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Fate of accused child killer Adam Montgomery in hands of jury as deliberations begin in murder trial

By Bob Ward, Boston 25 News and Boston 25 News Staff
By Bob Ward, Boston 25 News and Boston 25 News Staff

MANCHESTER, NH — The fate of Adam Montgomery, the New Hampshire father accused of brutally killing his young daughter, Harmony, “in a fit of rage,” is now in the hands of the jury as deliberations begin in his murder trial.

Closing arguments wrapped up Wednesday afternoon after the defense rested its case without calling a single witness. The jury was unable to reach a verdict by days end. Deliberations will continue Thursday.

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Jury selection begins in Adam Montgomery jury trial Adam Montgomery enters the courtroom for jury selection ahead of his murder trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H, on Feb. 6, 2024. He is accused of killing his five-year-old daughter, Harmony. David Lane/UNION LEADER POOL (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)

Prosecutor Ben Agati urged the jury to look closely at the facts of this case, calling Adam Montgomery “a killer, not a father.”

“It is he who punished her with his fists that day. And he who destroyed her body,” Agati told the court. “Harmony doesn’t get dignity, peace. He thinks finding Harmony is a waste of time, a waste of taxpayer money.”

Agati 02-21-24: Manchester, NH: The trial of Adam Montgomery (not pictured) who is charged with murdering his five year old daughter Harmony continued today inside Courtroom 1 at the Hillsborough County Superior Court. Pictured is Senior Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Benjamin Agati (right) as during closing arguments he shows the jury a photograph of the defendant, who he told them murdered his daughter, whose photo is on the screen at left. (Jim Davis for the Boston Globe). (Jim Davis for The Boston Globe/Jim Davis for the Boston Globe)

Authorities believe Adam Montgomery killed Harmony on Dec. 7, 2019, but she wasn’t reported missing until nearly two years later. Her body has not been found.

Defense attorney Caroline Smith urged jurors not to believe a single word of testimony from Adam Montgomery’s estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, who was the prosecution’s star witness.

WATCH LIVE: Closing arguments underway in Adam Montgomery murder trial.

WATCH LIVE: Closing arguments are underway in the murder trial of Adam Montgomery, the New Hampshire father accused of killing his young daughter, Harmony.

Posted by Boston 25 News on Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Adam Montgomery, 34, is charged with second-degree murder, assault, and witness tampering in connection with Harmony’s death. At the start of his trial, his legal team informed the court that he intended to plead guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying evidence.

A judge on Tuesday denied a motion from the defense requesting to dismiss the charges of second-degree murder and assault against Adam Montgomery.

Adam’s estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, broke down crying on the stand and shared gruesome testimony as the prosecution’s star witness.

Kayla Montgomery, 33, told the court that her husband violently punched Harmony when he flew into a rage on Dec. 7, 2019, shortly before they noticed her lifeless body.

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Kayla Montgomery

Adam Montgomery later folded the girl’s body into a duffel bag, and he spent the next few weeks moving Harmony’s decaying body by hiding it in a restaurant freezer, in the ceiling of a shelter, in an apartment refrigerator, Kayla Montgomery said. In their apartment, she testified, Adam spent hours dismembering the child’s body so it could fit in a small bag.

“It was evil,” Kayla Montgomery said in describing Adam Montgomery’s “crazy eyes” look and demeanor towards his young daughter on the day Harmony died.

Days after the girl’s death, in perhaps the most gruesome account of her testimony, Kayla Montgomery admitted to assisting Adam Montgomery as he cut the clothes off of Harmony’s decaying corpse and showered hot water on the girl’s corpse, in an attempt to speed decomposition by using lime.

Kayla Montgomery has a plea deal with the state and has previously identified her estranged husband as Harmony’s killer.

Rebecca Maines, who is in prison for a parole violation, testified that Adam Montgomery testified Tuesday that Adam Montgomery hated the Harmony “right to his core” because she reminded him of her mother.

Harmony Montgomery

LIVE COURT UPDATES FROM BOSTON 25′S BOB WARD:

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