Sheriff Nanos Under Fire: Former Deputies Blast Leadership in Nancy Guthrie Investigation
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The criticism isn't coming from cable news pundits or political opponents. It's coming from inside the house.
Nearly four weeks after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home, the sheriff leading the investigation is facing public accusations from his own former command staff. Richard Kastigar, a 46-year department veteran and former Chief Deputy, says Sheriff Chris Nanos has "great disdain" for the FBI stemming from a decade-old investigation—and that Nanos is "still pissed" about it. Richard Carmona, another former Chief Deputy, told reporters he's "disappointed at the level or lack of leadership."
The president of the deputies' union put it more bluntly: "It is a common belief in this agency that this case has become an ego case for Sheriff Nanos."
Nanos disputes everything. He says the FBI relationship is strong. He says the evidence decisions were about lab consistency. He says the criticism is political noise.
But actions speak. The crime scene was released too early—he admitted it. DNA went to a private lab, not Quantico, and now faces "challenges" that could take months. A search helicopter pilot was reportedly reassigned during the active investigation. And the sheriff told reporters: "I'm not used to everyone hanging onto my every word and then holding me accountable."
An 84-year-old woman remains missing. Her family just offered a $1 million reward—more than three weeks after they reportedly wanted to announce it. And the man running the investigation says everyone questioning him is the problem.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers with Tony Brewski. Here now, Tony Brewski. |
| 0:07.1 | Richard Castigar spent 46 years to the Pima County Sheriff's Department. He rose to |
| 0:12.3 | deputy or chief deputy. He served as Chris Nanos second in command. And when the Daily Mail |
| 0:19.3 | asked him about how Nanos is handling the Nancy Guthrie |
| 0:23.0 | investigation, he didn't mince words. He has great disdain for the FBI, Castagar said. |
| 0:32.0 | They investigated his department in 2016 and he's still pissed. He holds a grudge. |
| 0:39.3 | That grudge, according to multiple current and former members of Nanos' own department, |
| 0:43.8 | may be affecting how this investigation is being run. |
| 0:47.5 | Nearly four weeks, no suspects, no arrest, |
| 0:50.7 | no substantive leads made public an investigation that Sheriff Nanos insists is running smoothly. |
| 0:58.2 | Well, sources inside law enforcement tell reporters a very different story. |
| 1:03.1 | The FBI is involved by playing a supporting role. |
| 1:08.0 | Critics say Nanos should step back and let the Feds lead. He hasn't. And Nancy Guthrie |
| 1:13.7 | is still missing. So here is the big question. At nobody in official capacity seems |
| 1:24.2 | willing to ask out loud. When the people who know a leader best are the ones |
| 1:29.6 | raising alarms, what does it tell us about how this investigation is actually being run? |
| 1:36.0 | Let's talk about who Chris Nanos is. Fifty years in law enforcement started as a detention officer |
| 1:42.2 | in Pima County back in 1984. |
| 1:45.0 | Worked his way up through the ranks, became second in command, got appointed sheriff in 2015, |
| 1:50.0 | when his boss retired, lost the 2016 election, came back in 2020, when re-election in |
| 1:57.0 | 24 by exactly 481 votes out of 487,000 cast. |
| 2:05.0 | That's a margin of less than one-tenth of one percent. |
... |
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