Why the trail went cold in Nancy Guthrie case

"There was absolutely no reason to release that crime scene," said Joseph Giacalone, retired NYPD sergeant, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the author of a textbook about criminal investigation now in its fourth edition. "That entire house, the property, should have been cordoned off. No one should have stepped foot in that location other than law enforcement, and only for the purposes of doing the investigation." Even if arrests were made in the future, he said, possible crime scene management issues mean "everything is going to be questioned" by the defence. Mishandling a crime scene drastically reduces the odds of solving a case, he added. Sheriff Nanos has alternately denied and admitted to mistakes. At a 5 February press conference, he said he'd have preserved the crime scene longer if given another opportunity. "I probably could have held off on that," he said, adding: "We got what we thought was complete." But Nanos has been embattled throughout the investigation, not just by criticism surrounding the Guthrie case. Local media have delved into his past - he had received written reprimands in El Paso, according to documents obtained by the Arizona Republic. …