By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Adam Montgomery was never in court for the trial on charges he killed his 5-year-old daughter Harmony Montgomery, and it didn’t matter in the end as jurors found him guilty Thursday on all counts. He showed up only once for jury selection on Feb. 6.
The 34-year-old Manchester man is guilty of second-degree murder for beating Harmony to death on Dec. 7, 2019; second-degree assault for beating Harmony so badly in July of 2019 that he left a black eye; witness tampering for forcing his wife, Kayla Montgomery, to lie about what happened to the little girl; and guilty on charges of falsifying evidence and abuse of Harmony’s corpse for the months of gruesome coverup.
Adam Montgomery faces a minimum sentence of 35-years to life in prison on just the second-degree murder conviction.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Agati, speaking after the verdict was announced, said Adam Montgomery will be in the Hillsborough Superior Court — North in Manchester for his April sentencing.
“I look forward to seeing him in court,” Agati said.
Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg, became emotional after the verdict, calling the officers who worked the case lions who brought a killer to justice. Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, said no one helped when she reported her daughter missing until she contacted Manchester Police.
“(Detective) Jack Dunleavy right there, he’s the one who listened,” Aldenberg said, pointing to his detective.
Dunleavy credited his fellow officers and department brass in making the case as a team. Manchester Police devoted 25 percent of their staff first to finding Harmony when she was reported missing in late 2021, and then to getting her killer when it was clear she was dead.
“Today is a great win, but it still feels like it’s not complete,” Dunleavy said.
Dunleavy, Aldenberg, and Agati all said the next mission is to find Harmony’s body so she can have a decent burial.
“This girl deserves better than the life that she had,” Aldenberg said.
Investigators have narrowed the area where Adam Montgomery likely dumped Harmony’s body to parts of Revere, Massachusetts. Agati said it is possible Harmony is still in the Catholic Medical Center tote bag Adam Montgomery used to keep her corpse. Agati hopes someone will see something, but law enforcement is not done looking.
“As long as I’m a police officer I’m going to continue to look for her,” Dunleavy said.
Adam Montgomery knows where Harmony is, and he has yet to disclose the location.
“Maybe he has a shred of decency to do the right thing,” Aldenberg said. “He knows where she is.”
While Harmony’s killer is now convicted, Aldenberg said there are people and agencies in New Hampshire who failed Harmony who ought to be held accountable.
“There’s been some failures here, but those failures were not on the Manchester Police Department … Some people in other agencies need to be held accountable. We wouldn’t be standing here today if other people did their jobs,” Aldenberg said.
Among the more than 50 witnesses who took the stand during the trial was former Division for Children, Youth and Families child protection investigator Demetrious Tsaros. Tsaros is the DCYF investigator who was assigned to investigate the report Adam Montgomery gave Harmony a black eye in July of 2019.
The abuse was reported in late July, but Tsaros testified he didn’t see the girl for more than a week after the report was made. Harmony’s face did have signs of a recent injury, but the black eye had recovered since the report was made. Tsaros closed the case as unfounded.