Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. (born May 11, 1954) is a

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is con ...

American murderer,

rapist Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...

, and suspected

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

. Conahan was convicted of one murder, but has been linked to a dozen murders, mostly of transients seeking employment and gay men in the

Charlotte County, Florida Charlotte County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 186,847. Its county seat is Punta Gorda. Charlotte County comprises the Punta Gorda, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

area in what came to be known as the Hog Trail Murders.

Early life and career

Conahan was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, and moved with his family to

Punta Gorda, Florida , nickname = , settlement_type = List of municipalities in Florida, City , motto = , image_skyline = Punta Gorda City Hall.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption ...

, shortly after birth. When he was a teenager, he discovered he was

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

; this displeased his parents, who sent him to several

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

s. He graduated

Miami Norland High School Miami Norland Senior High School is a public high school located in the Norland neighborhood of Miami Gardens, Florida. History Miami Norland Senior High School opened its doors to students in 1958 as an all-white school, accepting fifty stude ...

in 1973 and joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in 1977, stationed at

Naval Station Great Lakes Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only recruit training, boot camp, located near North Chicago, Illinois, North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. In 1978, he was nearly

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of mem ...

ed for taking fellow Naval officers off base for sex, and was discharged a few months later after getting into a fight with a man upon whom he had attempted to force oral sex. After his Navy discharge, Conahan stayed in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

for 13 years before moving back to Punta Gorda to live with his elderly parents in 1993. In 1995, he became a

licensed practical nurse A licensed practical nurse (LPN), in much of the United States and Canada, is a nurse who cares for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled. In the United States, LPNs work under the direction of physicians, mid-level practition ...

, graduating at the top of his class from Charlotte Vocational-Technical Center. He was employed by Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda.

Murders

On February 1, 1994, the mutilated corpse of a man was discovered in Punta Gorda. The body had been outside for about a month and had rope burns on the skin and the

genitalia A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, ...

had been removed and discarded. The man was not identifiedDavid Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 2''
by David Lohr for the

Crime Library Crime Library was a website documenting major crimes, criminals, trials, forensics, and criminal profiling from books. It was founded in 1998 and was most recently owned by truTV, a cable TV network that is part of Time Warner's Turner Broadcas ...

. until 2021, when the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office announced that new DNA testing confirmed the victim as Gerald (Jerry) Lombard, of

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, It is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,5 ...

. On January 1, 1996, a North Port family's dog brought home a male human skull. Police eventually pieced together much of a skeleton and determined that the genitalia had been cut out, similar to the 1994 victim (Lombard). The North Port skeleton has not been identified.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 3''
by David Lohr for the

. A third man's mutilated body was discovered in North Port on March 7, 1996. He had been killed only 10 days earlier.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 4''
by David Lohr for the

. He also remained unidentified until June 1999, when he was identified as John William Melaragno.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 12''
by David Lohr for the

. Another man's skull was found in Charlotte County on April 17, 1996. Police searched the surrounding woods and found the rest of the man as well as a second body. The second was a man who had been raped, murdered, and mutilated only the day before, and was identified as Richard Allen Montgomery.Conahan, Daniel
from Commission on Capital Cases.
by David Lohr for the

.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 5''
by David Lohr for the

. The first body was later identified as Kenneth Lee Smith.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 6''
by David Lohr for the

.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 7''
by David Lohr for the

. Speculation became rampant about a serial killer, and the media dubbed the murders "The Hog Trail Killings", named for the wooded areas in which the bodies of the victims were found. UP1132 A Krick.jpg, Facial reconstruction of (previously) unidentified victim, known as ''John Doe #1''; DNA tests in 2021 confirm identity as Gerald (Jerry) Lombard.

Arrest

In May 1996, a few witnesses directed police to Daniel Conahan, including one who had escaped him when Conahan's car became stuck while driving him down a dirt road.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 8''
by David Lohr for the

. Later, police linked Conahan to a 1994

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in ...

police report where Stanley Burden had been propositioned, tied to a tree, and nearly strangled. Burden survived and had rope scars on his body two years later.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 9''
by David Lohr for the

. Conahan's credit cards were

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

ed and his house was searched, turning up evidence linking him to both Burden and Montgomery. On July 3, 1996, Conahan was arrested and brought to Lee County for the

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ...

of Burden. The following February, he was charged with the murder of Montgomery, while the attempted murder charges in the Burden case were dropped. While Conahan awaited trial, another skeleton was found in Charlotte County on May 22, 1997. Ten months later, DNA identified the remains as William Charles Patten, who had disappeared in 1993.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 11''
by David Lohr for the

Trial and imprisonment

Conahan was tried for the 1996 kidnapping and murder of victim Richard Allen Montgomery. In Punta Gorda, Conahan waived his right to a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

on August 9, 1999, thereby electing a

bench trial A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a trial by jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems ( Roman, Islamic) use ben ...

. The star witness was Stanley Burden, who authorities alleged had been nearly killed by Conahan in 1994. Conahan's attorney rebutted that Burden was an imprisoned

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pubert ...

, serving a 10-to-25-year sentence in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 13''
by David Lohr for the

. On August 17, 1999, Judge William Blackwell deliberated for 25 minutes and found Conahan guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and kidnapping.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 14''
by David Lohr for the

. Conahan succeeded in moving the

penalty phase ''Penalty Phase'' is a 1986 American made-for-television thriller drama film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Peter Strauss. Plot Supreme court judge, Kenneth Hoffman (Peter Strauss) oversees a high-profile murder trial which appea ...

of his trial to Collier County but, in November, a jury recommended a sentence of death and Judge Blackwell agreed on December 10.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 15''
by David Lohr for the

. Conahan is currently housed at

Union Correctional Institution The Union Correctional Institution, formerly referred to as Florida State Prison, Raiford Prison and State Prison Farm is a Florida Department of Corrections state prison located in unincorporated Union County, Florida, near Raiford. First o ...

Raiford, Florida Raiford is a town in Union County, Florida, United States. The population was 255 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 236. It was home to the original Florida State Prison and continues to be home ...

Discovery of additional skeletons

Several more bodies were discovered in the Charlotte County area with similarities to the Hog Trail Killings: one in 2000, two in 2001, and one in 2002.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 16''
by David Lohr for the

.David Conahan Jr, the Hog Trail Murderer, ''Chapter 17''
by David Lohr for the

. On March 23, 2007, eight skulls and skeletal remains were found in a wooded area in Fort Myers, the largest such discovery in Florida history.Eight skulls, skeletal remains found in Fort Myers
from NBC-2, March 24, 2007.New clues revealed in Ft. Myers bones case
from NBC-2, July 5, 2007. These came to be known as the "Fort Myers Eight". Although a connection to a closed funeral home was considered possible, speculation soon turned to Conahan. Stanley Burden, the star witness at Conahan's trial, had been attacked within a mile of the site where the eight skeletons were found.Location of bones hints at serial killer link
from NBC-2, June 8, 2007. Two were later identified as men who had disappeared in 1995.Two of eight skeletons found in Fort Myers identified
from NBC-2, November 20, 2007. A victim who formerly known as "Victim H" was identified in September 2022 as Robert Ronald “Bobbie” Soden.

Facial reconstructions of five of the victims

Body A.jpg, Facial reconstruction of victim "A". Unidentified Body B.jpg, Facial reconstruction of victim "B". Unidentified Body F.jpg, Facial reconstruction of victim "F". Unidentified Body G.jpg, Facial reconstruction of victim "G". Unidentified Body H.jpg, Facial reconstruction of victim "H". Positively identified in September 2022, as 30-year-old Robert Ronald "Bobbie" Soden of

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 2 ...

, who disappeared in 1996

In media

The case was covered by many

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

television shows, such as: ''

The New Detectives ''The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science'' (or simply ''The New Detectives'', formally "Forensic Detectives") is a documentary true crime television show that aired two to three different cases in forensic science per episode from ...

'', '' Most Evil'', '' Forensic Factor'' and ''Buried in the Backyard''.

References

External links

''Daniel O. CONAHAN, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee''
Supreme Court of Florida, January 16, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Conahan, Daniel 1954 births 1994 murders in the United States 1995 murders in the United States 1996 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people American kidnappers American LGBT military personnel American male criminals American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to death Gay men Living people Male nurses Miami Norland Senior High School alumni Nurses from Florida People convicted of murder by Florida People from Charlotte, North Carolina People from Chicago People from Punta Gorda, Florida Prisoners sentenced to death by Florida Suspected serial killers Torture in the United States United States Navy sailors Violence against gay men Violence against men in North America