A new report from the Wall Street Journal, published Saturday night, brings to light several possible errors by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department during its search for Nancy Guthrie, which has seen little progress since it began in February.
The WSJ, citing personal files and interviews with current and former federal officers and individuals close to the investigation, reported that, from the start, some were concerned about the head of homicide, Sgt. David Stivers, who was appointed by Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. Personal records allegedly show that Stivers was reprimanded for “poor judgment” two months before the Guthrie case and was blamed for delays in securing crime-scene evidence in a homicide investigation. Charges were dropped in that case for insufficient evidence, according to The WSJ.
People close to the case told The WSJ that Stivers and his team discovered dried blood on Guthrie’s front porch when they arrived at her home on Feb. 1. They reportedly ignored it at the time, thinking it was part of an unrelated incident. After undergoing DNA testing, the blood was confirmed to be Guthrie’s and is now believed to be part of the case. The WSJ wrote that the sheriff’s deputies “failed to seal off the property with police tape to protect sensitive crime-scene evidence, allowing reporters, livestreamers, and Amazon and pizza delivery drivers entry to the porch.”
