Credibility of witnesses against Adam Montgomery up for debate

May 23—The credibility of prosecution witnesses will be a key issue when the weapons-crimes trial of Adam Montgomery opens next week in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester.

The witnesses include a drug-dependent woman whose own husband thinks she was responsible for the theft of his guns; her alleged drug dealer, who supposedly traded drugs for three guns; friends of the two; and Montgomery's estranged wife, Kayla.

Kayla Montgomery's testimony will be essential not just in the upcoming trial, but in Adam Montgomery's trial for the murder of his daughter, Harmony, which is scheduled for November.

Adam Montgomery faces 11 felony charges in the trial starting May 31. They allege theft of a shotgun and AR-15 from a Manchester home in October 2019.

Kayla Montgomery is expected to testify that the guns were in the Gilford Street home where she, Adam and their children lived in the fall of 2019. But when she does, defense attorneys will likely point out that she lied to police and a Hillsborough County grand jury about the guns.

Prosecutors say that she lied because she was abused by Adam Montgomery. For example, prosecutors have an image of her with two black eyes.

"She ties that (the lies) to the abuse she suffered over the year," homicide prosecutor Christopher Knowles said.

In fact, in March 2022, Kayla Montgomery told authorities she wasn't afraid of Montgomery. Defense attorneys want to keep the abuse out of the trial because it can allow them to suggest other reasons for her perjury before the grand jury. She received a 1 1/2-year sentence for two counts of felony perjury.

"There are plenty of reasons she would have to lie," said public defender Caroline Smith.

On Tuesday, Adam Montgomery appeared in the courtroom in an orange jail jumpsuit, his feet shackled and his hands cuffed to a waist band. He spoke with his attorneys and at one point shook his head when he disagreed with prosecutors statements.

Complications also have surfaced with other witnesses:

Kim Frain, wife of the owner of three guns stolen from his home in 2019 when he was on a business trip. Christopher Frain initially told police he thought his wife traded the guns for cocaine. Prosecutors said he has tried to protect Adam Montgomery. Montgomery's lawyers say Kim Frain lied to protect her dealer, Ismael Garcia.

Garcia, who has been arrested multiple times on drug charges. Kayla Montgomery has said Garcia is the alternative suspect that Smith and co-counsel Robin Davis hope to pin the thefts on. Smith has said she expects he will invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he testifies. But homicide prosecutor Benjamin Agati said Garcia will testify that he never possessed the gun and won't take the Fifth.

Kevin Labelle, a current inmate at the state prison, has asked for and received an appointed attorney to advise him on his testimony. He is expected to testify that he bought the shotgun but sold it back several months later in exchange for drugs.

Michael Harju, a Valley Street jail inmate with Adam Montgomery, is expected to testify about conversations he had with Montgomery about the case. Smith and prosecutors visited the jail on Tuesday, and Smith is reserving the right to have the jury visit the jail at the start of the trial to disprove Harju's statements. With a lawyer representing Labelle, at least one more hearing likely will have to be held before the trial starts.

Because he has several felony convictions on his record, Adam Montgomery faces three armed-career criminal charges, which could land him in prison for decades if he is convicted of all three.

The trial is expected to last six days.