The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a man who was accused of killing his 5-year-old-daughter and moving her body around for months before disposing it.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Adam Montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder in 2024 in connection with the December 2019 death of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery.
Adam Montgomery was also convicted of second degree assault for having struck his daughter in July 2019, falsifying physical evidence, and witness tampering.He was sentenced to 56 years to life in prison for the crimes.In its decision to reverse Adam Montgomery’s murder conviction, the court argued that his murder and assault charges should not have been tried together, and that doing so prevented Adam Montgomery from the right to a fair trial.
“As compared to the evidence of multiple disinterested witnesses substantiating the July assault, the evidence of the December 7, 2019 fatal attack is substantially weaker,” the court ruled.“We therefore conclude that this disparity created a significant risk that the jury would rely on the strength of the evidence that the defendant struck the victim in anger in July to conclude that, as Kayla testified, he similarly — and fatally — struck the victim in December.”The court also argued that evidence for the murder charge — largely presented through testimony by Adam Montgomery’s wife, Kayla Montgomery — was not strong enough for conviction.Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband stored their daughter’s body in multiple locations, including a ceiling vent at a homeless shelter and a walk-in freezer at his workplace, and her husband’s plans to dismember their daughter’s body.
“This evidence, however, supports only Kayla’s testimony about the defendant’s actions after the victim’s death; it does not corroborate Kayla’s testimony that the defendant killed ...