MANCHESTER, NH – Adam Montgomery is facing three separate trials, with the first slated for the week of Nov. 14 on weapons and armed career criminal charges.
Montgomery, 32, did not appear Tuesday at a dispositional hearing in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District where defense attorney Caroline I. Smith requested a severing of the cases involving his initial charges of second-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and interference with custody.
Judge Amy Messer granted the request that the assault charge be tried separately from the other offenses. No trial date was set for either of those cases.
She did, however, set a status hearing for Oct. 27 for those cases.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Jesse O’Neill said the state preferred the first trial to be on the weapons charges. He also informed the court the state has turned over police body cam footage requested by the defense.
The second-degree assault charge accuses Montgomery of blackening the eye of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery, then 5, in the summer of 2019. The other charges relate to a time when Harmony went missing in November/December 2019.
The judge said the grand jury on June 21 returned indictments for Montgomery on the gun and armed career criminal offenses.
Montgomery, who is being detained in the Valley Street jail, is charged with eight felonies in connection with the theft of two weapons, a rifle and shotgun between Sept. 29, 2019, and Oct. 3, 2019, in Manchester, from C.F. None of those charges are related to the disappearance of Harmony.
The eight charges consist of: two charges of theft by unauthorized taking for stealing a rifle and shotgun; two charges of receiving stolen property for receiving or retaining the rifle and the shotgun; two charges of felon in possession for possessing the rifle and the shotgun after having been convicted of one or more qualifying felonies, and two charges of armed career criminal for possessing the rifle and the shotgun after having been convicted of three or more qualifying felonies.
The armed career criminal charges are special felonies, with each one carrying a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, and a maximum term of 40 years in State Prison. The theft and receiving stolen property charges are class A felonies that each carry a maximum term of 7½–15 years, and the felon in possession charges are class B felonies that each carry a maximum term of 3½–7 years.
The final pre-trial conference in the weapons case is set for Oct. 27 while jury selection is set for Nov. 7. the trial is slated for the week on Nov. 14.
Investigators continue to search for Harmony. She went missing between Nov. 28 and Dec. 10, 2019, although police did not learn of her disappearance until nearly two years later. Once they did, a massive search, involving numerous law enforcement agencies including the FBI, was launched.
The search for Harmony Montgomery continues, and officials ask the public’s assistance with locating her. A $150,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the whereabouts of Harmony.
Anyone with information regarding her disappearance or current whereabouts is asked to call the Manchester Police Department’s 24-hour Harmony Montgomery tip line at (603) 203-6060.
