A self-styled investigator questioned whether Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper is rich, after a former FBI agent claimed that the ‘greatest defense attorney in the world’ would be handling the case. Jonathan Lee Riches, who goes by JLR, raised this question sharing an excerpt of the interview of ex-FBI agent Maureen O’Connell with Megyn Kelly.
During the interview, the former law enforcement official claimed that sources had told her authorities were close to ‘pulling the case together’. She added that it was likely taking this long because the ‘greatest defense attorney in the world’ would most probably handle the case, and authorities must be bracing for the possibility of large ‘chunks’ of evidence getting ‘tossed’ out during the trial.
The former FBI agent went on to explain that the case was usually built thinking of the prosecution and trial ahead, hence the evidence needed to be airtight so it did not get tossed out during the trial. O’Connell shared her insight that whoever would be the defense attorney taking on the case would try to get said evidence excluded to give their client – the perpetrators in Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping – a fighting chance.
However, hiring a good defense attorney is not cheap, which is exactly what JLR pointed to when sharing the interview excerpt.
What JLR said about Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper?
In an X post, JLR – who has been tracking the case for some time – wrote “She claims the greatest defense attorney is going to take the case. That costs money. Is she hinting the Nancy Guthrie perp is rich?”.
He added, “Ain’t no defense attorney going to take the case for free, pro bono.”
The self-styled investigator indicated that given the high-profile nature of the case and the national attention it has gotten a defense lawyer would not take up the case for free, despite the publicity involved. While JLR did not spell it out, Nancy Guthrie is an 84-year-old woman, and the mother of TODAY show host Savannah Guthrie.
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Whoever is representing the person or persons who kidnapped her is likely to gain more negative publicity than positive. Further, public sentiment is strongly on the side of the Guthrie family. Thus, the self-styled investigator shared his opinion that anyone representing the guilty side would likely charge big bucks, especially if it was a well-established lawyer, which the former FBI agent seemed to indicate when she said the ‘greatest defense attorney in the world’ would take up the case.
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing by her family on February 1 and authorities believe she was taken from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson, Arizona, the night before. Thus far, authorities have released footage showing a masked man at her door the night before, which is all the public knows about the suspect in the case.
