Nancy Guthrie suspects sent latest ransom note as ‘mea culpa’ to avoid death penalty, ex-FBI agent says

The latest Nancy Guthrie ransom note is a sign her kidnapper is angling to avoid the death penalty if caught, according to a former FBI agent.

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The note, which claimed Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mom died shortly after her kidnapping in February, appeared to be more of a self-serving apology than a ransom demand, ex-agent Jennifer Coffindaffer said.

“They have a murder on their hands as opposed to a kidnapping, and that is punishable by the death penalty in Arizona, and they well know this,” Coffindaffer told Hena Doba of “NewsNation Prime” Sunday.

“This is some sort of pretext to kind of say, ‘Listen, we didn’t mean for this to happen.’ … You know, mea culpa, if you will, [in] the event that they are caught,” Coffindaffer added.

The ex-agent believes the new note was only sent to TMZ last week due to the attention surrounding newly emerged details of earlier notes.

The anonymous emailer claimed to have a video of Guthrie with her abductor on the day she died.

They demanded a single bitcoin — worth nearly $60,000 — in exchange for the location of a cellphone they claim has footage of the suspects and info on their identities.

“It’s about attention. It’s about control. And he hopes he can get a bitcoin out of it, too, but it’s mainly about controlling this narrative at this point,” Coffindaffer said.

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Last week, it was revealed that the second ransom note claimed Guthrie died and was “buried with nature,” which Coffindaffer believes is accurate.

“They didn’t want her to die before they could make the claim and send proof of life and get their ransom, so this went horribly wrong for them. So I do really believe that, unfortunately, Nancy Guthrie is not with us,” she said.

So far, no arrests have been made, but Coffindaffer said she believes investigators are closing in on the kidnapper or kidnappers.

“Behind the scenes, it’s red hot. We just can’t see everything going on by these investigators … There is so much,” she said.

Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since Feb. 2 when she was abducted from her home near Tucson, Arizona.

The FBI is leading the investigation, although Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has been criticized for his handling of the case.

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