The New Hampshire Supreme Court surprisingly reversed Adam Montgomery’s murder conviction on Thursday. Over two years ago, on February 22, 2024, Montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree assault, falsifying physical evidence, witness tampering, and abuse of a corpse in the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery.

Death of Harmony Montgomery

Harmony was last seen in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2019, but her disappearance was not reported until 2021, when her mother, Crystal Sorey, was unable to contact her after months of trying. Sorey originally lost custody of her daughter due to substance abuse issues and was not allowed contact for some time.

Adam admitted to disposing of his daughter’s body, but claimed that his wife, Kayla Montgomery, was responsible for her death.

New Hampshire’s highest court issued an opinion that the second-degree murder conviction would be thrown out because the trial judge improperly combined that charge with the second-degree assault. 

The assault charge stemmed from an incident in July 2019 when Harmony was seen with a black eye, and Adam’s uncle reported it. All other charges presented at trial were in connection with the child’s death. 

Murder Charge Thrown Out

Justice Bryan Gould wrote the Court’s unanimous opinion that the evidence against the defendant for the assault charge was greater than the evidence proving Harmony’s murder. Kayla Montgomery’s testimony was the only direct evidence that implicated Adam in his daughter’s death. 

Three witnesses testified at trial that they saw Harmony with a black eye during that time, and four witnesses said her father admitted to hitting her, causing the injury.

Prosecutors urged the justices to consider the DNA and fingerprint evidence investigators found, which they argued corroborated Kayla’s trial testimony, but the justices disagreed. “The evidence supports only Kayla’s testimony about the defendant’s actions after the victim’s death,” Gould wrote.

“It does not corroborate Kayla’s testimony that the defendant killed the victim on December 7 by repeatedly punching her in the head. It is also not inconsistent with the defendant’s theory of the defense — namely that Kayla caused the victim’s death and the defendant helped her cover up her crime.”

The justices found the evidence for the July 2019 assault was stronger than that of the murder, and it risked potential prejudice. 

“The 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 opinion read.

Previous Sentencing Remains

Although the murder conviction has been tossed, the justices found the other convictions shall remain, and that the evidence presented to the jury for the murder charge was not impactful enough to bring the assault conviction into question. 

Adam Montgomery’s defense attorney conceded to several charges, including abuse of a corpse and falsifying physical evidence, in her opening statements at trial.

Adam will carry out his remaining sentence on all other convictions, including the three and a half to seven years for falsifying evidence, a 12-month suspended sentence for abuse of a corpse, and four to eight years for second-degree assault. 

Prosecutors Have Two Options

According to former Assistant Attorney General Jess O’Neill, the state can proceed with two different options. “Under Supreme Court rules, there is an opportunity for the state to file what’s called a motion to reconsider, where they would have to point to specific points of law and argue that the Supreme Court got those things wrong,” he said.

“Frankly, those motions don’t often have a high chance of success, but it is something that I’m sure the Attorney General’s Office will assess and evaluate.”

Prosecutors also have the option to retry the case if the motion fails. “If they try to file a motion to reconsider and it fails, or if they just decide not to go that route, then the other option would be deciding whether or not they want to retry Adam Montgomery for the second-degree murder charge,” O’Neill said.