Lawyers for Adam Montgomery ask to sever assault, murder charges into separate trials

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Defense attorneys for Adam Montgomery, who is accused of killing his young daughter, Harmony, are seeking to sever charges against their client into separate trials.

Adam Montgomery refused to be transported to court on Tuesday for a hearing, officials said. He is charged with second-degree murder and assault in connection with the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony, who was last seen in December 2019.

In an earlier affidavit, investigators allege Adam beat Harmony to death in a fit of rage after she had a “bathroom accident” in the car the family was living in before moving her lifeless body from one hiding place to the next in an effort to conceal the stench of her decaying remains. Harmony’s body has never been found.

Montgomery’s defense attorneys on Tuesday asked the court to sever his assault charge from the homicide charge, which could mean two trials instead of one, within the same time frame.

‘I didn’t kill her’: Adam Montgomery denies killing daughter, Harmony, during sentencing hearing

Prosecution agreed that Montgomery has right to do that, since the trial has not started yet, but said the state would be ready for either route. The state said that if the trials are severed, prosecutors would want the assault trial to happen first, since that is the older charge, and would be relevant in the following homicide trial.

If the motion to sever trials is denied, the state anticipates calling 50 to 55 witnesses for the one trial, according to the court. If there are two trials, some of those witnesses could testify in both cases.

The judge said she will review the request and expressed concern about doing this at such a late stage in the process. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Feb. 6.

If the cases are severed, there would be two different juries.

If severed, the assault trial would take less than a week and the homicide trial is expected to last about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks.

In August, Montgomery was sentenced to up to 65 years in prison in connection with theft and sale of firearms after he proclaimed his innocence in Harmony’s death.

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

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