Hog Trail Killer’s Clock Ticks Toward Death

A syringe and a vial placed next to a wooden gavel on a table — HOG TRAIL KILLER'S ENDING COMING

A Florida man convicted of strangling and mutilating a stranger he picked up along a rural road nearly 30 years ago is scheduled to die by lethal injection this week. Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., known as the “Hog Trail Killer,” faces execution for the 1996 murder of Richard Allen Montgomery.

Quick Take

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Richard Allen Montgomery in April 1996.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed Conahan’s death warrant, setting his execution for September 10.
Investigators tied Conahan to a wooded Charlotte County area where remains of at least six people were found over three years.
Conahan’s attorneys asked the Supreme Court for a stay, requesting DNA testing before his execution.

What Happened To Richard Montgomery In 1996

Montgomery was killed on or about April 16, 1996, according to the death warrant Governor DeSantis signed. His body was found nude and mutilated in a wooded stretch of southwest Florida known locally as the Hog Trail.

A Charlotte County grand jury indicted Conahan the following February on four charges: first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder during a kidnapping, kidnapping with intent to commit sexual battery, and sexual battery.

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

Court records from the Florida Supreme Court’s original review of his case confirm the indictment date, the charges, and the Charlotte County jurisdiction where the crime occurred. Conahan worked as an unemployed nurse in Punta Gorda at the time of the killing.

How The Case Connected To A String Of Disappearances

Investigators eventually linked Conahan’s arrest to a broader mystery known as the Hog Trail Murders, tied to remains of at least six people discovered in the same rural area over roughly three years.

The break in the case reportedly came after a surviving victim of a separate assault in Fort Myers came forward, giving detectives a path back to Conahan. He has been suspected, though never formally convicted, in connection with additional deaths tied to the same remote stretch of land.

Florida’s system for handling these long-running capital cases has drawn scrutiny for reasons that go beyond any single defendant. Death warrants often arrive decades after a conviction, following years of appeals through state and federal courts.

Conahan’s case moved through the Florida Supreme Court multiple times, including a 2017 appeal of a denied postconviction motion, before DeSantis signed the warrant in August 2026.

‘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

The Final Appeal And What The Law Allows

With his execution date set, Conahan’s attorneys asked the United States Supreme Court for a stay, arguing he deserves DNA testing on evidence from the crime.

Florida law has recognized a specific, statutory right to postconviction DNA testing since 2001, reflecting the unique weight such evidence carries in capital cases. That right exists because DNA testing has, in rare but real instances nationwide, changed outcomes in cases long after conviction.

Nationally, DNA evidence has played a role in a documented number of death row exonerations since the early 1990s, a fact that explains why courts take last-minute testing requests seriously even in cases with strong original convictions.

That legal backdrop does not change the trial record in Conahan’s case, which rests on a grand jury indictment, a judge’s conviction, and decades of appellate review upholding the sentence.

Late-stage DNA requests are a normal, expected phase of the capital appeals process, not a sign the underlying case was weak.

Where The Case Stands Now

Florida’s Supreme Court has already weighed in on related filings tied to Conahan’s case this year, with decisions issued as recently as early September. Barring further court intervention, the execution is set to proceed by lethal injection as scheduled.

Florida Catholic bishops have publicly asked DeSantis to halt the execution, a request that falls within the normal range of clemency appeals that accompany nearly every scheduled execution in the state.

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

The case closes a chapter that began three decades ago in a quiet stretch of Charlotte County, where a grand jury first laid out the charges against Conahan in 1997.

Whatever happens with his final appeals, the underlying conviction for Montgomery’s murder has stood through years of review by Florida’s courts and federal judges alike.