Adam Montgomery, a New Hampshire man who was convicted of murdering his daughter Harmony earlier this year, has applied to have his sentence in the case reviewed.
Montgomery was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 5-year-old Harmony, who police believe was killed nearly two years before she was reported missing in 2021. Her body was never found.
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Judge Amy Messer sentenced Montgomery to 45 years to life for murder and added a minimum total of 11 more years — all to be served consecutively — for the charges of falsifying evidence, tampering with a witness and second-degree assault. He received a suspended sentence of one year for the abuse of a corpse charge.
At the time, Montgomery, 34, didn't take an offer, extended in court by Senior Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Benjamin Agati, for prosecutors to shorten the length of the sentence they were requesting if he provided the location of Harmony's remains.
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After that sentencing on May 9, 2023, Montgomery had 30 days to apply for sentence review. The case will go before a board of three - either judicial referees or superior court judges. The board may opt to decrease or increase the sentence within the minimums and maximums allowed by law, or may make no changes.
Investigators believe Harmony Montgomery was killed in December 2019, though she wasn’t reported missing for almost two years. Kayla Montgomery, her stepmother, testified that the body was hidden in the trunk of a car, a cooler, a ceiling vent and a workplace freezer before Adam Montgomery disposed of it.
Adam Montgomery had custody of his daughter at the time she disappeared. Her mother, Crystal Sorey, who was no longer in a relationship with him, said the last time she saw Harmony Montgomery was during a video call in April 2019. She eventually went to police, who announced they were looking for the missing child on New Year’s Eve 2021.
Photos of the girl were widely circulated on social media. Police eventually determined she had been killed.
Kayla Montgomery is serving an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to perjury charges related to the investigation into the child’s disappearance and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. She testified that her husband killed Harmony Montgomery on Dec. 7, 2019, while the family lived in their car after being evicted from their home.
More on the Adam Montgomery trial
Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband repeatedly punched Harmony Montgomery in the face and head because he was angry that she was having bathroom accidents in the car.
The couple noticed the girl was dead hours later when the car broke down, at which time Adam Montgomery put her body in a duffel bag, Kayla Montgomery had testified.
For the next three months, she testified, Adam Montgomery moved the body from container to container and place to place. According to his wife, the locations included the trunk of a friend’s car, a cooler in the hallway of his mother-in-law’s apartment building, the ceiling vent of a homeless shelter and a workplace freezer.
Authorities have said previously that the trial does not end the search for the girl.
The case made way for criticism of child protective services in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, both of which were involved with the family. Reforms have since been made as a result.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
