Daniel Conahan Jr., 72, was executed by lethal injection Thursday evening at Florida State Prison for the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Richard Allen Montgomery. Investigators say Conahan lured Montgomery into a wooded area of Charlotte County, tied him to a tree, and strangled him. Utility workers found Montgomery’s body the next day. The case became part of what became known as the Hog Trail Murders, a series of deaths along rural trails that unsettled our Gulf Coast communities for years.
Conahan was never charged in the other Hog Trail deaths, a detail that has never sat well with many who followed the case. Families of suspected victims, including William Melarango, witnessed Thursday’s execution and said afterward they hope it brings some closure. Conahan made no final statement, meeting instead with a spiritual adviser in his final hours.
For longtime residents of Charlotte and Sarasota counties, this week marks the end of a story that hung over the area for nearly three decades. Was this the outcome you expected after all these years? Let us know your thoughts.
