Adam Montgomery made a determined effort to hide the body of his 5-year-old daughter Harmony because he killed her in a fit of rage the morning of Dec. 7, 2019, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
“That’s what murderers do,” prosecutor Benjamin Agati said. “They get rid of evidence that will show others what they’ve done. They think: no body, no evidence, no conviction.”
Agati held nothing back in his closing argument to a jury at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester. That included what Travis Beach said Montgomery told him before hopping into a U-Haul for a 133-mile round trip to Massachusetts, allegedly to dispose of Harmony’s remains, which have never been recovered.
“I f--ked up,” Agati quoted Montgomery.
Montgomery’s 10-day murder trial wrapped up Wednesday after both the prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments. The jury heard from 47 witnesses over the course of two weeks.
Public defenders Caroline Smith and James Brooks did not call any witnesses. Their motion to exclude testimony from Montgomery’s estranged wife, Kayla, was denied Wednesday morning by Judge Amy Messer.
The jury of 10 women and two men began deliberating Wednesday afternoon. The jury is set to return at 8:45 Thursday morning.
Montgomery refused transport from the state prison in Concord and waived his right to be present and to testify in the trial on Wednesday. It was the 10th day he hasn’t appeared.
Judge Messer told the jury Montgomery’s absence is not evidence in the case.
“You are not to guess or speculate as to the reason for his absence and you may not draw any negative or adverse inference as a result of him not being present,” she said.
Montgomery, 34, faces charges of second-degree murder for the death of Harmony with second-degree assault for allegedly causing Harmony bodily injury, including a black eye, between July 1 and July 22, 2019.
During opening statements, the defense told the jury Montgomery could be found guilty of charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying evidence.
His estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, testified Montgomery struck Harmony with blow after blow until the little girl started moaning after he smelled urine. She said that she and Adam discovered Harmony had died after their car broke down at Webster and Elm streets.
He stuffed her body in a duffel bag. The body was stowed away in a cooler, in the ceiling at the Families in Transitions shelter and in a freezer at the former Portland Pie Co. The body was further dismembered and stuffed into a diaper bag before being disposed of, Kayla Montgomery testified.
Defense: Kayla the instigator
Smith started her closing argument with the words, “Wake up, baby girl,” which were the words Kayla Montgomery used in her testimony to describe what Adam Montgomery said after he found Harmony dead.
“He did not kill his baby girl,” Smith said.
Adam Montgomery returned home to the Chrysler Sebring to find Harmony dead in Kayla’s care, Smith said. The family was living in the car after being evicted from 77 Gilford St. The couple’s two young boys, 10 months and 2 ½, also were with them.
“He did not do this to hide that he killed Harmony because he did not kill Harmony,” Smith said. “He did this because he believed that it would keep his family together. He did not witness-tamper with Kayla. She was an instigator and equal partner.“
Smith’s closing argument focused on discrediting Kayla Montgomery’s testimony and pointing to lies or discrepancies, including that she did little to stop the brutal attack.
“Instinct would have caused you to protect that child, even if you were given an evil look,” Smith said. “Even if you were afraid.”
It’s improbable Harmony’s death was discovered in the busy Manchester intersection without anyone noticing, as Kayla Montgomery testified, Smith said. The couple had spent hours trying to figure out how to dispose of the body before the car broke down, Smith said.
“She (Kayla) can gauge what seems to be important to police or the state and she can create lies to try and give them something they are looking for,” Smith said.
Kayla Montgomery reached a plea agreement on two charges of perjury to testify truthfully at trial and is serving a year-and-a-half sentence in prison.
During the closings, Harmony’s biological mother, Crystal Sorey, needed to step outside as Smith shared gruesome details of the allegations, including efforts to speed decomposition of the little girl’s body.
Agati called defense efforts to point the finger of blame at Kayla Montgomery a tactical approach.
“He admits what he can’t deny and he denies what he cannot afford to admit,” Agati said.
Kayla Montgomery and others testified about Adam Montgomery becoming paranoid, thinking someone had bugged their apartment and police were listening.
“It’s not a sign of mental illness, it’s not a sign of being sad,” Agati said. “It’s a sign of a guilty conscience.”
Agati projected an image of Kayla with bruises on her face. Multiple witnesses testified about Adam Montgomery abusing and manipulating his wife.
“What she is is a battered woman admitting an inconvenient and terrible truth that she failed in a moment of life when her character was put to test,” he said. “She did nothing to help Harmony. Nothing to stop him.”
Kayla Montgomery led police to evidence that could potentially implicate her, which doesn’t make sense for someone who committed the crime, Agati said. He pointed to 900 pieces of evidence investigators used to build the case.
“It is not reasonable that Kayla would tell and enable police to find other evidence that she did something,” Agati said. “If she was the one who killed Harmony like the defendant wanted you to believe, she never would have done any of this. The theory does not fit.”
Montgomery is an “enraged tyrant,” and only he knows where the remains of Harmony are located, Agati said.
“He knows where she is right now, but he believes it is a waste of time and taxpayer money to try to find her,” he said, quoting Montgomery in a recorded call from jail.
