Gov. DeSantis signs death warrant for Florida inmate known as "Hog Trailer Killer" convicted of 1996 rape, murder

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed the death warrant for inmate Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., who was known as the "Hog Trail Killer" and who was convicted of a 1996 murder in Charlotte County.

Conahan, 72, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Sept. 10, according to the warrant that put the window for the execution at Florida State Prison in Starke between noon that day and noon Sept. 17.

After a modern-era record 19 executions last year, Florida has executed 12 inmates in 2026, and the warrant for Conahan is the 15th DeSantis has signed this year.

William Frances Silvia, 61, is scheduled to die Aug. 18 for fatally shooting his estranged wife at her mother's Casselberry-area home in 2006.

Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is to be executed Sept. 1 over the death of his 16-year-old former girlfriend in Bonita Springs almost 50 years ago.

Appearing at the Florida Sheriffs Association Summer Conference at Trump National Doral on July 28, DeSantis said capital punishment is needed to "bring justice" as "some of the victims' families have been waiting a long time."

"It doesn't take away what happened," he continued. "I don't know if closure is the right word, because you'll probably never get full closure. But at least knowing justice was served is something that was very important to a lot of people."

Conahan, who has contested the charges, was convicted in 1999 of the 1996 murder of 21-year-old Richard Allen Montgomery. Conahan was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and kidnapping. A jury unanimously recommended a death sentence.

According to court records, Conahan, an unemployed nurse, lured Montgomery into the woods in northern Charlotte County to take nude bondage photos. Montgomery told friends he was going out to make a few hundred dollars.

Montgomery's body was found a day later, wrapped in carpet padding. Investigators were in the woods because county workers found the decomposing remains of another man later identified as Kenneth Smith.

Conahan was arrested in February 1997, accused of raping Montgomery, strangling him and cutting off his genitals to eliminate DNA tracing.

Law enforcement tied Conahan to Montgomery through a police report filed in Fort Myers by Stanley Burden, who claimed to have been assaulted after being offered $150 to pose nude while tied to a tree in 1994. Fibers linking Conahan to both Burden and Montgomery were reportedly found at Conahan's home.

Conahan was initially charged in July 1996 with attempted murder of Burden. The charge was dropped when Conahan was charged with Montgomery's murder.

An attorney for Conahan sought to discredit Burden by noting he was a convicted pedophile.

Conahan was investigated but not charged in the deaths of five other men found in wooded areas from North Port to Fort Myers between 1993 and 1996. The first body found was discovered in 1994 by hog hunters in northern Charlotte County.