ORLANDO, Fla. – The brother-in-law of Nicole Montalvo, who investigators say was found dismembered in Osceola County last month, said he’s not surprised detectives have linked his family to her murder.
Osceola County Sheriff’s Office investigators said they found the remains of 33-year-old Montalvo in late October near the home her estranged husband shared with his family.
Montalvo’s estranged husband Christopher Otero Rivera and his father Angel Rivera are both charged with her murder.
"This is inhumane, barbaric, and no actual human being with a soul could do something so heinous," said Giulio Rivera.
Giulio Rivera is the son of Angel Rivera and Christopher Otero Rivera is his half brother. He said he first met Montalvo in 2012.
"When I first met her, she was fun to be around. She was like a light, and she was very outgoing and energetic," he said. "We would go to the beach, we would go to the pool in the neighborhood that I lived in, and that’s when I first met her, and the first time that I met my nephew. After a long time, I felt happy that my brother got married and had a whole family. I had no idea of the skeletons that they were carrying around and the secrets that she was holding inside."
Rivera said he spent time in the home on Hixon Avenue near St. Cloud, where deputies have focused their investigation.
He said he ran away after suffering years of abuse at the hands of his father, Angel Rivera.
“He’s very, very physically volatile,” he said. “He would beat me so badly that I could not even go to school or walk.”
"Everyone knows he’s abusive, and what’s missing from this equation that I believe possibly led up to his final snap -- or whatever -- is that he was never put in check," he said.
According to court documents, Rivera has his own criminal record, including arrests for battery, child abuse and domestic violence.
He discussed many things that News 6 brought to the attention of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office to see if they were including them in their investigation.
Sheriff’s Office officials have not responded to our requests.
Rivera said he wants to build a relationship with Montalvo’s son, his nephew.
He says he also wants his father and his half-brother to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for the murder of Montalvo.
“I’m hoping for the death penalty,” he said. “He does not deserve to breathe the same air as anybody else.”
