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New details in the Nicole Montalvo murder case
The two men indicted in the death of Nicole Montalvo appeared before a judge on Friday on new charges. Based on documents related to the indictments, investigators believe Montalvo's estranged husband killed her and his father helped get rid of the body.
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - Nicole Montalvo’s estranged husband, Christopher Otero-Rivera, made his first appearance before a judge Friday after a grand jury indicted him for second-degree murder, abuse of a dead human body and tampering with evidence on Thursday.
This indictment comes a little more than a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis pulled the case from State Attorney Aramis Ayala.
She had not yet taken the case before a grand jury, saying she didn’t have what she needed for an evidence-based prosecution of a first-degree murder charge.
She also said evidence her office received did not show who killed Montalvo or how she was murdered.
State Attorney Bad King was assigned the case.
He spent all day Wednesday and half of Thursday presenting evidence to a grand jury.
When investigators with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office first arrested Otero-Rivera, they charged him with first-degree murder which could have come with the possibility of a death penalty.
Thursday, the grand jury indicted Otero-Rivera on second-degree murder, a lesser charge.
“Were you surprised it wasn’t first-degree murder?” FOX 35's Holly Bristow asked Migdalia Perez, Otero-Rivera’s attorney. “Not at all,” she said.
The grand jury indicted Otero-Rivera’s father, Angel Rivera, on accessory after the fact, abuse of a dead human body and tampering with evidence.
Charging affidavits for both men have at least a full page blacked out and redacted, so it’s unclear how prosecutors determined who killed Montalvo, or if any new evidence has come to light.
Court records show the judge signed a transport order for a man named Hector Massas to be pulled out of Jefferson Correction Institute, where he’s serving a 15-year sentence for three armed robberies to testify about Otero-Rivera before the grand jury.
Perez says her client does not know who Massas is.
Records show the two men were in the Osceola County Jail at the same time for a few days after Otero-Rivera was arrested.
However, through a public records request, FOX 35 News asked jail officials if the two men were cellmates, neighbors or in the same pod? Jail officials said “No”.
Jail officials also said that Massas was not housed anywhere near Angel Rivera.
Otero-Rivera and Rivera are now being held without bond.
Both are scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday.