Could ransom notes hold key to Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers? | Luigi Mangione wants trial livestreamed – TCN Sidebar

**Joshua Ritter** (0:11)
Hello, and welcome to The Sidebar, presented by True Crime News, taking you inside the courtrooms of high-profile and notorious cases from across the country. I'm your host, Joshua Ritter, I'm a criminal defense lawyer based in Los Angeles and previously an LA County prosecutor for over a decade. We're recording this on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026 In this week's episode, the alleged assassin of a healthcare CEO is seeking to televise his trial in an unprecedented move. Plus, a Massachusetts woman's disturbing journal entries read aloud in court detailing the days before she allegedly strangled her three young children to death. But first, for the first time, we get a look at the actual ransom notes in the Nancy Guthrie case. As investigators seek information on the 84-year-old's abductors. Let's get right into it. First, out of Pima County, Arizona, six months after Nancy Guthrie's abduction, authorities have released two ransom notes in hopes of identifying the woman's kidnappers. The first note, directed to Guthrie's daughter, Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, sought a $4 million Bitcoin ransom with an escalating premium for any delays. Meanwhile, the second note, written to the whole Guthrie family, expressed regret for Guthrie's passing, maintaining that it was never the captor's intention to harm the elderly woman. Law enforcement officials are hopeful that the release of the notes could identify writing patterns or details leading to a suspect, said Savannah took to social media, echoing these hopes, again pleading for the public's help in identifying her mother's captors and finding Guthrie's bodies. I have the notes here. They're not all that long, so I thought I would just go ahead and read it to you all so that you had it and we could discuss it. The first is, first of all, they're sent into, it looks like what would be a news tip line.
So they're not direct e-mails, they're e-mails that a person would write in through the website service, which would explain why they might be difficult to track down where these are being sent from. But the first one says, Hello Savannah, we have your mother Nancy. She is safe but scared. She will be held for ransom and once payment is received, she will be released unharmed. We will be holding her for a maximum of seven days. You will need to send Bitcoin in the amount of 4 million USD before 5 p.m. on Thursday the 5th. If payment is not received, the ransom will be increased to 6 million USD, which will need to be paid by 5 p.m. on Monday the 9th. Once payment is received to the Bitcoin address below, she will be released within 12 hours of deposit to a safe drop-off location back in Tucson. If payment is not received by the last deadline, on Monday the 9th at 5 p.m., she will be killed. Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands. It is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. You will not be able to contact me from here on out. There will be no negotiation. Do not play games. Law enforcement will not be able to help you. There is some portions of this that is redacted. But then the final sentence says, She had a white smart watch on the floor of the foot of her bed and the white floodlight in the backyard was destroyed.
That is the first note. Immediately, kind of apparent is the thoroughness of the note. It does seem to offer more information than would even be necessary. It also, to me, reads like a person who's fairly educated. The grammar is not off. The spelling is not off.
And it also refers to the writer as being a we. Several times it says we.
But, interestingly as well, it doesn't serve what most of these ransom notes usually serve. In cases where we've seen where they're legitimate, where there does open up some means of communication. This says, you will not be able to contact me from here on out. There will be no negotiation. So it doesn't say, you know, obviously, it did include a Bitcoin address, but it doesn't say, you know, what will happen, how it will happen, where she will be released, what they should do afterwards. It is asking for a tremendous leap of faith while being very threatening to the Guthrie family. The second note, they believe to be from the same author or authors, it's transmitted in the same mechanism.
The syntax and just kind of the tone of the writer seems to be the same. But most notably, the Bitcoin address is still the same, which is interesting when you consider what this note is telling us. So this note, again, not directed directly to Savannah, is first directed to the Guthrie family. It says, Guthrie family, we did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her. That was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related. She's buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.