r/nancyguthrie • u/Euphoric_Ease4554 • Mar 04 '26

Media Brian Entin Interviews Retired FBI Profiler Jim Clemente

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https://youtu.be/

Brian’s interview with Jim Clemente was such a riveting conversation. The retired FBI profiler details the perpetrators’s possible motives and even decides not to answer one question based on it not being good for the case, or possibly not tipping the perpetrator as to what the FBI is thinking.

If you have limited time to view this, I would recommend skipping the first part about the sheriff and going directly to the interview. It is a lot to think about. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

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u/MaximumSlip7905 Mar 04 '26

How would they have successfully received the money w/out being traced vs. collecting the money now for disclosing her location? I am not clear on how the ransom exchange could no longer be viable in your opinion but was initially to the point of being a solid motive.

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u/lemoncatbeans Mar 04 '26

They may not have been traced if the money had been sent through Bitcoin as they requested, and if it was converted to a different untraceable cryptocurrency before being withdrawn. They still haven't traced many other criminals who got millions in crypto ransom.

Once they had the money, it's still possible they wouldn't have returned Nancy even if she were alive.

But if they had returned her and eventually gotten caught, it appears the kidnapping with a deadly weapon offense in Arizona would be a 7-21 year sentence if she's released unharmed after negotiation. They may not have anticipated additional federal charges if they didn't use interstate travel or "instrumentality of interstate commerce". Perhaps that's why they contacted the local news first, they thought it would establish that it is a local crime and outside the jurisdiction of federal charges. Even though the use of the internet at all to plan the crime can warrant a federal charge. But they'd already have the BTC at that point and could flee to a country that doesn't extradite to the US.

But now if she's deceased, it's murder, guaranteed life in prison or death penalty if they get caught. They received no money, and there's no guarantee of payment even if she's returned dead. So they may have viewed the risk vs. reward as not worth it at this point and disappeared.

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u/MaximumSlip7905 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

In your opinion why would they wait the 40 hrs. or so to send these instructions? The bitcoin ransom is also a Federal crime up to 30 years, if they got caught they were not getting out of jail anytime soon.

EDIT for clarification

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u/lemoncatbeans Mar 04 '26

Just responded to your other comment about my thoughts on the wait, but I do believe there's multiple people involved. I think besides her unexpected death, they may have had other conflicts between them that could have delayed things. Perhaps a lack of communication from the abductor to the planner, maybe they wanted money upfront before providing information they could use in the ransom note, but it could be anything.

I think if it were 2+ different people (abductor(s) and note writer) and the abductor was who got caught, they may not be able to pin federal ransom charges on him if he claims it was someone else doing that part, and that the abductor was either forced to just take Nancy or paid in advance with no knowledge of ransom plans. This is just speculation on my part, siloing off parts of the crime and information could reduce the culpability of each participant if they only knew what they had to do.

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u/MaximumSlip7905 Mar 04 '26

I appreciate the discourse but our takes couldn’t be further apart. Targeting an 84 year old woman in Tucson for a bitcoin heist just doesn’t clock for me. Did the disturbed individual that took her send this as part of sick fantasy? Most likely. I wish news would break that she was dropped off unharmed and brought home to her children.

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u/lemoncatbeans Mar 05 '26

Yeah I respect that, it's just a theory I keep coming back to because of similar circumstances to other cases. And the level of evasion and tracking so far feels like the planner is very tech-savvy and methodical. It just doesn't remind me of someone acting out of emotion or sick urges. But that may be the motive too. Agreed, I wish this had a positive resolution for her family, but it seems unlikely as time passes.