Ashleigh Banfield Doubles Down on Her Reporting That Nancy Guthrie's Son-in-Law Is Still a Suspect in Ongoing Case: 'Nothing's Changed'

Ashleigh Banfield isn’t backing down.

The veteran journalist is standing firm on her earlier reporting that Savannah Guthrie’s brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, remains the “prime suspect” in the case involving her mother, Nancy Guthrie, who has been missing for nearly two weeks.

During the Thursday, February 12, episode of Dan Abrams’ podcast, the topic came up again.

“Ashleigh, about a week and a half ago or so, you had reported that Nancy Guthrie’s son-in-law, Annie [Guthrie]’s husband, was a possible suspect here. Any more information about that?” Dan asked.

Ashleigh didn’t hesitate, saying, “I can tell you that my source every day since has stood by that reporting. And that is the thinking as of the day after Mrs. Guthrie was reported missing. There were a couple of things I reported in that, Dan, if we go back to Tuesday of last week. Number one, that Annie Guthrie’s car was towed and is in evidence. That’s borne out. The sheriff did confirm that the car was towed as per warrant and is being processed. That’s what the sheriff said.”

Abrams followed up with a direct question.

“So your source still indicating that he is a suspect?” he asked, referring to Tommaso.

Ashleigh answered firmly: “Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s changed. But I will say this: the day after I did that report, my source said, ‘Things have really tightened up.’ The folks in the Sheriff’s Department are worried about retaliation because of the leak. And I thought to myself, ‘Well, if it’s not true, there wouldn’t be any worry,’ you know? And then on the third day he said, ‘What I can tell you is: when they take shots at you, you’re standing on the target.’”

As OK! previously reported, during the Tuesday, February 3, episode of Ashleigh’s podcast “Drop Dead Serious,” titled Stunning New Twist: Savannah's Sister's Car Seized, Cameras Smashed, the journalist revealed, “They have towed Annie Guthrie’s car. And there is some connection to Annie Guthrie’s car and Nancy Guthrie’s son-in-law — that would be Annie’s husband, Tommaso Cioni, age 50 from Tuscon, Ariz., married to Annie P. Guthrie, Savannah’s sister.”

She added, “And my law enforcement source tells me that Tommaso Cioni is the prime suspect in this case. Again, law enforcement source tells me that Nancy Guthrie’s son-in-law, married to Annie Guthrie, Savannah’s sister, is — may be, may be a prime suspect in this case. At the very least, let me tamp that down, because sometimes it’s the first person you’re looking at, not ‘prime’ as in there’s no one else, OK? So, let’s be really mindful of that. Families are always looked at first as well.”

However, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is actively involved in the investigation and previously appeared on Ashleigh’s podcast, directly disputed those claims.

“We don’t have anybody here listed as a suspect,” Chris said during a Thursday, February 5, press conference.

“Nobody’s eliminated, but we just really don’t have enough to say, ‘This is our suspect, this is our guy, we know — or our gal.’ We don’t know that,” he added, calling the move “irresponsible.” “And it’s really kind of reckless to report that someone is a suspect when they could very well be a victim.”