2 men sentenced to life in prison for killing Osceola County mother Nicole Montalvo

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The two men convicted of killing a St. Cloud mother were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

In April, a jury found Christopher Otero-Rivera and his father, Angel Rivera, guilty of killing Nicole Montalvo.

READ: 2 men found guilty in murdering Osceola County mother Nicole Montalvo

The father and son were convicted of killing Otero-Rivera’s estranged wife in what started out as a missing person case in 2019.

Montalvo’s remains were found on the Rivera family property in October 2019.

Prosecutors said a custody battle over the couple’s son was the motivation for murder.

READ: Father-in-law sent text message posing as Nicole Montalvo to cover her death, prosecutors say

Otero-Rivera and Rivera learned their fate at a sentencing hearing at the Osceola County Courthouse on Wednesday morning.

“I cannot ignore the brutality of your efforts to cover up that crime and the pain that brought the family as they desperately searched for Nicole Montalvo,” circuit court judge Keith Carsten said.

READ: Boy charged in shooting death of another 15-year-old in Orange County

Montalvo’s family said they are thankful for the outcome, but that it was hard on them to hear the gruesome details about Montalvo’s body being broken, burned and buried.

Family members gave impact statements in court for the sentencing.

“A little piece of us died with Nicole… and we feel it every single day,” her brother Steven Montalvo said.

Defense attorneys for both men said they plan to appeal Wednesdays’ ruling.

Related coverage:

• Estranged husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law to all face trial together on charges related to death of Nicole Montalvo, judge rules
• Estranged husband, father-in-law of slain St. Cloud woman indicted on different charges
• ‘Smelled like death’: Woman recalls night after slain St. Cloud mother disappeared
• Letters from jail, other evidence released in slain St. Cloud mother investigation
• State Attorney’s Office releases new documents in slain St. Cloud mother’s murder investigation
• Man accused of murdering daughter-in-law facing new charges, jail documents say
• Deputies: Human remains identified as missing St. Cloud woman

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