Florida plans to kill Daniel Owen Conahan, Jr. on September 10 for the 1996 murder of Richard Montgomery.

Daniel has always maintained his innocence. There was no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Richard Montgomery. The State built a circumstantial case that included forensic pathology testimony about injuries found on Richard’s body. Daniel’s attorneys are now arguing that major developments in forensic science undermine the reliability of the State’s case.

A 2025 consensus report from the National Academies identified cognitive bias, outside influence, inadequate standards and other systemic weaknesses in medicolegal death investigations. Daniel’s attorneys say those concerns are particularly significant in his case because the medical examiner who testified during his penalty phase reviewed the evidence after investigators had already developed their theory of the crime and reached conclusions that departed from those of the original medical examiner. Their current litigation argues that some of her conclusions lacked an established scientific basis and helped provide the State with the forensic narrative it needed to connect Daniel to Richard’s death.

At the same time, Daniel has sought additional DNA testing that he contends could exclude him as a contributor and help establish who was responsible for Richard Montgomery’s murder. Those proceedings were still underway when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Daniel’s death warrant.

At his trial, the State presented testimony from a jailhouse informant who claimed Daniel made an incriminating statement while the two men were incarcerated together. That testimony helped support the State’s circumstantial case against him. But just six days after Gov. DeSantis signed Daniel’s death warrant, his legal team finally spoke with another man who had been housed in the same four-person jail cell with Daniel and the State’s witness.

That man, Alfred Rhiner, told Daniel’s attorneys that the State’s witness was a “classic snitch” and “seasoned jail house snitch” who faced serious charges of his own, had provided information to the State in numerous cases and repeatedly pressed Daniel for information while appearing to offer him help. And Rhiner remembers Daniel adamantly maintaining his innocence. According to the filing, Daniel “never wavered in his denial of any participation” in Richard Montgomery’s murder.

The fact that this information is only being uncovered now exposes another deeply troubling part of Florida’s execution process. Governor DeSantis signed Daniel’s warrant on Tuesday, August 11. The following afternoon, his attorneys appeared for their first case management conference. They were then ordered to file their postconviction motion by 5 p.m. that Saturday — less than four full days after the warrant was signed. His attorneys warned that this compressed schedule created a “genuine danger that substantial claims will be inadequately considered or not considered at all.” Two days after their filing deadline, while their investigation continued, they found Rhiner.