criminal complaint, Mr Montgomery claimed to believe his daughter was living with his ex when officers contacted him in December 2021.
He also did “not show much emotion or reaction” when officers said they were concerned whether Harmony was alive, the complaint alleges.
His story was also contradicted by Ms Montgomery, who told police she last saw Harmony the day after Thanksgiving when her husband said he was driving her to see Ms Sorey.
Mr Montgomery’s uncle Kevin Montgomery told investigators he had not seen Harmony or his nephew since late 2019 when she was five years old.
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 08:00
WATCH: Officers saw missing 5-year-old in Sept 2019′: Police chief on Harmony Montgomery case
Officers saw missing 5-year-old in Sept 2019′: Police chief on Harmony Montgomery case
Andrea Blanco9 February 2024 07:00
References
- ^ Mr Montgomery was charged with (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, falsifying physical evidence, and witness tampering (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ struck the little girl several times after she had a bathroom accident. (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ then snuck the remains into his workplace freezer (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707488629 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707488442 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707487200 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707483600 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707480000 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707476400 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707472800 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Boston 25 News (www.boston25news.com)
- ^ 1707469200 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707465600 (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ 1707462000 (www.independent.co.uk)