Sheriff Nanos: A Decade of Failures Now Leading the Nancy Guthrie Case
Sheriff Nanos: A Decade of Failures Now Leading the Nancy Guthrie Case  
Podcast: Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
Published On: Tue Feb 10 2026
Description: Before Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home, the sheriff now leading the search had already built a record that reads like a case study in failed leadership. This episode pulls the full documented history of Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos — sourced from FBI investigations, federal court filings, the Arizona Attorney General's office, his own deputies' union, and his own public statements — and connects it directly to the failures in the Guthrie investigation.A $7.5 million surveillance aircraft grounded during the most critical hours of the search because the only available pilot had been reassigned to street patrol following a personal dispute with the sheriff. A second pilot moved out of the air unit months earlier. A crime scene released after one day, then re-entered four more times. A rooftop camera missed for five days. And a sheriff who told reporters he is not accustomed to accountability.That pattern did not start with Nancy Guthrie. Nanos's first term ended with an FBI investigation into roughly half a million dollars in misused funds. His chief deputy was indicted on seven felonies. A senior official took his own life. His second term brought a jail death rate exceeding Rikers Island — nearly sixty dead since 2017. The Arizona Attorney General identified four policy violations in how his department handled the sexual assault of a female deputy. His own rank and file voted 98.8 percent no confidence. His deputies arrested an NPR journalist on camera while she wore her press credentials. He placed his political opponent on leave days before an election he won by 481 votes. And his department deleted a public records tracking policy within a week of an ACLU request.Every scandal follows the same loop: an ego-driven decision, a systemic failure, denial, exposure, and retaliation against whoever spoke up. The pilot reassigned. The union president suspended. The opponent silenced. The journalist arrested. The records deleted. And every time, the person who paid the price was not Chris Nanos.Now the whole country is watching. And the people of Pima County deserve to know exactly who is in charge.#NancyGuthrie #SavannahGuthrie #ChrisNanos #PimaCountySheriff #HiddenKillers #FBI #NoConfidence #TrueCrime #Tucson #SheriffAccountabilityJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.