Adam Montgomery told a friend that he had “effed up” shortly before disposing of his five-year-old daughter’s body, his murder trial in Manchester, New Hampshire heard.
Mr Montgomery’s trial is under way more than four years after Harmony was last seen alive in 2019.
Authorities failed to search for the missing child – who was known to protective services – for more than two years after she went missing.
In 2022, Mr Montgomery was charged with second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and falsifying physical evidence.
Kayla Montgomery told police that her husband struck the Harmony several times after she had a bathroom accident.
The little girl’s remains were hidden in a ceiling vent at a shelter where the family stayed after her death. Montgomery snuck the remains into his workplace freezer, before disposing of them in March 2020.
Travis Beach, the friend who helped Montgomery rent a van he later used to dispose of his daughter’s remains, took the stand on Friday.
“He was pacing back and forth. He said he effed up,” Mr Beach told jurors. “I asked him what he meant and all he could say was he effed up.”
Harmony’s remains have never been found.
Harmony Montgomery trial shown blood-stained ceiling drywall where little girl’s remains were hidden