Estranged husband, father-in-law of slain St. Cloud woman indicted on different charges

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Indictments were filed Thursday against the estranged husband and the father-in-law of Nicole Montalvo, a slain St. Cloud woman.

Christopher Otero-Rivera, Montavlo’s husband, was indicted on second-degree murder charges.

Read: ‘Smelled like death’: Woman recalls night after slain St. Cloud mother disappeared

His father, Angel Rivera, was indicted for charges of accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence.

Investigators said Montalvo’s remains were discovered in October on property belonging to her estranged husband’s family.

Read: State Attorney’s Office releases new documents in slain St. Cloud mother’s murder investigation

Since December, Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said he’s been waiting for the day an indictment would be handed down in the murder case.

State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s office said there was not enough evidence to file formal murder charges, saying Gibson has offered facts that are “simply not true.”

After the sheriff took his concerns to the Florida Attorney General in late January, Gov. Ron DeSantis reassigned the case to State Attorney Brad King. His team of prosecutors spent hours presenting the evidence to a grand jury. Today, they decided on the charges.

Ayala said today the is just the beginning for King and his team.

“It’s an indictment. When it comes to indictments that’s a very low level to establish,” she said. “I don’t think that should surprise anyone, especially with the level of pressure that came from that governor to make sure that there was an indictment.”

Montalvo’s family is organizing a march in her honor at St. Cloud Lake on March 21.

Read: Letter to governor: Osceola County sheriff says state attorney’s stance on death penalty led to ‘inaction’ in slain mother case

© 2020 Cox Media Group