OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — New evidence was released in the investigation into the death of Osceola County mother Nicole Montalvo, which includes interrogation videos of the suspects.
- New evidence includes photos of the crime scene, interrogation videos
- PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- 1,000-Page Report Reveals Jailhouse Letters in Nicole Montalvo Murder Case
- Brother-in-Law of Slain Nicole Montalvo Describes Violent Upbringing
- Judge Releases Nicole Montalvo's Estranged Husband on Murder Charge
- Docs: Slain Woman's Estranged Husband was Wearing Ankle Monitor
- Nicole Montalvo Murder Sparks Conversations on Domestic Violence
- Amid Nicole Montalvo Murder Case, A Call to Revisit GPS Monitoring
- Report: Estranged Husband of Nicole Montalvo Kidnapped Her at Knifepoint a Year Ago
Her estranged husband Christopher Otero-Rivera and his parents are facing charges in connection with the St. Cloud mother's death.
The evidence was released Wednesday night by the State's Attorney's Office, which includes pictures from the crime scene, interrogation videos, but what is really striking is a jailhouse phone call allegedly made by Christopher Otero-Rivera's father Angel Rivera.
In it, he says that his son will be found guilty for his daughter-in-law's murder.
"The thing about it is, is that Chris is definitely going to be found guilty, somehow …I don't want to dish out a bunch of money and then I have a public defender and I wind up getting sent up the river for what he did … Chris is definitely going go to jail, no ifs ands or buts about it, I mean, they found the body there," Rivera allegedly said in the collection of phone recordings.
Otero-Rivera and Rivera are charged with abuse of a dead body and failure to report a death.
Montalvo described in text messages to a friend how Rivera was trying to manipulate and blackmail her.
In an interrogation video, Otero-Rivera allegedly told investigators about a text message Montalvo allegedly sent to his father.
"I don't know if you heard about it but she sent him a text message, saying that she was leaving. We don't know where, she's with a friend, she's OK, take care of Elijah, I trust you guys … Is this, like, forever? I don't know, she said she's something about she needed time to herself or something … Yeah, yeah, but I mean to just ghost like that? Without being in contact with nobody?" Otero-Rivera allegedly said in the video.
Investigators also released a video of them interrogating Rivera's mother Wanda Rivera. She allegedly says she wanted to talk to her pastor and then said she was not going to tell investigators anything without a lawyer.
Part of the evidence also includes GPS records from Otero-Rivera from the day Montalvo was last seen, on Oct. 21, 2019. The records show that Otero-Rivera had been wearing an ankle monitor as part of a 2018 court order, where he was accused of domestic violence against Montalvo.
He and another woman were accused of kidnapping Montalvo by knifepoint and assaulting her.
The GPS records show that on Oct. 21, he was moving around his parents' acres-large property, the same property where authorities found Montalvo's body dismembered.
Montalvo’s mother-in-law, Wanda Rivera, is accused of tampering with evidence and lying to detectives.