Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72 years old, was executed Thursday night (9/10) at Florida State Prison, near Starke. Death was declared at 6:12 p.m. after the administration of a lethal injection composed of three drugs. A spiritual counselor was at his feet and prayed throughout the execution process.
Conahan had been sentenced to death for the kidnapping and strangulation in 1996 of Richard Allen Montgomery. Montgomery's mutilated body was found in a wooded area in southwest Florida, the same location where authorities found the remains of at least six people over a period of three years.
Police believe Conahan was behind a series of crimes that became known in the press as the "Hog Trail Murders," which occurred in the 1990s. The executed man always claimed innocence, including in the case of Montgomery's murder.
