Adam Montgomery, charged with killing daughter Harmony in New Hampshire, plans to make "concessions" during trial
MANCHESTER, NH - It was an unexpected day in the courtroom with Adam Montgomery choosing not to attend his own murder trial for the killing of his five-year-old daughter Harmony but appearing by Zoom to make concessions on two of the five charges.
"You wish to admit to each and every element of falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse," asked Superior Court Judge Amy Messer. "Yes," Montgomery replied.
It was not a change of plea to the charges and the second-degree murder trial continued.
"In some ways it's the beginning of a journey you'll likely never forget," prosecutor Ben Agati told the 17-member jury that was finally seated Wednesday. Instead of opening arguments on day one, the prosecution and defense prepared jurors to view locations crucial to the trial, their first look at the disturbing case.
"It's the last journey Harmony Montgomery took while she was alive and where her body went afterward," said Agati.
Jurors were first taken by bus to the methadone clinic where prosecutors say Montgomery took Harmony and his family the morning of her murder in December of 2019. Then to a Manchester, NH Burger King where they say he became enraged that she soiled herself in the family car that was their home and started beating her in the head. It was the last place she was alive.
"You're going to hear testimony that during that drive the defendant's assaults continued, he continued to hit Harmony as they stopped at red lights, at stop signs," said Agati.
"This is where the dispute starts," countered defense attorney Caroline Smith. "This is not the journey Harmony made but will be the journey we make today."
The defense is also preparing jurors for difficult testimony, including the family living in a car in a Manchester, New Hampshire apartment complex where Montgomery allegedly got high as his daughter died. An apartment where investigators removed a refrigerator and other evidence, contending Montgomery moved or tried to store Harmony's body in several locations.
"Could this have happened? Put your mind to the testimony and apply it," said Smith.
Judge Messer told Montgomery he has to let the court know in the morning if he will attend the trial, and if the answer is 'no' he cannot change his mind.