Florida Mother Murdered and Dismembered By Family To Gain Custody Of Her Son

A father-son duo has been convicted of murdering a 33-year-old mother back in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison this past week.

Christopher Otero-Rivera, 33, and Angel Rivera, 66, received life sentences for the second-degree murder of Nicole Montalvo. Jurors found both of the men guilty of their crimes back in mid-April.

It was during the sentencing process that one prosecutor, Ryan Williams, asked the judge to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole for both. According to WESH, “if this crime doesn’t deserve a life sentence, what does?”

Montalvo, Otero-Rivera’s estranged wife and the mother of his son was last seen alive on October 21, 2019, as she was dropping her 9-year-old son off at school. The woman’s remains were found six days later at a property where Rivera and two other men were living.

In addition to the life sentences, Judge Keith Carsons sentenced the father and son to another 15 years for dismembering Montalvo’s body and stacked on five more for evidence tampering. According to investigators when Montalvo’s body was discovered, they found her dismembered, burned and buried on the Saint Cloud property.

“I cannot ignore the brutality of your efforts to cover up that crime, or the pain it brought the family of Nicole Montalvo,” Carsons said during Wednesday’s sentencing. 

Prosecutors stated at the trial that the two men wanted the mother gone so that they could gain sole custody of her son. 

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Three of Montalvo’s relatives delivered victim impact statements, prior to sentencing. Montalvo’s sister Christina Montalvo described the grieving process as “never-ending.” The victim’s younger brother, Steven Montalvo, said he stood in the courtroom with a sense of “terror and a loss for words.” 

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Edward Montalvo, her twin brother, said the family tried for years to convince his sister to leave Otero-Rivera, adding that she was “butchered and discarded like she never mattered.” The attorneys for both men plan to appeal the sentences, WESH reports.

In addition, authorities have also charged Wanda Nereida Rivera in connection with Montalvo’s death. She has been charged with tampering with evidence and providing false statements during the commission of a felony crime.

If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse is traumatic, be sure to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or TTY 1.800.787.3224.