MANCHESTER, N.H. (Court TV) — Addressing the judge before he was sentenced on weapons charges, Adam Montgomery denied killing his daughter, Harmony, and asked the judge not to consider that pending case during the sentencing.
This Oct. 2022 booking photo provided by the Manchester, NH Police Department shows Adam Montgomery. (Manchester, NH PD)
A jury convicted Montgomery in June on eight charges related to the thefts of two firearms in 2019.
Montgomery asked to address the court prior to hearing his fate. WMUR was in the courtroom and recorded Montgomery as he spoke about his daughter, who has not been seen since 2019.
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“I understand that I was found guilty by a jury, and I’m not here to dispute that 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. I did not kill my daughter, Harmony. I look forward to my upcoming trial to refute those offensive claims. … I love my daughter unconditionally and I did not kill her.”
In response, New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said, “The state is also looking forward to that trial coming up this fall,” according to WMUR.
Montgomery was charged with murdering his daughter in 2022, years after she disappeared. Police say Harmony was murdered in Dec. 2019, but was not reported missing until nearly two years later in Nov. 2021. Her remains have never been found. In a probable cause affidavit released in June, police accused Montgomery of moving his daughter’s body several times after her murder, even storing her remains in a ceiling vent.
READ MORE: Affidavit: Wife claims Adam Montgomery fatally struck Harmony Montgomery
Evidence provided in a probably cause affidavit in the case of missing Harmony Montgomery shows a ceiling tile from a shelter residence Adam and Kayla Montgomery allegedly stored Harmony’s remains in. (Hillsborough Superior Court)
Montgomery told the judge that he was an addict, and while he never chose to become an addict he pledged to spend his time in prison “to the best of my ability to change things about myself.”
The judge imposed two stand-committed consecutive sentences of 15-30 years for the two charges of being an armed career criminal, to be followed by additional consecutive sentences of 7 1/2 to 15 years for the remaining charges, with five years of the minimum sentence suspended, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said in a news release.
Addressing Montgomery, Judge Amy Messer said her sentence was appropriate, given the defendant’s history of violent behavior, the role guns played in crimes and “the brazen nature of his conduct,” The Associated Press reported.
Montgomery’s murder trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 20, 2023. Court TV will provide live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial.
