TUCSON, Ariz. — A forensic tent that briefly covered the front porch of Nancy Guthrie’s home, where blood was previously found, has now been removed, but new questions are emerging about the high-tech equipment investigators were seen bringing inside.
Former NYPD homicide supervisor Joe Cardinale told Fox News Digital that the removal likely means investigators “finished what they were there to do” at that specific location.
Cardinale explained that tents are used to shield investigative activity from public view.
“By putting that tent up, you block the view,” Cardinale said. “They don’t want the perp knowing what they’re looking for.”
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Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack said there is also a legal consideration when scenes are shielded from public view.
“You don’t want defense attorneys down the road arguing the scene was compromised because the whole world was watching,” Pack said.
Observers also noted a piece of professional video equipment being brought into the home that appears to be a Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 4K Mini, a device commonly used in television production.
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Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson explained that the UltraStudio 4K Mini is designed to capture and convert high-resolution video and audio across multiple formats.
“It’s a professional-grade tool often used in broadcast environments,” Knutsson said. “It allows you to ingest video from various sources and convert it into high-quality digital formats for analysis or sharing.”
The device supports SDI inputs used in professional television production, HDMI connections and Thunderbolt 3 via USB-C to connect to Mac or PC systems. Some versions also allow capture from SD cards.
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Knutsson said the device could potentially be used to transfer video or audio from different formats into standardized digital files.
“It could be a way investigators are capturing video from older formats and converting it into high-quality digital files for preservation or further analysis,” he said.
Pack has said investigators may be conducting detailed forensic video analysis tied to the porch area.
“It’s possible they’re taking precise measurements of the archway, the bricks, the stones and other fixed structures,” Pack said, noting that those measurements could allow analysts to calculate a more accurate height estimate of the suspect seen in doorbell footage.
“Either way, it tells us the forensic work on that video is active and ongoing,” Pack added.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed what specific evidence is being processed or whether the equipment is tied to any particular piece of media.
Guthrie’s family members say she was dropped off at home between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31. Her garage door closed at 9:50 p.m., according to authorities.
At 1:47 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1, authorities say the doorbell camera at Guthrie’s home disconnected, followed by a security camera detecting motion at 2:12 a.m. Her pacemaker disconnected from an application on her phone at 2:28 a.m.
Family members checked on Guthrie at 11:56 a.m. after she reportedly did not attend a weekly gathering where she normally watched a livestreamed church service.
Authorities were called and arrived at her home shortly thereafter.
