OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Nicole Montalvo’s body was discovered on two different Osceola County properties owned by the Riveras in 2019. But a year before her murder, police arrested her estranged husband Christopher Otero-Rivera for domestic violence and kidnapping.
What You Need To Know
- New evidence revealed in Nicole Montalvo homicide case
- Prosecutors trying to paint picture that a plan was devised behind bars
- Evidence includes jailhouse phone calls, testimony from cellmates
Another person charged in that kidnapping case was Toni Marie Rocker, a woman Montalvo believed was having a love affair with her husband, according to a letter she wrote in a court filing. However, Rocker was found “not guilty” by a jury.
The kidnapping and robbery charges filed against Otero-Rivera in 2018 were dropped, and he plead guilty for battery, having Montalvo’s credit card, and hindering her from communicating. This is why Otero-Rivera was on probation and had an ankle monitor at the time of Montalvo’s disappearance.
With the new evidence released by the State Attorney’s Office, prosecutors are trying to paint a picture that father Angel Rivera and son Otero-Rivera hashed out a plan from behind bars before Montalvo turned up dead.
In a jailhouse phone call, Otero-Rivera appears to tell his father, “Trying to keep it real low key on the phone, and the details will come out there. OK. OK? You can do that? I’d be happy to do that.”
During the call Otero-Rivera tells his father that a cellmate is going to help him, that he just needs him to bond the guy out. During the conversation, Otero-Rivera never mentions the word murder but talks about discrediting someone.
“And when this guy gets bonded out, he’s going to get with you… You know and talk with you and you know… Get things rolling to help me,” Otero-Rivera said in the call.
During his time in jail for the domestic violence issue, Otero-Rivera allegedly made another friend — Johnny Medina Jr., who was interrogated by law enforcement.
In his interview, he said, “Did he tell me a plan specifically? No. Do I believe he did it? Yes.”
According to detectives he is a cellmate with an impactful story, but a lot of his testimony was redacted.
“He wanted to kill her parents, because they didn’t want the kid around him. You heard him say that? Yeah,” he added. “That they were alcoholics. So he’d kill them, if anything. He just wanted to get rid of them.”
In the evidence released there’s also a jailhouse phone call made by Rivera, talking to his sister-in-law about receiving some funds from the family-run nonprofit: Global Mission Outreach.
“Send me some money, send me $50-60 for commissary out of the Global Mission account. Sign the name where it’s unrecognizable,” Rivera explained.
The state filed a motion to include this information in the murder trial. There will be a hearing with the judge to see if this evidence will be admitted. A pre-trial conference for Montalvo’s murder is scheduled for May 26.