Editor’s note: Some of the details included in the livestream in the video player above and in the story below may be disturbing for readers.
The trial of the New Hampshire father accused of murdering his 5-year-old daughter began Wednesday afternoon with an unusual delay of the opening statements as Adam Montgomery discussed with attorneys and the judge his intention to acknowledge guilt to two of the five charges against him.
Montgomery wasn't in court on Wednesday, but it came out that he would like to acknowledge guilt to falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse in the death of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery. The prosecution said he has not made any official changes to his plea.
While opening statements had been planned for Wednesday, the judge announced in court that the would be delayed. Instead, the case began with preview statements for a view, in which jurors travel to locations relevant to the trial.
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When opening statements do take place, the issue of Montgomery's admission of guilt is expected to be addressed. He has been charged with five felony counts in total: second-degree murder, second-degree assault, witness tampering, falsifying evidence and abuse of corpse.
Jury selection in the case concluded on Wednesday morning. Wednesday's view will take jurors on a bus ride through Manchester, highlighting several locations that will come up during testimony, involving evidence that was collected in the three years police have been searching for Harmony.
“This is also the last journey that Harmony Montgomery took while she was alive, and where her body went afterwards," the prosecution said in preview statements. The defense disputed that, but agreed that jurors should pay close attention to the details laid out on the trip.
“There is a dispute going on here but there is no dispute that all these locations are very, very important," the defense said.
The locations include a methadone clinic where Harmony's father Adam Montgomery and his wife received treatment and the alleged location where he first struck Harmony in his car; a Burger King on Daniel Webster Highway where Adam Montgomery allegedly continued to strike his daughter along the drive from the clinic; the Colonial Village Apartments, where the family was living out of their car; the intersection of Elm and Webster, where the car died and Adam Montgomery allegedly realized Harmony was dead; an apartment on Union Street where the family lived and Harmony's body was allegedly stored; the location that once housed a pizza shop called Portland Pie Company, where Adam Montgomery once worked and where the prosecution alleges he stored his daughter's body in a freezer.
Both sides of the case stressed that the view was part of the evidence in the trial, and that jurors should take note of things like the length of the drive, what is and is not visible in various locations, traffic conditions, the number of people around, and other details.
The details of the Harmony Montgomery murder case
Adam Montgomery was charged with Harmony's murder in October of 2022 — after years of speculation.
Prosecutors say Adam Montgomery punched Harmony to death in 2019 while in a car with his estranged wife Kayla and their two boys.
Investigators allege that after Harmony's death, her father moved the young girl's body from place to place, including the trunk of a friend's car and an apartment freezer. They said he finally disposed of the body in 2020 using a rented truck.
NBC10 Boston's legal analyst believes the defense has an uphill battle because of Montgomery’s record, while the prosecution must prove him guilty beyond reasonable doubt even without Harmony’s body being found.
Montgomery denied the accusations back when he was being tried for an unrelated weapons case last year, which he was found guilty and sentenced to at least 30 years in prison.
"I did not kill my daughter Harmony and I look forward to my upcoming trial to refute those offensive claims," he said at that time.
"The defendant, while having the benefit of the government, having the burden of proof, doesn’t present a sympathetic case," said legal analyst Michael Coyne.
Montgomery appeared in court Tuesday for the first day of jury selection in his murder trial.
Kayla Montgomery expected to testify for prosecution
A key prosecution witness is expected to be Kayla Montgomery, who is serving an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to perjury charges. She agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The case prompted vigils in Manchester and generated national headlines. It exposed weaknesses in child protection systems and provoked calls to prioritize the well-being of children over parents in custody matters.
Harmony was moved between the homes of her mother and her foster parent's multiple times before Montgomery received custody in 2019 and moved to New Hampshire.
