George Jones’ widow, Nancy, said she put “all her trust” in her ex-boyfriend, Kirk West, before he allegedly stole over $10 million in cash and cryptocurrency, during a court hearing in Tennessee on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Nancy Jones took the stand at the preliminary hearing for the theft case against West in Williamson County court. The stunning case erupted into the public this summer when West was arrested at the Nashville airport with a one-way ticket to the Philippines. A few weeks prior, Nancy had kicked him out of their house after discovering he’d been having an affair. That discovery led her to realize West had also allegedly taken $400,000 in cash from her, and a ledger containing $11.6 million in cryptocurrency.
Speaking on her relationship with West in court, Nancy admitted, “Everything that he told me, I definitely trusted him. Even the romantic part, I definitely trusted him” (via WKRN).
Nancy met West in 2013, not long after Jones’ death, as she was preparing to sell the home she’d shared with the country legend. West presented himself as a real estate investor at first, but in her lawsuit, Nancy claimed he dropped the facade soon after and claimed to be “penniless.” She allowed West to move into a separate wing of the large home. After that, she claims, West “seduced” her. Alongside their burgeoning relationship, West also took an active role in managing the Jones estate and Nancy’s finances.
“He took care of everything,” Nancy said of West in court Tuesday. “I didn’t take care of nothing.” When prosecutors asked if she trusted West, Nancy replied, “One hundred percent.”
Later, prosecutors asked Nancy if West was “like a financial manager,” to which she replied, “He called himself that, yes.” To a question about investments he made on her behalf, Nancy replied, “He did crypto, and he studied that a lot. That is about what I know. And then he just took care of everything else. I put all my trust into him.”
Following Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, a judge ruled that there was enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury. West’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2026. A lawyer for West did not immediately return a request for comment.
As Rolling Stone recently reported, West is linked to a string of civil lawsuits, defaulted bank loans, a federal fraud conviction, and an arrest for violating a restraining order, on top of the new theft charges he faces. He’s been accused of persuading people to invest their life savings in his real estate opportunities and promising six-figure returns, only to take the profits for himself.
He often targeted single mothers, according to sources, with one ex-girlfriend saying: “He is a guy that reads obituaries and preys on people. And I’m fairly confident that’s how he managed to get in touch with Nancy.”
