LANCASTER, PA — A Lancaster city man was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and related charges for killing his wife and setting fire to his family’s home in 2010, Announced Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams.
Carlos Montalvo-Rivera, 55, was found guilty by jury on all charges which included three counts of attempted homicide, one count of arson and one count of risking catastrophe.
The jury deliberated for roughly an hour and 45 minutes following a trial that lasted nearly three weeks before Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker.
Montalvo-Rivera faces life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date.
Assistant District Attorneys Christine Wilson, who was assigned to the case since charges were filed in 2019, and Jennifer Ponessa prosecuted the case and presented evidence throughout the trial that Montalvo-Rivera’s stories from the night of the fire — Dec. 6, 2010 — showed various inconsistencies.
“All the evidence over the years, everything has ever only pointed to him, nobody else,” Ponessa said while pointing at the defendant during her closing argument. “He lied since day one in this investigation. He could not give major details of what happened to him that night.”
Wilson presented testimony from Dr. Wayne Ross, an expert in forensic pathology, who revealed the victim died on the floor of a bedroom in the N. Plum Street home by asphyxia and smoke inhalation but was alive when the fire started.
Further testimony and evidence showed that the defendant and victim had recent sexual activity, but the victim never moved from her position on the floor before her death.
During her closing argument, Ponessa said Montalvo-Rivera repeatedly yelled that his wife was still inside at the scene of the fire.
“He knew she was in there because he left her in there on the floor where he killed her,” Ponessa said. Then he set the fire in order to “get rid of as much evidence as possible.”
The defendant said that intruders broke into the home, killed his wife, and set fire to it out of retaliation for the victim’s brother, who had cooperated with the DEA in an unrelated case.
Testimony from neighbors revealed them helping save the three children in the home by going on the roof of a neighboring house in order to access them. Montalvo-Rivera eventually appeared from a foot alley next to the home after the children were rescued.
Some of the other inconsistencies and inaccuracies presented by the prosecution included:
- The defendant stated he and his wife had a happy marriage but a family member testified to hearing him say he’d “kill his wife like a dog” following an argument. Ponessa stated the defendant, who was having a family night with the victim and their three children, ran into someone he believed was having an affair with his wife on two occasions the same night of the murder and fire.
- The defendant stated he was knocked unconscious by intruders for nearly an hour although no brain or head injuries were found in a CT scan or observed by responding medical personnel. Montalvo-Rivera also showed no signs of being in the home during the night of the fire due to his carbon monoxide levels.
- The defendant stated he jumped out of a second-floor window to escape the fire. Evidence showed the window he claimed to have jumped out of was closed and further testimony revealed Montalvo-Rivera was observed attempting to get up to the window to open it during the fire.
- Montalvo-Rivera told police he had his hands tied by the intruders, yet the prosecution showed he could have easily done it himself. Ponessa, wearing four-inch heels during her closing argument, tied both her wrists and ankles with a similar binding and in a similar way that the defendant claimed to have been tied the night of the homicide.
Defense argued that the prosecution hesitated and refrained — a key aspect of reasonable doubt — from acting from 2011 to 2019 until charges were filed and that a thorough investigation was not done.
The jury agreed with the prosecution that Montalvo-Rivera killed the victim, poured gasoline up the steps and into the victim’s bedroom, set the house on fire while the children were on the third floor, went out a door on the first floor, tied himself up, and attempted to create a story to cover his tracks and prove his innocence.
Former Lancaster City Bureau of Police Detective Nathan Nickel filed charges, testified and attended the entirety of the trial.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and Microsoft Start.