Florida Plans Execution Amid Suspected Serial Killings

Florida executed 72-year-old Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. by lethal injection at 6:12 p.m. Thursday, nearly 30 years after his conviction for kidnapping and strangling 21-year-old Richard Allen Montgomery in 1996. Prosecutors said Conahan lured Montgomery to a remote area with an offer of money for nude bondage photographs, and testimony from a survivor of a similar attack helped establish the case. Montgomery’s body was found in a wooded area of Charlotte County, where authorities discovered the remains of at least six people over several years in cases known as the “Hog Trail Murders.” Investigators examined Conahan’s possible links to additional deaths, including the Fort Myers Eight, but he was never charged in those cases. Conahan maintained his innocence and argued that the case was based on circumstantial evidence, while his final appeals seeking a stay and additional DNA testing were rejected. He made no final statement, met with a spiritual adviser, and became Florida’s 15th execution of the year; relatives and friends of Montgomery and suspected victims witnessed the execution and expressed hope it would bring closure despite unanswered questions.