‘Bashed her around’: First witnesses take the stand in Adam Montgomery murder trial

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Witnesses began to take the stand as the trial for Adam Montgomery, the New Hampshire father accused of killing his young daughter, began on Thursday.

Montgomery refused to appear in court on Thursday.

During the New Hampshire prosecutor Christopher Knowles’ opening statements, he argued “You will hear who had motive for killing Harmony and getting rid of her. He told a friend, ‘Harmony was evil.’ She was a constant reminded of her mother, Crystal, who he hated. He hated Harmony to his core.”

Knowles continued, arguing that Montgomery ‘beat and terrorized’ his now-estranged wife Kayla. “He conditioned her through force and threats. Kayla was in a nightmare with no end as he carried Harmony’s body for two months,” he said. Knowles said Adam flew into a rage on December 7th, 2019, when Harmony had an accident in the car.

“He looked back at Harmony as he was driving, and he said, ‘Really harmony? Again?’ And he began striking her. As he was driving, holding onto the wheel he began punching this little girl repeatedly for something she had no control over,” Knowles detailed.

Knowles described Harmony’s last days of life as excruciatingly painful, saying she was scared, skinny, bruised, constantly exhausted and unable to control her bowels.

“He looked back at Harmony as he was driving, and he said, ‘Really harmony? Again?’ And he began striking her. As he was driving, holding onto the wheel he began punching this little girl repeatedly for something she had no control over,” Knowles detailed.

After Montgomery’s alleged attack on the young defenseless girl, the prosecutor said he did drugs for 20 to 25 minutes, displaying zero concern for the child dying just feet away from him.

“Kayla was terrified to see what he had done. She could hear the moaning. Sounds that eventually stopped,” the prosecutor noted.

After Harmony died, the prosecutor says Montgomery stored the body in the ceiling of the shelter, sleeping beneath her before allegedly placing her body in a restaurant freezer and moving her again to an apartment on Union Street. Montgomery allegedly bought saws and lime at Home Depot, and put in for a work order to unclog his bathroom drain, where he allegedly dismembered the body.

Montgomery’s defense team denied Adam was at fault for his daughter’s death, claiming Kayla was the one responsible.

“Only Kayla knows the truth, and only she benefits from all the lies that she told,” the defense attorney described. “The whole entire story is not true.”

When called to the witness stand, Harmony’s biological mother Crystal Sorey told the courtroom through tears that she last saw her daughter before Easter in 2019. Sorey says she attempted to contact Adam and Kayla through 2021 but the two blocked her and didn’t allow her to see Harmony.

While DD Travers, a nurse practitioner at Catholic Medical Center, was at the stand, prosecutors revealed that Harmony weighed 35.2 pounds when she was admitted to the hospital in June 2019.

Adam’s uncle, Kevin Montgomery, appeared in court after being subpoenaed. He told the court that he saw Harmony with a black eye “like a raccoon’s” in July 2019. Kevin told the court he questioned Adam who allegedly replied that he exited the bathroom to find Harmony with her hands over the mouth of another child in the home.

“Then Adam said, ‘I bashed her around the f-ing house.’” Kevin Montgomery said. Through tears, Kevin described how told others of the incident, asking Sorey, DCF and Harmony’s foster mother to get help for the girl.

Kevin Montgomery added that the last time he saw Harmony was on September 19 before Adam was evicted from the home.

Montgomery also refused to appear in court on Wednesday. Montgomery told a judge via Zoom on Wednesday that he intends to plead guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying evidence in the death of Harmony Montgomery.

Montgomery is charged with second-degree murder and assault in connection with the death of Harmony. Authorities have also charged him with witness tampering, in addition to the criminal offenses of falsifying physical evidence (after, destroy, hide), and abuse of a corpse.

It wasn’t easy to select a jury, especially since the Harmony case has dominated New Hampshire news for more than two years. Messer and both sides spent hours, talking to more than 120 potential jurors before whittling down from a final pool of 27.

Harmony was last seen in December 2019. Her body has never been found.

When jury selection began Tuesday morning, photos showed Montgomery smiling with his tongue out as was ushered into court.

Before Messer began the jury selection process, she asked Montgomery if he wanted to waive his right to wear a leg brace and instead appear in court cuffed in shackles.

The trial is scheduled to continue daily when the court is open through Feb. 29. The trial will be held in Courtroom 1 of Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District in Manchester.

Kayla Montgomery will be called to testify on Friday morning as the state’s star witness against her husband.

Adam Montgomery indicted on second-degree murder charge in death of his daughter Harmony Montgomery

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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