Hog Trail Killer Countdown Sparks Supreme Court Fight

Handcuffed person in orange suit with lethal injection supplies. — HOG TRAIL KILLER SHOCKER

A Florida death row inmate known as the “Hog Trail Killer” is scheduled to die by lethal injection for a 1996 murder linked to one of the state’s most disturbing unsolved crime clusters.

Story Snapshot

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, faces execution for the April 1996 kidnapping and strangulation of Richard Allen Montgomery.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant in August, setting the execution for September 10 in Florida’s death chamber.
Montgomery’s body was found in a wooded Charlotte County area where remains of at least six other people turned up over three years, giving rise to the “Hog Trail Murders” name.
Conahan’s attorneys asked the Supreme Court for a stay, requesting DNA testing before the execution proceeds.

What Happened To Richard Montgomery In 1996

Prosecutors say Conahan kidnapped Richard Allen Montgomery on April 16, 1996, then strangled and sexually mutilated him. Montgomery’s body turned up nude in a wooded stretch of Charlotte County, an area investigators later tied to the remains of several other victims.

A Charlotte County grand jury indicted Conahan the following February on charges including first-degree murder, felony murder, 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. Court records describe him at the time as an unemployed nurse from Punta Gorda.

Investigators eventually connected him to the case after a survivor of a separate assault in Fort Myers came forward, giving detectives the break they needed to build their case.

‘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 nickname “Hog Trail Killer” comes from the rural road near where Montgomery’s body and others were discovered. Over roughly three years, authorities recovered the remains of at least six people in that same general area, a cluster of deaths that became known locally as the Hog Trail Murders and, in some reporting, the Fort Myers Eight.

Conahan was formally charged in connection with one of those killings, Montgomery’s, though the broader case drew wide attention because of its scale and brutality.

The Death Warrant And Legal Fight To Stop It

DeSantis signed Conahan’s death warrant on August 11, scheduling the execution for 6 p.m. on September 10, according to a Florida Supreme Court order.

The warrant itself states plainly that Conahan “murdered Richard Montgomery” on or about April 16, 1996, and directs the sentence to be carried out as ordered by the court. Florida courts had already rejected multiple prior appeals, including a successive postconviction motion Conahan filed years earlier.

With the execution date approaching, Conahan’s attorneys asked the United States Supreme Court for a stay. They argued he deserves the chance to test DNA evidence tied to the 1996 crime before the state carries out his sentence.

His filing states he was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping in Montgomery’s death. As of the most recent court filings, that request remained pending before the justices, and no ruling had yet stopped the scheduled execution.

Why Late-Stage DNA Requests Are Common In Capital Cases

Requests like Conahan’s are not unusual in the final stretch before an execution. Florida law has recognized a statutory right to postconviction DNA testing since 2001, reflecting how seriously courts treat genetic evidence in cases carrying a death sentence.

Nationally, DNA testing has played a role in dozens of death row exonerations since the late 1980s, a track record that explains why courts take these last-minute requests seriously rather than dismissing them outright.

That legal backdrop does not change what Florida’s courts already found in Conahan’s case after years of appeals. He was convicted after a trial in which he waived a jury, and his sentence has survived repeated review by state and federal courts.

The pending request asks only for additional testing, a request the Supreme Court will decide on its own timeline before the scheduled execution date arrives.

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

Florida’s death penalty process moves through multiple layers of review by design, and Conahan’s case has passed through nearly all of them over roughly three decades.

Whether the Supreme Court grants a stay or allows the September 10 date to stand, the underlying conviction for Richard Montgomery’s murder remains the product of a trial, a sentence, and years of appellate scrutiny that Florida’s courts have consistently upheld.