New Hampshire Supreme Court Vacates Murder Conviction of Adam Montgomery
WHO:
AP News - The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office stated it will pursue a retrial on the second-degree murder charge against Adam Montgomery.
WMUR - Attorney General John Formella expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court's decision and hopes for a retrial.
WMUR - Allen Aldenberg, former Manchester Police Chief, expressed hope that the Attorney General's Office will retry the case.
AP News - The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office stated it will pursue a retrial on the second-degree murder charge against Adam Montgomery.
WMUR - Attorney General John Formella expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court's decision and hopes for a retrial.
ABC News - Adam Montgomery, the father accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter Harmony Montgomery.
WMUR - Kayla Montgomery, Adam's wife, provided testimony during the trial.
WMUR - John Formella, Attorney General of New Hampshire, commented on the case.
WMUR - Allen Aldenberg, former Manchester Police Chief, expressed his views on the Supreme Court's decision.
WMUR - Jesse O'Neill, former New Hampshire assistant attorney general, discussed the implications of the ruling.
WMUR - Pamela Phelan, attorney for Adam Montgomery, praised the Supreme Court's decision.
WHAT:
NBC News - The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office remains confident in the facts of the case and the evidence presented.
WMUR - The Attorney General's Office noted that Montgomery will still serve combined sentences of 43.5 years on other charges.
AP News - The second-degree murder conviction accounts for 45 years of Montgomery’s 56-years-to-life sentence, which includes an earlier 32 ½-year sentence for unrelated gun charges.
WMUR - The Attorney General's Office noted that Montgomery will still serve combined sentences of 43.5 years on other charges.
ABC News - The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed Adam Montgomery's murder conviction.
ABC News - Montgomery was previously convicted of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, falsifying evidence, witness tampering, and assault.
ABC News - The Supreme Court ordered a new trial for the second-degree murder charge.
WMUR - The court affirmed Montgomery's convictions for falsifying physical evidence, witness tampering, and abuse of a corpse.
WMUR - Montgomery was sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison in 2024.
WHERE:
ABC News - The ruling was made by the New Hampshire Supreme Court in Concord, New Hampshire.
WMUR - The case involves the city of Manchester, New Hampshire.
WHEN:
ABC News - Montgomery was convicted in 2024.
WMUR - The Supreme Court heard Montgomery's appeal in October.
WHY:
CNN - The New Hampshire Supreme Court found that the evidence of the assault was strong and relied on multiple witnesses, while the evidence of the murder was “substantially weaker,” primarily based on the testimony of Kayla Montgomery, who had previously pleaded guilty to perjury.
WMUR - The Supreme Court determined that the jurors' decision on the murder charge could have been influenced by their consideration of the other charges.
ABC News - The Supreme Court found that combining the assault and murder charges jeopardized Montgomery's right to a fair trial.
WMUR - The court determined that the evidence from the assault charge may have unfairly influenced the jury's verdict on the murder charge.
HOW:
AP News - The justices stated, “There was a significant risk that the jury would draw the impermissible inference that because the defendant assaulted the victim before by striking her in the head, he must be the one who fatally assaulted her in December by again striking her in the head.”
WMUR - The defense argued that the court should not have allowed testimony from Kayla Montgomery and that police body camera footage should not have been shown at the trial.
WMUR - Montgomery's lawyer argued for separate trials for the assault and murder charges, claiming that the trial was not conducted fairly.
WMUR - The state argued that the evidence of Montgomery's guilt was overwhelming, but the Supreme Court disagreed.
(UPDATED June 11, 2026 21:41 UTC)
The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has announced plans to pursue a retrial on the second-degree murder charge against Adam Montgomery, following disappointment over the Supreme Court's recent decision. Attorney General John Formella and former Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg both expressed hope for the retrial, emphasizing confidence in the case's facts and evidence, despite Montgomery already facing a combined sentence of 43.5 years on other charges. The Supreme Court highlighted that while the evidence of the assault was strong, the murder evidence was deemed “substantially weaker,” primarily relying on the testimony of Kayla Montgomery, who had previously pleaded guilty to perjury.
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(UPDATED June 11, 2026 19:48 UTC)
The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has announced plans to pursue a retrial on the second-degree murder charge against Adam Montgomery, following disappointment expressed by Attorney General John Formella over a recent Supreme Court decision. This conviction, which accounts for 45 years of Montgomery’s 56-years-to-life sentence, is now under scrutiny as the Supreme Court found that jurors may have been influenced by other charges during their deliberations. Montgomery will still serve a combined total of 43.5 years on other charges, despite the ongoing legal developments surrounding the murder conviction.
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(UPDATED June 11, 2026 18:04 UTC)
In a significant ruling, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has reversed Adam Montgomery's murder conviction, ordering a new trial for the second-degree murder charge while affirming his convictions for falsifying physical evidence, witness tampering, and abuse of a corpse. Montgomery, who was previously sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison in 2024, had his appeal heard in October, with the court determining that the combination of assault and murder charges compromised his right to a fair trial. Key figures in the case, including Montgomery's wife Kayla and Attorney General John Formella, have commented on the implications of this decision, which was made in Concord, New Hampshire.