Charlotte County, Florida

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison near Starke, becoming the state's 15th person put to death this year. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. after a three-drug injection, roughly 12 minutes after the process began. Conahan declined to make a final statement.

Conahan was convicted in 1999 of the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery, whose mutilated body was found in a wooded area of Charlotte County, part of a string of killings dubbed the "Hog Trail Murders" after at least six bodies, mostly homeless men, were discovered in the area over several years. Investigators identified Conahan as a person of interest in the other deaths but never charged him. Eleven victim family members witnessed the execution.

Florida, under outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis, has carried out more than half of the 25 U.S. executions this year and leads the nation's death chamber activity. Another Florida execution, of Curtis Wilkie Beasley, is scheduled for September 29.

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison near Starke, becoming the state's 15th person put to death this year. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m., minutes after the three-drug injection began. Asked for a final statement, Conahan said only, "No sir."

Conahan was convicted in 1999 of the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery, one of at least six people whose remains were found in a wooded Charlotte County area, cases that became known as the "Hog Trail Murders." Investigators named Conahan a person of interest in the other deaths but never charged him; he maintained his innocence, calling the evidence circumstantial. The Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals this week.

A sister of one victim said her family would celebrate his death. Florida, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, has carried out 19 of the nation's 47 executions in 2025, a state record. Another Florida execution, of Curtis Wilkie Beasley, is scheduled for Sept. 29.

Attorneys for Daniel Conahan Jr., 72, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, scheduled for Thursday by lethal injection in Florida. Conahan was sentenced to death for the 1996 kidnapping and strangulation of Richard Montgomery, whose body was found nude and emasculated in a wooded dumping area in Charlotte County. Authorities said Conahan killed Montgomery after paying him to pose for nude photos, and suspect him in similar 1990s homicides in southwest Florida.

Conahan has denied involvement and has sought DNA testing of crime-scene and body evidence since March 2025, arguing it could "conclusively establish" his innocence in the killing. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant on Aug. 11 while that motion was still pending; a state postconviction court denied the DNA request within 24 hours of the warrant being signed. His filing asks only for a stay to allow review of his claims, not a declaration of innocence or release. Florida has carried out 14 executions this year.