Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. (born May 11, 1954) is an American convicted murderer , rapist , and suspected serial killer . 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 area in what came to be known as the Hog Trail Murders . Conahan has also been named the prime suspect in the additional murders of eight men, collectively referred to as the Fort Myers Eight , who were discovered in a mass grave site in 2007.
31-428: Conahan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Daniel Conahan (born 1954), American murderer, rapist, and possible serial killer Michael Conahan (born 1952), American J.D. and convicted racketeer Walter Conahan (1927–2015), American politician See also [ edit ] Conaghan [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
62-485: A licensed practical nurse , graduating at the top of his class from Charlotte Vocational-Technical Center and was employed by Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda. Conahan spent the majority of his spare time frequenting gay bars . "I learned there are a lot of hitchhikers on U.S. 41 from North Port to Fort Myers , and some of them were looking to perform sex acts for money," he told detectives. Conahan
93-719: A mental disorder , if they do not already suffer from such a condition. This is referred to as the death row phenomenon . Estimates reveal that five to ten percent of all inmates on death row suffer from mental illness. Some inmates may attempt suicide. There have been some calls for a ban on the imposition of the death penalty for inmates with mental illness and also case law such as Atkins v. Virginia to further this. Executions still take place for those with clear intellectual disabilities due to poor legal representation and high standards of proof. In 1933, Giuseppe Zangara attempted to kill then President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt but injured and killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak . He
124-900: A brain tumor, having spent more time on death row than any American. Brandon Astor Jones spent 36 years on death row (with a brief period in the general prison population during his re-sentencing trial) before being executed for felony murder by the state of Georgia in 2016, at the age of 72. The oldest prisoner on death row in the United States was Leroy Nash , age 94, in Arizona. He died of natural causes on February 12, 2010. ADX Florence , Fremont County , Colorado ( Timothy McVeigh , Joseph Edward Duncan , Kaboni Savage , Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ) MCFP Springfield , Missouri ( Marvin Charles Gabrion ) Notes: Nearly all European countries have abolished capital punishment. As of 2021, Belarus remains
155-430: A dirt road. Later, police linked Conahan to a 1994 Fort Myers 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. Conahan's credit cards were subpoenaed 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
186-454: A focus on security and isolation. The room is typically designed to limit access and maintain strict control over the condemned individual. Furnishings and amenities in these cells are often minimal, as they are not intended for long-term incarceration but rather for the purpose of facilitating the impending execution. Typically, a condemn cell can house between one and three inmates. Bangladesh has witnessed significant controversy surrounding
217-529: A quarter of inmates on death row in the U.S. die of natural causes while awaiting execution. There were 2,721 people on death row in the United States on October 1, 2018. Since 1977, the states of Texas (464), Virginia (108) and Oklahoma (94) have executed the most death row inmates. As of 2010 , California (683), Florida (390), Texas (330) and Pennsylvania (218) housed more than half of all inmates pending on death row. Gary Alvord arrived on Florida's death row in 1974 and died 39 years later on May 19, 2013, from
248-710: A quiet loner, participating in school activities sporadically, and joined the United States Navy in 1977, stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois . In 1978, he was nearly court-martialed 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 for thirteen years before moving back to Punta Gorda to live with his elderly parents in 1993. In 1995, he became
279-573: A suspect in those deaths as well. 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. These came to be known as the Fort Myers Eight . In a forested area at Rockfill and Arcadia Streets, a property surveyor had initially found two human skulls. With the help of area agencies, cadaver dogs, and forensic experts,
310-413: Is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ("being on death row"), even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. In the United States, after an individual is found guilty of a capital offense in states where execution is a legal penalty, the judge will give the jury the option of imposing a death sentence or life imprisonment unparoled. It
341-543: Is believed to have been responsible for the Hog Trail Murders in Florida between 1993 and 1996. He is currently incarcerated and on death row for the murder of one of the victims, Richard Montgomery. Although he has yet to be brought to trial on the other killings, he is generally believed to have committed them. Furthermore, since Conahan's incarceration, several additional remains have been discovered and he has been named
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#1732844218394372-543: Is currently housed at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida . The case was covered by many true crime television shows , such as: The New Detectives , Most Evil , Forensic Factor and Buried in the Backyard . Death row Death row , also known as condemned row , is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term
403-496: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Daniel Conahan Daniel Conahan was born on May 11, 1954, in Charlotte, North Carolina , to a middle-class family and moved with his parents to Punta Gorda, Florida , shortly after his birth. When he was a teenager, he discovered he was homosexual ; this displeased his parents, who sent him to several psychiatrists . Conahan frequently told friends that his sexuality
434-481: Is then up to the jury to decide whether to give the death sentence; this usually has to be a unanimous decision. If the jury agrees on death, the defendant will remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures, which may continue for several decades. Opponents of capital punishment claim that a prisoner's isolation and uncertainty over their fate constitute a form of psychological abuse and that especially long-time death row inmates are prone to develop
465-566: The attempted murder of Burden. The following February, he was charged with the murder of Montgomery, while the attempted murder charges in the Burden case were dropped. Conahan was tried for the 1996 kidnapping and murder of victim Richard Allen Montgomery. In Punta Gorda, he waived his right to a jury trial on August 9, 1999, thereby electing a bench trial . The star witness was Stanley Burden, who authorities alleged had been nearly killed by Conahan in 1994. Conahan's attorney rebutted that Burden
496-411: The surname Conahan . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conahan&oldid=1099194236 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
527-510: The Fort Myers Police Department was able to retrieve a total of eight sets of skeletal remains. They found no clothing nor remnants of coffins, body bags, or anything else that might be used to hold human remains. There were no tracks or other indications that someone had recently visited the area. Although a connection to a closed funeral home was considered possible, speculation soon turned to Conahan. The medical examiner has ruled
558-523: The Netherlands, and Switzerland all called for abolition entirely. According to Amnesty International , Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran were responsible for most known executions worldwide in 2020. When the United Kingdom had capital punishment , there were generally no 'death rows'. The condemned were however separated from the general prison population in one of two 'condemned cells' located adjacent to
589-450: The United States received persistent criticism on its use of capital punishment during a United Nations review of its human rights record. Many allies of the United States urged that the U.S. cease executions. France urged the US halt executions, Germany suggested a federal moratorium on and eventual abolition, Austria called for immediate cessation of executions and then abolition, and Australia,
620-478: The United States, prisoners may wait many years before execution can be carried out due to the complex and time-consuming appeals procedures mandated in the jurisdiction. The time between sentencing and execution increased relatively steadily between 1977 and 2010, including a 21% jump between 1989 and 1990 and a similar jump between 2008 and 2009. In 2010, a death row inmate waited an average of 178 months (14 years and 10 months) between sentencing and execution. Nearly
651-418: The death row phenomenon emerge in countries under its jurisdiction. A condemn cell, also known as a death row cell, is a designated room within a prison where individuals who have been sentenced to death as a legal punishment are held until their execution. This specialized cell is a temporary holding area specifically designed for individuals awaiting capital punishment. Condemn cells are constructed with
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#1732844218394682-475: The deaths to be homicides and Stanley Burden, the star witness at Conahan's trial, had been attacked within a mile of the site where the eight skeletons were found. In November 2007, 38-year-old John Blevins was the first victim of the Fort Myers Eight to be identified. He had a transient lifestyle and lived in the Fort Myers area. He had a criminal record for minor offenses and was last seen in 1995, but
713-542: The execution chamber. Sentenced inmates were given one appeal. If that appeal was found to involve an important point of law it was taken up to the House of Lords , and if the appeal was successful, at that point the sentence was changed to life imprisonment. The Home Secretary had the power to exercise the Sovereign's royal prerogative of mercy to grant a reprieve on execution and change the sentence to life imprisonment. Essentially
744-565: The execution of murderer James Virrels had to await the prior double execution of murderers/robbers Joseph Brown and Edward Smith a day earlier, before going ahead on April 26. In some Caribbean countries that still authorize execution, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the ultimate court of appeals. It has upheld appeals by prisoners who have spent several years under sentence of death, stating that it does not desire to see
775-451: The only European country to use the death penalty. Around 70% of the world's countries have abolished capital punishment. These countries are frequently concerned with their citizens in the United States criminal system. There have even been instances of other countries citing human rights laws against the United States, or refusing to extradite incriminating material, in fear of their citizens being put on death row. On November 9, 2020,
806-488: The speedy process from conviction to execution, re-sentencing or reprieve meant that there were low numbers, (if any) prisoners under sentence of death at any one time and so there was no need for a 'death row'. Assistant executioner Syd Dernley used the term "death row" in his 1990 memoir The Hangman's Tale to refer to the situation at Wandsworth Prison in April 1951 where, as only up to two persons could be hanged at one time,
837-596: Was a drifter who was last seen in October 1995 in Fort Myers, Florida , when he called his mother to ask for money. A victim who was formerly known as "Victim H" was identified in September 2022 as 30-year-old Robert Ronald “Bobbie” Soden of Fort Myers, Florida , who disappeared in 1996. Four of the decedents remain unidentified. In May 1996, several witnesses directed police to Daniel Conahan, including one who had escaped him when Conahan's car became stuck while driving him down
868-512: Was an imprisoned pedophile , serving a 10-to-25-year sentence in Ohio . On August 17, 1999, Judge William Blackwell deliberated for 25 minutes and found Conahan guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and kidnapping. Conahan succeeded in moving the penalty phase of his trial to Collier County but, in November, a jury recommended a sentence of death and Judge Blackwell agreed on December 10. Conahan
899-419: Was convicted of Cermak's murder and sentenced to death. Due to Florida law, an inmate could not be housed in a cell with an inmate who was awaiting execution so a prisoner awaiting execution was to be held in a separate waiting cell. Raiford Prison , where Zangara was being held, already had one prisoner waiting in their "death cell" so the waiting area was expanded to a row of cells, becoming a "Death Row". In
930-408: Was never reported missing. According to his mother, he mentioned plans to "go out" and to return shortly afterward. Shortly after Blevins' identification, a second victim was identified that same month as 21-year-old Erik David Kohler . Kohler disappeared from Port Charlotte, Florida sometime during October 1995. In September 2008, Jonathan James Tihay , 24, was the third victim to be identified. He
961-428: Was not a disease and how he was angered by having been mistreated and traumatised by his parents for his homosexuality . "It wasn't the kind of thing you were open about in the 1970s," Conahan later told investigators. "But I found a gay bar, and if I got there early, they wouldn't card me. Being gay is part of God's plan, too." He graduated Miami Norland High School in 1973 where classmates later described Conahan as