Adam Montgomery, sentenced to 56-years to life for the murder of his 5-year-old daughter and related offenses is no longer detained in the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord.
Judge Messer, in her order, wrote said that while state law allows a judge to exercise discretion to excuse a defendant from appearing at sentencing “the Court does not find that the defendant has raised an adequate factual or legal basis to do so here. The only factual basis the defendant asserts is his contention that he is innocent as to some of the charges.”
Adam Montgomery wants a judge to excuse his appearance at his sentencing for killing his 5-year-old daughter, and other offenses.
Kayla Montgomery, 33, is expected to be released on May 3, days before Adam Montgomery is to be sentenced on murder and other charges. While on parole, she is to complete various programs including substance abuse treatment. For the first few months, she will be under intense parole supervision.
“I’m finally feeling relieved that there’s some justice being served,” said Crystal Sorey, the mother of 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery, outside the courthouse. She doesn’t use the Montgomery surname for her daughter anymore, she said, but refers to her as Harmony Renee, using her middle name.
A jury is deliberating the guilt or innocence of Adam Montgomery, accused of beating his 5-year-old daughter to death, hiding her body for months, and then disposing of it, after hearing testimony over 10 days in Hillsborough County Superior Court North.
The state on Tuesday rested its case against Adam Montgomery, after playing a recording of a call he made from the Valley Street jail saying investigators wasted taxpayers’ dollars in conducting searches and following up on tips from “nut jobs.”
Adam Montgomery, who hasn’t been in court since the second day of his trial, has the right to not be there, but the move is rare and won’t help him get acquitted, according to legal experts.
As a nationwide search was underway for Harmony Montgomery, missing for more than two years, one person who wasn’t looking for her was Adam Montgomery, her father, who had “disposed of her like yesterday’s trash,” Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Christopher Knowles told jurors Thursday during his opening statement.
Adam Montgomery, in a surprise move, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, taking responsibility for part of the crime involving the death of his five-year-old daughter Harmony but not her murder.