DeSantis Signs It: Hog Trail Killer’s Execution Set

Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis points forward at podium. — DESANTIS BOMBSHELL DECISION

Florida plans to execute a 72-year-old man known as the “Hog Trail Killer” for a 1996 murder tied to one of the state’s most disturbing unsolved crime clusters.

Story Snapshot

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. faces execution for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery in Charlotte County.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant, setting execution for September 10.
Montgomery’s body was found in a wooded area later linked to remains of at least six other people.
Conahan’s attorneys asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution and requested new DNA testing.

The 1996 Killing That Started It All

Richard Allen Montgomery disappeared in April 1996. Investigators later found his body in a remote wooded area of Charlotte County. He had been strangled and mutilated.

The crime scene sat along a rural stretch that would soon earn a grim nickname: the Hog Trail, after the wild hogs that roamed the area near where his remains turned up.

A Charlotte County grand jury indicted Conahan on February 25, 1997, on four counts tied to Montgomery’s death. Court records list first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder during a kidnapping, kidnapping with intent to commit sexual battery, and sexual battery. Conahan was an unemployed nurse from Punta Gorda when he was arrested.

‘Hog Trail Serial Killer’ Convicted of Murdering Man He Paid to Pose Nude Says DNA Proves Innocence Days Before Execution https://t.co/zLAAqnzQhE

— People (@people) September 9, 2026

How Investigators Connected Him to the Case

Authorities linked Conahan to Montgomery’s murder after a survivor of a separate assault in Fort Myers identified him, giving investigators the break they needed to build their case.

Conahan waived his right to a jury trial. A judge convicted him of murder and kidnapping in August 1999, sending him to Florida’s death row.

The formal death warrant, signed by Governor DeSantis, states plainly that Conahan “on or about the 16th day of April, 1996 murdered Richard Montgomery”. The order set his execution for 6 p.m. on September 10, giving state courts a tight window to resolve any remaining legal filings before that date.

A Wider, Unsolved Cluster of Killings

Montgomery’s murder was not an isolated find. The wooded corridor where his body surfaced yielded the remains of at least six other people over a three-year span, a grouping that became known locally as the Hog Trail Murders.

Some true crime accounts also reference the case as part of the broader “Fort Myers Eight” mystery, though Conahan has only been convicted in Montgomery’s death.

That distinction matters. Conahan has drawn suspicion in connection with additional killings in the area, but a single conviction and death sentence rest solely on the Montgomery case.

Florida’s justice system does not punish a person for crimes never charged or proven, and the record here is specific: one victim, one indictment, one capital sentence carried through nearly three decades of appeals.

Last-Ditch Appeals and a DNA Request

With execution days away, Conahan’s attorneys filed an emergency request asking the Supreme Court to pause the process while they pursue new DNA testing tied to the case.

His petition for a writ of certiorari asked the justices to weigh in before the state proceeds. A federal district court had already reviewed and rejected earlier postconviction claims tied to his conviction and sentence.

ACTION ALERT: The Florida Catholic bishops are asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to stay the execution of Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. and to commute his death sentence to life in prison without parole. Conahan was convicted of the 1996 first-degree murder of 21-year-old Richard Montgomery.… pic.twitter.com/JVVUThLQxo

— Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (@FlaCathBps) September 8, 2026

Late-stage DNA requests are a familiar feature of capital cases nationwide, not a sign of doubt about guilt in any specific matter. Florida created a formal statutory right to postconviction DNA testing back in 2001, recognizing that biological evidence can carry unique weight in reviewing old convictions.

Courts weigh these requests under established rules, and filing one is a standard legal option available to any death row inmate, regardless of the strength of the original trial record.

Florida’s Supreme Court has already reviewed multiple challenges from Conahan over the years, including a successive postconviction motion denied under state criminal procedure rules.

The upcoming execution date reflects the conclusion of that long appellate process, following a trial verdict, direct appeal, and years of additional review by both state and federal courts.