Adam Montgomery, the New Hampshire man charged with murder in the disappearance of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony, is appealing his conviction in an unrelated weapons case.
Montgomery was found guilty in June on six separate charges, including being a career armed criminal, and sentenced to between 32-and-a-half and 75 years behind bars. Montgomery was accused of having a shotgun and a rifle, even though he has multiple felony convictions in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Those charges were not related to the second-degree murder charge he faces in the death of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery. But when he was sentenced to decades in prison last month in Hillsborough Superior Court, Adam Montgomery stridently denied killing the girl and called the allegation offensive.
"I love my daughter unconditionally and I did not kill her," he said, asking the judge not to consider that case in his sentencing.
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Later, the judge assured him the sentence didn't factor that other case.
In the gun case appeal, filed Monday, Montgomery's lawyers asked the state's Supreme Court to consider four questions: whether the judge should have:
- allowed his motion to keep testimony from Harmony Montgomery's mother from being included in the case,
- prevented testimony about rumors that Adam Montgomery stole guns,
- struck parts of video referring to character evidence from the record,
- and prevented testimony about Adam Montgomery's phone number being included on another person's contact list
Montgomery was sentenced to 15-30 years on each of two armed career criminal charges, to be followed by 7-and-a-half to 15 years for two theft charges. He is eligible for five years removed from the final prison sentence for good behavior.
His trial for second-degree murder in the death of Harmony Montgomery is expected to begin in November.
The girl's body has never been found but she is presumed dead, and authorities believe she was murdered in December 2019. Her disappearance only came to light in 2021, and her case garnered national attention, outrage and upset.
Adam Montgomery pleaded not guilty in October to second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse charges. Authorities allege that he killed his daughter, Harmony, by repeatedly striking her in the head with his fist.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
