OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Testimony in the trial of a father and son charged with killing St. Cloud mother Nicole Montalvo began Wednesday with one of the detectives who investigated the case.

An Osceola County Sheriff's detective answered questions about interviewing Christopher Otero-Rivera, Montalvo's estranged husband, after her disappearance. The jury heard a recording of the interview, where Otero-Rivera told the detective that the couple had been together for 10 years, but were now just friends.

The trial of Otero-Rivera and Angel Rivera started Tuesday.

During opening statements, Nicole Montalvo’s family sat close together as they heard descriptive details of how Montalvo was burned, dismembered and buried.

“There were sharp-force injuries that she found on the body parts — identified as those of Nicole Montalvo,” prosecutor Ryan Williams said. “There were organs and pieces of her body that had charring or formal injuries that are consistent with burning.”

Christopher Otero-Rivera’s lawyer said circumstantial evidence points to one person, Angel Rivera. Meanwhile, Rivera’s lawyer waived opening statements. But both Otero-Rivera and Rivera have pleaded not guilty.

The state called witness after witness to the stand. Most agreed that Montalvo was a hard-working mother who loved her child, Elijah, very much.

At the time of her disappearance, Montalvo was in the middle of a divorce from her Otero-Rivera.

“Elijah needed a lot of extra care and attention given to him that maybe your typical child might not,” said Crystal Bunn, who used to work at Harmony Community School and was a former teacher of Elijah. “She would give him the sun, the moon and the stars, and then some, if she could.”

Montalvo disappeared in October 2019 after dropping off the couple’s son at the Rivera home. Her remains were later found on two different properties owned by the Riveras.

Kimberly LaSure, Otero-Rivera’s defense lawyer, said his father — Angel Rivera — was the last person to see Montalvo alive and that their relationship was rocky because of Elijah, the couple’s son who is now 9 years old.

Rivera treated Elijah like his “possession” and was angry that Montalvo didn’t let him see his grandson at times, LaSure said.

“Only Angel had access to the Henry J property where the majority of her remains were found,” LaSure said.

Wanda Rivera, the wife of Angel Rivera and the mother of Christopher Otero-Rivera, also faced charges in the case for more than a year, but those charges were recently dropped. She asked to watch the trial in person, but the judge denied that request.