By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
MANCHESTER -The man who sold drugs to Adam and Kayla Montgomery, and let them live in his car after the death of Harmony Montgomery, 5, took the witness stand Tuesday.
Anthony Bodero told jurors in the Hillsborough Superior Court — North in Manchester that he never saw five-year-old Harmony while the Montgomery family lived in a car parked in his parking lot at the Colonial Village apartment complex in the Queen City.
Bodero has immunity from possible criminal charges for his testimony against Adam Montgomery, who is accused of beating his daughter to death during a fit of rage after the girl soiled herself in the family car.
The Montgomerys, both drug addicts at the time, became homeless in late November, 2019 when they were evicted from their Manchester apartment. The couple then lived in their Chrysler Sebring with Harmony and her two young step-brothers, according to prosecutors.
Bodero allowed the homeless family to park the car in the Colonial Village lot. He also sold Adam and Kayla Montgomery drugs in exchange for what little cash they had as well as food stamps. Kayla Montgomery testified Monday the family was often reduced to eating canned baby food in order to afford the drugs they bought from Bodero.
It was while living in the Sebring that Adam Montgomery allegedly beat Harmony so severely on Dec. 7, 2019 that she died in the back seat a short time later as he was eating fast-food and using drugs. But Bodero testified he never saw the girl when he interacted with the Montgomerys.
Kayla Montgomery testified Harmony was often wrapped in blankets while in the car, or when the family went out in public, in order to hide the bruises she suffered from Adam Montgomery’s frequent beatings.
Bodero, like Kayla Montgomery, initially lied to police and the grand jury about the case. Bodero had at first denied he sold the couple drugs while they were living in the car.
“You didn’t want anything to do with this, right?” Caroline Smith, Adam Montgomery’s defense attorney asked.
“Of course,” Bodero responded.
On the day Harmony died, the family was driving in the Sebring in Manchester when the car failed. That’s when Kayla and Adam Montgomery first discovered the child was dead, according to testimony.
Adam hid Harmony’s body in a duffle bag, cleaned the blood stains in the car, and then abandoned the vehicle, according to Kayla Montgomery. Bodero helped the family out, allowing them to live in an Audi for a short time.
Prosecutors are trying for a conviction despite having little in the way of physical evidence. Harmony’s body, which Adam Montgomery allegedly disposed of after keeping it bagged for months as it rotted, has never been found.
Manchester Police Sgt. Brian O’Leary also testified Tuesday about examining the Sebring after it was retrieved from a junkyard almost two years after the alleged murder. O’Leary tested the interior of the car for the presence of blood but came up empty.
Adam Montgomery admits he abused his daughter’s corpse and disposed of the body, but denies he killed Harmony. His defense team suggests Harmony died while alone in the Sebring with Kayla Montgomery and her step-brothers.
Adam Montgomery was not in court again on Tuesday, and he’s chosen to be absent from the trial since it began.