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Timothy Busfield Indicted on Sexual Abuse Charges & An Update on the Nancy Guthrie Missing Persons Case | Crime House 24/7
00:28:26
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- [00:01]
Vanessa Richardson
On the Crime House original podcast, Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, we're diving into the psychology of the world's most complex murder cases.
- [00:09]
Dr. Tristan Ingalls
From serial killers to cult leaders, deadly exes and spree killers, we're examining not just how they killed, but why.
- [00:17]
Vanessa Richardson
Is it uncontrollable rage? Overwhelming fear? Or is it something deeper? Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is a Crime House Studios original new episodes drop every Monday and Thursday, Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts. This is Crime House. Good morning everyone. We have multiple breaking true crime cases this morning that you need to know about and we're starting with the biggest ones. Investigators release a new update in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, which while in a separate case, Emmy winning actor Timothy Busfield is charged following a grand jury indictment. This is crime house 24 7, your non stop source for the biggest crime cases developing right now. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Vanessa Richardson and we have quite a lineup for you today. Here's what you need to know.
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Sal
Hey, Sal. Hank.
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Hank
What's going on?
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Sal
We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy.
- [01:34]
Hank
Too easy.
- [01:35]
Sal
Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price.
- [01:41]
Vanessa Richardson
Uh huh.
- [01:42]
Sal
And it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.
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Commercial Narrator
Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.
- [01:56]
Vanessa Richardson
Before we get into our lead story, we have a brief update on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84 year old mother of Today show co anchor Savannah Guthrie. On February 5th, federal authorities arrested 42 year old Derek Colella of Hawthorne, California, accusing him of sending fake ransom demands involving bitcoin tied to the Guthrie case. Investigators say Colella's alleged communications were exploitative and not believed to be connected to Guthrie's disappearance. And he now faces federal charges related to transmitting threats and extortion. Investigators have also zeroed in on new witness information involving a white van spotted near Guthrie's Tucson area home around the time she vanished. According to multiple reports, neighbors told deputies they saw the van parked or slowly moving through the area late on January 31, just before Guthrie was last seen at approximately 9:30pm as of this recording, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the core investigation remains focused on locating Nancy Guthrie. Officials continue to treat her disappearance as a suspected abduction and say they still believe she may be alive. Investigators are urging anyone with relevant information to come forward and as detectives in Arizona pursue leads in the Guthrie case, we focus on a major indictment in the entertainment world where Emmy winning actor and director Timothy Buzzfield is being indicted. Child Abuse Charges There is new movement this week in a sexual abuse case involving a veteran actor and director. On Friday, February 6, the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office announced the indictment of Timothy Busfield after a grand jury hearing. Busfield is being indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, according to court records released Friday. The charges stem from alleged acts of abuse that took place between 2022 and 2024, who is 68, is accused of engaging in inappropriate physical contact with a child actor working on the set of the television series the Cleaning Lady, a former Fox series produced by Warner Brothers that Busfield had started directing in 2022 and also acted in. The series was filmed in New Mexico. Court documents do not identify the alleged victims because they are minors. The indictment marks a significant legal step in a matter that first came to public attention earlier this year. On January 9, arrest warrant for Busfield was issued and at the time he was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor under the age of 13 and one count of child abuse. On January 13, Busfield turned himself into authorities and days later on January 20, Busfield was released from custody pending legal proceedings but requiring that the actor have no unsupervised contact with children during that time, according to the newly released records. The grand jury returned the four count indictment after hearing testimony and reviewing evidence presented by prosecutors on February 5th. Prosecutors on the case allege that Busfield repeatedly touched the private areas of one of the show's child actors when he was seven years old and again when he was eight years old. The victim was working on set with his twin brother during the production of the Cleaning lady, who also told authorities he was touched by Busfield as well as Busfield has not yet entered a plea to the charges but has maintained his innocence. Larry Stein, Buzzfield's attorney, told People magazine that Busfield is, quote, absolutely shocked. He's devastated and will defend himself because these are absolutely false allegations. End quote. In a statement to NBC News on Friday, Busfield's attorney Stein said, quote, as the saying goes, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. What is deeply concerning is that the attorney is choosing to proceed on a case that is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial. End quote. Timothy Busfield is known for his work as an actor and director with a career spanning decades and credits that include prominent roles on shows such as 30 Something, the West Wing and the Cleaning lady, where he was also involved behind the camera. In 1991, Busfield won an Emmy Award for his role as Elliot Weston on 30 Something, a drama series that aired on ABC from 1987 until 1991. Reporting on the case has also highlighted an earlier lawsuit from the 1990s in which a 17 year old woman who was an extra in the film Little Big League, which Busfield also acted in. The woman accused Busfield of serving her alcohol and groping her and trying to have sex with her. Busfield denied the allegations at the time. The case was resolved in civil court and settled for an undisclosed amount at grand jury proceedings on February 5th. Jurors heard from prosecutors and reviewed exhibits and testimony before voting to indict. The return of the indictment on February 6th sets the stage for upcoming court events, which are expected to begin with an arraignment where the charges will be formally read and a plea entered. As this case moves forward in early 2026, we'll continue to follow new filings, scheduled hearings and any additional information released by prosecutors or defense counsel. This is a develop shipping story and will bring you updates as they are confirmed and made public. While that case continues to move through the courts, another high profile prosecution in Utah is seeing a key development ahead of trial. On February 5, 2026, a Utah judge delivered a significant pre trial ruling in the murder case against registered nurse 47 year old Megan Sundwall, excluding key pieces of evidence just weeks she's scheduled to stand trial for the alleged killing of her longtime friend, 38 year old Casey Terry. The ruling came during Sundwall's final pre trial hearing and represents a major procedural win for the defense. The court barred prosecutors from introducing text messages between Sundwall and her husband discussing Terry's declining health and life expectancy, as well as evidence related to alleged time card fraud at Sundwall's workplace. Prosecutors had argued both were relevant to motive and credibility. The judge disagreed, ruling they would be unfairly prejudicial. Sundwall, a registered nurse and mother, is accused of convincing Casey Terry that she was dying of cancer, a diagnosis prosecutors say was entirely fabricated, and then persuading her to end her suffering by taking a fatal dose of insulin. According to charging documents. Sundwall and Terry were close friends for years. Court filings and witness statements indicate the two women shared a deep personal bond, spending significant time together socially and maintaining frequent communication. Investigators say Terry trusted Sundwal not only as a friend but as a medical Professional authorities alleged that beginning in the months leading up to Terry's death on August 15, 2024, Sundwal repeatedly told her that she was terminally ill, despite there being no medical evidence to support that claim. Prosecutors say Terry did not have cancer, was not under hospice care and had not been diagnosed with a life threatening illness by any licensed physician. Investigators believe Sundwal used her nursing background to make those claims appear credible, allegedly describing symptoms, disease progression and treatment options in ways that convinced Terry her condition was irreversible. The alleged motive, according to prosecutors, was financial. Court records indicate Sundwal believed Terry had a life insurance policy worth approximately $1.5 million and that Sundwal believed she was the named beneficiary. NBC News reports that investigators have not confirmed whether such a policy actually existed or whether Sundwal was formally listed as a beneficiary. However, prosecutors argue that Sundwal's belief that she stood to gain financially is sufficient to establish motive. An autopsy later determined that Terry's death was caused by insulin toxicity. Authorities say there was no evidence Terry had diabetes or any condition requiring insulin treatment. Sundwal was arrested March 20, 2025 and has remained in custody since then. At an earlier hearing, a judge denied her bail, citing the seriousness of the charges. The defense has strongly disputed the state's narrative. Sundwall's attorneys argue that Terri made her own medical decisions and that prosecutors are relying on circumstantial evidence and speculation rather than proof of intent. They also argue that excluding the text messages and time card evidence significantly weakens the state's case. With the final pretrial hearing now complete, the case moves closer to trial, where jurors will be asked to decide whether prosecutors can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sundwall deliberately manipulated her friend's trust to bring about her death. As we wait for updates from that trial to unfold, we turn to Rhode island, where a decades old cold case in Providence has taken an unexpected turn after a verdict was tossed due to a court error. Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster? I was so moved by how carefully.
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Hank
He buried my electrical wires, I knew.
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Vanessa Richardson
I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end.
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Sal
This is very strange, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects@angie.com.
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Hank
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Vanessa Richardson
To Rhode island, where a major legal reversal has upended a cold case murder conviction nearly three decades after the crime. On February 4, 2026, a Providence Superior Court judge ordered a new trial for Kevin Williams just days after a jury convicted him in the 1999 strangling death of 41 year old Kathleen O' Dowd Bowman. The decision came after the court learned that jurors had been exposed to material they were not permitted to see during deliberations. Williams, now 54, was found guilty of second degree murder on January 30, 2026, following a roughly two and a half week trial. That verdict has now been vacated. The underlying crime dates back to 1999, when Bowman's body was discovered behind Roger Williams Middle School on Thurber's Avenue in Providen. She had been strangled at the time. Providence police identified Williams as a person of interest but said they lacked sufficient evidence to bring charges. The case was revived years later through renewed investigative work by Detective Angelo Avant, who re examined evidence, re interviewed witnesses and worked with prosecutors in the Attorney General's Cold Case Unit. A grand jury indicted Williams in April 2024 and he was arrested without incident on Rhodes street in Providence. Since then, he's been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions during the recent trial, jurors began deliberations on January 28th. By the evening of January 29th, the jury reported, it was deadlocked. The judge issued an Allen charge, instructing jurors to continue working toward a verdict. The following day, the jury acquitted Williams of first degree murder but convicted him of second degree murder. After the verdict, the judge learned something troubling. Jurors had been given access to a prosecutor's trial binder while Deliberating According to court filings, the binder contained extensive materials, including police reports, grand jury testimony and other documents, some of which had been ruled inadmissible. Judge Maureen B. Keough said the binder's presence in the jury room was the result of a court error, not misconduct by either side. She emphasized that the mistake was inadvertent and stated she had no hesitation in saying the attorneys were not responsible. Williams attorney moved for a mistrial, arguing that the jury's exposure to the binder denied his client a fair trial. The Attorney General's office did not oppose that motion in ordering a new trial. Judge Keough apologized to Bowman's family and acknowledged the emotional toll of the error. Williams remains held without bail, which the judge said is warranted due to concerns about public safety and flight risk. His next court date is scheduled March 6, when the parties are expected to discuss next steps, including the possibility of a second trial. That's the latest in a case that spans nearly 30 years and now we return to the courtroom for the final phase in a child exploitation case. On February 6, 2026, federal prosecutors announced the sentencing of a registered sex offender to more than three decades in prison, closing a case centered on the online exploit of a child. According to the U.S. attorney's office, 43 year old Michael Cambellick of Beaverton, Oregon was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in federal prison for coercion and enticement of a minor. The sentence also includes lifetime supervised release, meaning authorities will continue monitoring him if he is ever released, and he was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim. Court records show that in December 2024, Kambalik contacted the nine year old victim through the online video game Call of Duty. Prosecutors said he posed as a girl while interacting with the child and used deception to gain the victim's trust. Authorities say Kambalik then pressured the child into sending sexually explicit images and videos, conduct that formed the basis of the federal charges. According to prosecutors. The communications were deliberate and sustained, meeting the legal standard for coercion and enticement under federal law. Prosecutors also noted that Kambalik was already a registered sex offender at the time of the crime, a factor the court considered when determining the length of the sentence. The judge cited the seriousness of the offense, the age of the victim and the need to protect the public in imposing the lengthy prison term. While authorities acknowledge that no sentence can undo the harm caused, they say the outcome ensures Kambalik will be removed from the community for decades, delivering accountability and reinforcing that crimes involving the exploitation of children will be met with severe penalties. Federal officials also use the case to reiterate concerns about how online gaming platforms can be exploited by offenders seeking access to children, urging parents and guardians to remain vigilant about online interactions. Actions.
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Commercial Narrator
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- [19:34]
Vanessa Richardson
What drives a person to kill? Is it uncontrollable rage? Overwhelming fear? Unbearable jealousy? Or is it something deeper? Something in the darkest corners of our psyche?
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Dr. Tristan Ingalls
Every Monday and Thursday, the Crime House Original Podcast Serial Killers and Murderous Minds dives deep into the minds of history's most chilling murderers. From infamous serial killers to ruthless cult leaders, deadly exes and terrifying spree killers, I'm Dr. Tristan Ingalls, a licensed forensic psychologist. Along with Vanessa Richardson's immersive storytelling full of high stakes twists and turns. And in every episode of Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, I'll be providing expert analysis of the people involved, not just how they killed, but why.
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Vanessa Richardson
Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is a Crime House Studios original. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts. Lastly, let me tell you about what else is happening at Crime House today. On Twisted Tales, Heidi Wong looks into the fourth kind and the lingering mysteries associated with the state of Alaska. The film taps into a fear that feels uniquely unsettling. Unexplained disappearances, strange encounters, and the idea that something unknown may be interacting with humans beyond our understanding. Before you check out Twisted Tales, I want to take a step back and dig into five infamous criminal cases that became entangled with claims of extraterrestrial visitors. These stories are not about proving aliens exist. They're about what happens when fear, belief, and the unexplained collide with Real investigations, real deaths, and real grief. Because once extraterrestrials enter the story, the truth doesn't vanish. But it often gets buried under something much stranger. Case one, the lead mask case. In August of 1966, two Brazilian electronics technicians, Manuel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel Jose Biana, traveled from their hometown to the city of Niteroi, just outside of Rio de Janeiro. They never returned. Days later, their bodies were discovered on a remote hillside overlooking the city. There were no signs of violence, no defensive wounds, and no clear cause of death. What investigators did find was bizarre. Both men were wearing handmade lead masks that covered only their eyes. Nearby were a notebook, a raincoat, a bottle of water and a towel. The notebook contained cryptic handwritten instructions, including a line that read 1630. Be at agreed place. 1830. Ingest capsules. After effect protect metals. Wait for signal. No capsules were ever recovered. Autopsies were inconclusive, and toxicology testing was limited. As investigators dug deeper, they learned the men had been involved in spiritualist practices and claimed to be experimenting with communication beyond human understanding. Some theorized the lead masks were intended to protect their eyes from radiation during contact with extraterrestrial beings. And others believed the deaths were the result of a failed experiment or accidental poisoning. Nearly 60 years later, the case remains unsolved. What makes it infamous isn't the alien theory. It's the chilling fact that two men followed instructions they clearly believed in. And whatever they were waiting for, never came. Case two, the death of Todd Sees. On November 24, 1992, Todd Seas, a 39 year old man from Pottsville Pen, Pennsylvania, left his home for a drive. He never came back. His truck was later found abandoned along a rural road. There were no signs of a crash, no blood, and no indication of where Seas had gone. Sixteen days later, his body was discovered in a wooded area several miles away. The coroner ruled the cause of death a heart attack. For law enforcement, the case appeared closed. For C's family, it was anything but. They questioned how he ended up so far from his vehicle, why the condition of the body raised unanswered questions, and why reports of strange aerial activity in the area seemed to coincide with his disappearance. The family publicly alleged that Sees had been abducted by extraterrestrials and that the government was covering it up. Federal agencies, including the FBI, reviewed the case and found no evidence of alien involvement or criminal wrongdoing. And despite this, the case became widely cited in UFO communities. What often gets lost is this. Todd Cease was a real person. His family experienced a sudden loss and in the absence of answers that felt satisfying, extraordinary explanations filled the void. Case three, the Heaven's Gate deaths. In March of 1997, police entered a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and discovered the bodies of members of the Heaven's Gate group. Every death was ruled a suicide. The group was led by Marshall Applewhite, who taught that Earth was about to be recycled and that salvation would arrive aboard a spacecraft traveling behind the Hale Bob Comet. Members believed their physical bodies were merely containers, and leaving them behind was the only way to reach a higher level of existence. The deaths were planned over several days. Members recorded farewell messages. They spoke calmly about their certainty that a spacecraft was waiting. While no one was charged criminally, the case remains infamous because it demonstrates how extraterrestrial belief systems can be used to justify extreme psychological control and irreversible harm. The victims were not seeking death. They believed they were seeking survival. Case four, the Travis Walton disappearance. In November of 1975, Travis Walton, a logger in Arizona, vanished after an alleged encounter with a strange aerial object in the forest. According to witnesses, Walton approached a glowing object and was struck by a beam of light. He disappeared for five days, prompting a massive search and a criminal investigation that initially treated the the case as a possible homicide. Walton's co workers were interrogated, polygraphed, and at one point considered suspects in his presumed murder. When Walton reappeared days later, he claimed he'd been abducted by extraterrestrials. The case became infamous because it straddled two worlds. A missing person investigation that looked like a crime and a story that defied conventional explanation. While no charges were ever filed, the case remains one of the most debated incidents in UFO history and one of the few where a possible crime investigation preceded the alien narrative. Case five, the Cash Landrum incident. In December of 1980, Betty Cash, Vicki Landrum, and Colby Landrum reported encountering a massive diamond shaped object emitting intense heat and light while driving on a rural Texas road. Shortly after the encounter, all three suffered severe physical symptoms, including burns, nausea and hair loss. Medical professionals documented their injuries. The case became criminally adjacent when the witnesses filed a lawsuit alleging the object was an experimental military craft and that the government was responsible for their injuries. The case was dismissed, but the injuries were real and no definitive explanation was ever provided. While not a murder case, the incident remains infamous because it sits at the intersection of unexplained phenomena, documented harm, and legal accountability, raising the question of where responsibility lies when the cause itself is unknown. Why these cases still matter. None of these cases prove extraterrestrial involvement. What they prove is how belief attaches itself to uncertainty. When evidence is thin, fear is high, and answers are incomplete, alien narratives rush in to fill the gaps. Sometimes they provide comfort, sometimes they cause harm. And sometimes they permanently reshape how a case is remembered. True crime isn't just about what happened. It's about how stories are told and how easily mystery can overtake evidence. As you head over to Twisted Tales to hear Heidi Wong explore the Fourth Kind and Alaska's lingering mysteries, Remember, alien stories don't just tell us what might be out there. Sometimes they reveal what happens right here on Earth. You've been listening to Crime House 24 7, bringing you breaking crime news. I'm Vanessa Richardson. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more developing stories. Stay safe, and thanks for listening. What drives a person to murder? Find out from a licensed forensic psychologist on serial killers and Murderous Minds, a Crime House original podcast. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts.