Nancy Guthrie Crime Scene May Have Been ‘Staged’ as a Cover for Her Murder ‘Somewhere Else,’ Forensic Expert Suspects
Every day, there’s a new theory about the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping, but as more information is made available, some theories start to shape out what could have happened. Experts have been poring over what we know about the investigation and the crime scene, and some theories about why Savannah Guthrie’s mom was taken and what could have happened to her have emerged.
Dr. Gary Brucato, a forensic researcher and clinical psychologist, shared his theory in an interview with TMZ, saying it’s possible that Guthrie was taken or even killed somewhere else, and the scene at her house was staged to throw off authorities. This possibility has not been one of the most prevalent theories about the case.
Related: Who are Savannah Guthrie’s siblings?
Brucato told the outlet that he saw two possibilities for the crime: either an “abduction attempt for money that went south,” or an “elimination murder,” meaning someone wanted to kill Nancy Guthrie and then staged the scene to make it look like a kidnapping to throw law enforcement off.
“It is entirely possible that she was not actually taken from there or killed there,” Brucato said, via OK!. “It’s entirely possible that happened elsewhere and somebody staged blood in the front of the house, the door being opened in the back and so forth to give the impression of an abduction, but she was actually killed somewhere else or whatever fate befell her, I’m sorry to say, somewhere else.”
Law enforcement has released surveillance photos and video of one masked assailant recovered from Guthrie’s ring camera, but Brucato doesn’t believe there was just one person involved. Instead, Brucato said it was likely “at least two,” calling this type of plot a “waiter and chef” scheme.
“There is someone behind the curtain with more intelligence, more scheming, and then the individual that actually carries it out,” he said, adding that the masked assailant probably knew what they were doing. However, he also said that the person caught on video was likely “a stooge or a goon or a hired person or a confederate” of the real brains behind the operations and “wasn’t as emotionally involved,” instead seeing the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie as “a gig, a task.”
Officials don’t have any clear leads on what happened to Guthrie, and any resolution of the case may hinge on DNA evidence. “In my experience, it usually takes months, but I am assuming they will make it a top priority since most of the other cases are generally cold cases so it may be much quicker,” CeCe Moore, one of the country’s leading genetic genealogists, told Fox News Digital. “It also depends on a little luck because sometimes they have to make multiple attempts before they get the DNA.”
The FBI is now analyzing the DNA evidence, after the Pima County Sheriff Department originally sent it to a private lab. “FBI asked to test this DNA 2 months ago with the same technology we’ve always had — when the local sheriff instead sent it to a private lab,” said Ben Williamson, the bureau’s assistant director of public affairs. “Any further developments we will share as soon as appropriate.”
