Sheriff Chris Nanos

A Pima County Jail inmate has filed a $1.35 million lawsuit against Sheriff Chris Nanos, head of the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation.

Nanos and the Pima County Sheriff's Department are being sued for $1.35 million in a lawsuit unrelated to the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation. Christopher Marx, an inmate at the Pima County Jail, filed the complaint on 5 March at Arizona's U.S. District Court.

Lawsuit Claims 'A Sheriff' Ignored Quarantine Protocols

Marx claims that his life was endangered because a sheriff failed to take the necessary COVID-19 precautions. A sheriff's deputy had allegedly been moving between Marx's cell and another inmate's COVID-19 quarantine, all without observing proper sanitation protocols.

Marx stated that the deputy's negligence 'put my life in jeopardy,' according to the complaint obtained by People. 'This deputy also had to serve our dinner meal on his shift. I could have caught COVID-19,' he asserted. 'I could have died.'

The $1.35 million claim will finance the purchase of two flat buildings, which will be used to 'house the homeless for six months rent free,' according to the outlet. On top of that, Marx wants an apology from the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

The PCSD has yet to respond to Marx's accusation. The lawsuit adds to Nanos and his department's concerns, particularly the mounting pressure of finding Nancy Guthrie.

Resources Reallocated in the Nancy Guthrie Investigation

On 27 February, Nanos said the department was 'refocusing resources to detectives specifically assigned' to the Nancy Guthrie case. Nanos did not divulge details at the time, but he assured the PCSD would 'maintain a patrol presence in the Guthrie neighbourhood.'

Prior to the announcement, Luke Daley, 37, and his mother, 77, were arrested on 13 February as persons of interest. They were held for hours before their release, and no charges were filed.

Attorney Chris Scleppi told People that his client was the subject of two search warrants served during the arrests. 'Daley and his mother were both detained by law enforcement while the search warrants were being executed,' he stated.

'Neither Daley nor his mother were arrested in connection to this case or any other,' Scleppi asserted. 'Daley has no link whatsoever to Nancy Guthrie and has no information related to her kidnapping. Like the entire Tucson community, both Daley and his mother are hopeful that Nancy will be returned to her family unharmed.'

Nanos' Methods Face Heavy Opposition

Chris Nanos has faced backlash regarding his approach to the investigation. Heather Lappin, Nanos' former lieutenant, described the sheriff as a tyrant.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lappin claimed that during the pandemic, they 'had an exorbitant amount of jail death because Nanos decided to come in and fire corrections officers only for not getting the COVID vaccine.'

'They didn't fire deputies, they only fired corrections officers,' she added, referring to the department's internal response to the pandemic. She also said the inmates were 'literally kept in these rooms, just getting food. That's it — no exercise, no nothing.'

Nanos was also accused of withholding key evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case from the FBI, insisting on sending the items to a private lab in Florida rather than to the FBI's Virginia headquarters.

Nanos denied the allegations. 'Actually the FBI just wanted to send the one or two they found by the crime scene, closest to it – mile, mile and a half . . . I said "No, why do that? Let's just send them all to where all the DNA exist, all the profiles and the markers exist." They agreed, makes