New interview with jail informant reveals plot to kill mother months before she was slain

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Eyewitness News has obtained a new interview that reveals a failed plot to kill an Osceola County mother months before she was actually killed.

A jailhouse informant told prosecutors the two suspects helped him get out of jail, and that one of them asked him to kill Nicole Montalvo.

Read: Man says he saw son with slain Osceola County mother’s body

He said Montalvo’s father-in-law, Angel Rivera, offered him money to make her disappear, so she wouldn’t be able to testify in court against her estranged husband.

In 2019, Christopher Otero-Rivera was facing kidnapping and battery charges of his estranged wife Nicole Montalvo.

Prosecutors believe he had a plan to beat that rap with the help of a cellmate in Osceola County Jail named Dustin Gonzalez.

Read: Brother of man accused of killing estranged wife takes plea deal on child pornography charges

Two days after a jail phone call between Christopher Otero-Rivera and Angel Rivera, Gonzalez told prosecutors that Rivera paid $500 to his dad to post his bond.

In exchange, he claims Otero-Rivera wanted him to discredit Montalvo before she testified him in court by planting drugs.

The plan, according to the jail call, was to plant drugs in her car, and when she went to her son’s school, he would report her to the police.

Once out of jail, Gonzalez said it took an even darker turn when he met Angel Rivera.

“At the time he asked me if it wouldn’t just be easier if I could just make her disappear,” Gonzalez told authorities. “I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And from there he says, “Well, you know it would be easier if she just didn’t come to court period wouldn’t it?” And I said, “Bro, I’m not in that line of work.”

Read: Estranged husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law to all face trial together on charges related to death of Nicole Montalvo, judge rules

Gonzalez told prosecutors that Angel Rivera offered him money to kill Nicole but he didn’t take it.

In October, Montalvo’s body was found in pieces on the Rivera family property.

Rivera and Otero-Rivera are both now charged with murder.

Gonzalez said Otero-Rivera never mentioned murdering Montalvo to him. He said he was afraid of him and stayed away after that.