A New Hampshire convicted of his 5-year-old daughter’s murder a year ago has filed a 101-page appeal of his conviction in the state’s Supreme Court.

Adam Montgomery’s lawyers argued in the document that their client should have had a separate trial on assault charges — which he claims did not kill the girl — and that his estranged wife, Harmony Montgomery’s stepmother, shouldn’t have been allowed to testify at his trial that she saw him beat her for soiling herself in the back of the car where they were living before she was found dead, Boston 25 reported.

Montgomery was sentenced to 45 years to life after his conviction last May, less than the 56 years to life prosecutors sought. He refused to attend most of the trial but was ordered to attend his sentencing by a judge.

Kayla Montgomery told the court during her husband’s trial that he violently punched little Harmony on December 7, 2019, then put her body into a duffel bag, hiding it first into a restaurant freezer, then a shelter ceiling, and an apartment refrigerator. Kaylo Montgomery also testified that he husband  spent hours dismembering the little girl’s body so it would fit into a small bag he could carry around before finally disposing of the body.

Lawyers for Adam Montgomery file appeal of murder conviction in his daughter’s death by Boston 25 Desk

Adam Montgomery admitted disposing of the body but refuses to say where. He has denied killing the girl, however.

Last month, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Division of Children, Youth and Families, which gave Adam Montgomery custody of his daughter, moved to have a lawsuit against it dismissed, as CrimeOnline reported. Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, has sued multiple state agencies over the transfer of custody.