Conahan Executed for Hog Trail Murder in Florida

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was executed Thursday morning in Florida for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery. Montgomery's body was discovered in a Charlotte County wooded area, a case known as the “Hog Trail Murders.”

Conahan's execution marks Florida's fifteenth of 2026, placing the state at the center of national death penalty discussions. More than half of all U.S. executions this year have occurred in Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Conahan maintained his innocence, asserting the evidence against him was circumstantial. His final appeals were denied this week by both the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts.

For residents of Englewood and the Suncoast region, the Hog Trail case has long felt close to home. Charlotte County is a short drive south. Conahan's execution closes one chapter, but families of other victims found in the same swampy hunting tract over a three-year span still seek answers, as Conahan was never charged in those deaths.