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Medical Examiner testifies in trial of father and son accused of murdering Osceola County mom

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Jurors endured two hours of graphic images and details of the 2019 murder of Osceola County mother Nicole Montalvo.

Her estranged husband, Christopher Otero-Rivera, and his father, Angel Rivera, are on trial for her murder.

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

On Friday, the former Osceola County Medical Examiner who performed Montalvo’s autopsy testified about the extreme way her body had been dismembered, saying she’d never seen anything like it in her 15-year career.

“This decedent came in in multiple parts,” Dr. Jennifer Nara explained.

>>> WATCH THE TRIAL LIVE HERE <<<

Dr. Nara testified that some of the bones appeared to have been chopped up into very small pieces, as though they’d been put through a wood chipper, she said.

“There are many portions of the bones, like the bones of the legs...and bones of the arms in the entirety that were not present,” Dr. Nara says.

READ: Orange, Osceola courts backlog will take years to clear, Chief Judge says

With Montalvo’s family and friends looking on, Dr. Nara explained how her autopsy was far from ordinary. The remains were collected from two different properties owned by the Rivera family, and more than half were never found.

Dr. Nara went on to testify that the parts of the body they did have were burned.

Because of how badly the body was dismembered, the Medical Examiner couldn’t identify a specific cause of death, but she believes the remains were most likely burned after Montalvo died.

Jeff Deal

Jeff Deal, WFTV.com

I joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in 2006.