EL PASO COUNTY, CO — The murder trial of Letecia Stauch, the El Paso County woman accused of murdering her stepson in 2020 entered week 5 with the defense calling on their psychiatrist to testify on Stauch's competency.
The morning began with learning that the defense’s psychiatrist met with Letecia Stauch at the jail for about three hours Sunday. One prosecutor said, “I’m at a loss,” because he doesn’t know what was discussed.
The prosecution said they wanted to meet with the defense's psychiatrist before her testimony so he had the ability to cross-examine her.
The next witness called by the prosecution to the stand was Kevin Clark. Clark used to be an intelligence analyst with the Colorado Springs Police Department, now he is the acting Director of Crime Strategies and Intelligence for the District Attorney's Office.
Clark began his testimony by describing the neighbor's surveillance video just after 2 p.m. on January 27 of Letecia Stauch and Gannon Stauch returning home, and the video just before 6:30 a.m. on January 28 of Letecia leaving for about ten minutes then returning home.
Clark testified saying it wasn’t typical for Letecia Stauch to back into the driveway or garage based on other surveillance footage, but on the day Gannon disappeared and the day after, she was seen backing vehicles into the driveway.
Clark said Letecia Stauch used her phone frequently. He said her phone was not being used on the day Gannon disappeared from late morning to early afternoon, when she and Gannon were at Petco, and also when she returned home, the phone wasn’t being used for a period of time.
Clark continued on with what he found on Letecia Stauch’s third phone which was seized in South Carolina. In the notes section was a note from February 19 titled, “In the case of a missing child Gannon Stauch…”
A few other questions in the note include: "Did you accidentally hurt him in a physical way? Did you murder your stepson? Do you know personally who was involved in your stepson’s disappearance?"
Clark also described the web history on Letecia Stauch’s phone from February 20. He said the user searched “fake polygraph test” using Google. Ten minutes later, a fake polygraph website was visited, and after that, the payment screen to pay for a fake lie detector test was visited.
After that, Clark said the user of the phone then Googled, “Can you get away with fake lie detector website?”
Clark said on the evening/night of January 28, Letecia Stauch’s iPhone was placed on airplane mode and off the network just after 7 p.m. Around 9 p.m., data from her Tiguan shows the vehicle was at the S curve near Palmer Lake, where the blood-stained board was found.
Clark said Stauch's phone didn't die or run out of battery, but it was off of the network around 9 p.m. The phone was locked and unlocked several times.
Clark reviewed a timeline of events on Sunday, January 26, the day before Gannon disappeared:
6:55 a.m. - Al Stauch’s flight leaves DIA.
2:00 p.m. - A trip to Garden of the Gods with Letecia, Gannon, and Laina.
3:15 p.m. - Harley clocks in at work at Massage Envy.
3:41 p.m. - Selfie photo taken of Letecia, Gannon, and Laina.
4:46 p.m. - Letecia, Gannon, and Laina return home, Harley is still at work.
9:46 p.m. - Video taken from Stauch’s phone where you can hear Gannon say, “I’m just worried about my burns.”
Clark said there was no indication that Gannon was outside the home yelling that night.
9:57 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. - text messages between Letecia and Harley about the candle incident involving Gannon
11:30 p.m. - text message from Letecia to Al about the candle incident
On the morning of January 28:
2:48 a.m. - text message from Letecia to Al about how Gannon won’t be going to school and she’ll also be calling off work
3:00 a.m. - Letecia sends a text message to Leslie Hicks, the assistant principal at the school she works at. Letecia said her stepfather passed away and she won’t be going to work.
5:03 a.m. - more texts from Letecia to Al saying she’s exhausted, and Gannon felt really bad about the burned carpet.
5:49 a.m. - text from Hicks asking Letecia if they should find a substitute for today.
8:14 a.m. - photo taken of Gannon sleeping in his bed, Letecia sent this photo to Al.
8:30 a.m. - Harley clocks in at work.
8:43 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. - more text messages between Letecia and Al about Gannon asking about bath salts and hanging out with friends.
9:27 a.m. - text messages between Letecia and Harley, where Letecia screen-shotted a conversation about bath salts and sent it to Harley.
9:54 a.m. to 9:59 a.m. - A text message to Al from Gannon’s phone saying Letecia left her phone at home, and to call Gannon’s phone if needed.
10:12 a.m. - Letecia and Gannon left home to go to Petco. There was a four-hour period with no activity on Letecia’s phone. The next phone activity on Letecia’s phone was around 2:30 p.m.
2:26 p.m. - 3:23 p.m. - no activity on Letecia Stauch’s phone
3:15 p.m. - Laina gets home from school
4:19 p.m. - Harley gets off of work
4:51 p.m. - Harley and Laina leave the Stauch home to go to the Dollar Tree to buy cleaning supplies and cleaning products.
Clark testified saying he believes Gannon was killed prior to Laina getting home from school.
6:27 p.m. - text message from Letecia to Al saying Gannon wasn’t home yet.
6:39 p.m. - text message from Letecia to Al saying she’s going to drive around and look for Gannon.
6:54 - 6:58 p.m. - Letecia makes several phone calls to law enforcement to report Gannon is missing.
7 p.m. - 8 p.m. - more text messages with Letecia, Harley, and Al all texting and calling one another at some point. They’re all trying to find more information about where Gannon is.
8 p.m. 10 p.m. - more phone calls and text messages between Al and Letecia Stauch.
10:03 p.m. - outgoing call from Gannon’s phone to Landon's phone, who is Gannon’s mother. Clark testified saying it was Letecia using Gannon’s phone, and Gannon was not alive at that time.
10:09 p.m. - El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies arrive at Stauch's home.
10:10 p.m. to 11:49 p.m. - More text messages and calls between Al and Letecia Stauch
11:49 p.m. - Deputies leave Stauch residence.
Clark testified saying other than the first drive with Laina in the afternoon, data and records indicate that Letecia never left the home after that. Clark said it appeared Letecia was on social media more, instead of looking for her stepson.
Clark reviewed a timeline of events on Tuesday, January 28, the day after Gannon disappeared. Clark said there was no evidence that Letecia Stauch went searching for Gannon that morning as she claimed in text messages to Al.
At 8:30 a.m., Letecia Stauch drove her Tiguan to the Colorado Springs Airport to pick up Al. Letecia left the Tiguan in the parking lot before renting a Kia Rio. Clark testified saying Gannon’s body was in the back of the Tiguan.
Letecia then texted Harley and asked her to move her vehicle into the garage. Clark testified saying there was blood on the wooden boards that the car would have parked over.
At 4:41 p.m., Letecia Stauch returns to the airport and doesn’t return the Kia Rio. Clark testified saying it seemed to be a quick check of the Tiguan still parked at the airport.
Between 6 p.m. and 6:50 p.m., Letecia Stauch’s phone data indicates she was at the Stauch home, then went back to the airport in the rented Kia Rio. Clark said Letecia did not return the car properly, and instead, it was found the next day in short-term parking.
Clark testified saying this is when Letecia got her Tiguan with Gannon’s remains and left the airport. Just before midnight on Tuesday, January 28, Letecia left the Tiguan in the parking lot at the Holiday Inn and got into Harley’s car. Clark testified saying Gannon’s body was no longer in the back of the Tiguan at this point.
At 4:41 p.m., Letecia Stauch returns to the airport and doesn’t return to the Kia Rio. Clark testified saying it seemed to be a quick check of the Tiguan still parked at the airport.
Between 6 p.m. and 6:50 p.m., Letecia Stauch’s phone data indicates she was at the Stauch home, then went back to the airport in the rented Kia Rio. Clark said Letecia did not return the car properly, and instead, it was found the next day in short-term parking.
Clark testified saying this is when Letecia got her Tiguan with Gannon’s remains and left the airport.
On the morning of January 30, after Letecia and Harley spent the night at Janine Sanchez’ house, there is a chain of text messages between Harley Hunt’s phone and Al Stauch. Whoever was using Harley’s phone said they want to go to the Stauch home and pick up their belongings without being bothered.
Clark testified saying he believes it was Letecia using Harley’s phone to text Al. Harley Hunt’s phone: “You set my mom up so you could be with your ex-wife. I hate you.” To which Al responded, “Well I love you. I’m sorry that you feel that way.”
In the early afternoon of January 30, Letecia Stauch did an interview with KKTV. Clark testified saying that Letecia mentioned Gannon’s name about a dozen times during the interview. Clark then said Letecia mentioned “I, me, or my” more than 100 times.
On January 30, Letecia drove a rented Nissan Ultima with a GPS tracker on it. Clark testified saying that around 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. is when they believe Letecia drove to the S curve in Douglas County and picked up the suitcase that had Gannon’s body in it.
Previous testimony also indicated a blood-stained piece of wood was found in that area, and the blood matched Gannon Stauch's.
Clark went on to reveal the web searches found on Letecia's phone just two days after Gannon's disappearance, images from Ashley Portillo's courtroom notes reveal those searches below:
Some other searches from January 27 and 28 from Letecia's phone include:
- My son burned the carpet. How do I fix it?
- Son sick, can he stay home?
- Craigslist Orlando Florida jobs
- What is the process for a runaway child
- Police steps for our runaway Police steps for our missing child
February 19 to February 21, 2020 web searches on Letecia Stauch’s phone include:
- Crime online
- Does text free show location?
- I need a fake ID that’s legit
- Children trafficking to Mexico from Colorado
- I need a criminal polygraph
- Can you get away with fake lie detecter website
Some web searches on Letecia Stauch’s phone from February 21, 2020, include:
- Search efforts for Gannon Stauch
- I need to change my look to hide
- Face disguise
- Full face and change
- First face transplant woman
- Full face transplant
- Face transplant near me Full face plastic surgery
On February 23, 2020, web searches from Letecia Stauch’s phone include:
- Shock from watching someone get shot
- Face mask that looks real to disguise
Below are more images detailing web searches from Letecia Stauch's phone from February 24th through March 1st of 2020.
The murder trial for Letecia Stauch will resume tomorrow morning. Prosecutors will be resting their case. The defense is expected to call one witness to the stand to testify, the psychologist who conducted a sanity evaluation on Stauch.
Concerns from the prosecution arose again before court dismissal regarding the defense's witness. According to the defense their clinical psychologist witness who performed a competency evaluation of Letecia Stauch previously will be called to the stand.
According to the defense and prosecution, this witness met with and interviewed Stauch on Sunday, according to the prosecution recordings of this supposedly three-hour interview were not provided. The prosecution raised concerns with Judge Gregory Werner over their ability to cross-examine the witness without knowing what Stauch and the doctor discussed.
Judge Werner did not rule out the testimony of that interview, but it was unclear how much of this most recent interview between a mental health professional and Stauch will be allowed to be heard during testimony tomorrow.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is learned. Tune in to News5 tonight to watch the latest updates of the trial at 4, 5, and 6 p.m.
Follow updates from the courtroom with News5's Ashley Portillo on Twitter. As is normal in Colorado courts, media coverage of the events will be limited. No cameras are allowed in the courtroom to cover the actual trial process. However, anyone can watch using the virtual courtroom option from the El Paso County court system.
PRIOR COVERAGE:
'It seemed like she was conveying a story from fiction', says a psychologist on Stauch's delusions
Mental health doctor testifies in Letecia Stauch trial, believes Stauch exaggerated mental health symptoms
Stauch murder trial enters week four ahead of schedule, verdict possible next week
Jurors watch videos between investigators and Letecia leading up to her arrest
Jurors listen to multiple calls from Al Stauch searching for more answers about Gannon's disappearance
Investigators testify on blood patterns and 'violent' scene in Gannon's bedroom
Letecia Stauch's daughter takes the stand and testifies about her mother's actions
Jurors shown video of Letecia Stauch alleged escape attempt
Jurors see first police interview with Letecia Stauch when questioned about Gannon's disappearance
"I knew she did it," said Letecia Stauch's half brother, referring to murdering her stepson
Testimony from the medical examiner on Gannon Stauch's injuries.
Gannon's father says his ex-wife was 100% sane
READ THE ARREST AFFIDAVIT FOR LETECIA STAUCH
Gannon's father says his ex-wife was 100% sane
Prosecutors challenge insanity claim
Gannon’s disappearance
At the time of his disappearance, law enforcement began a search for Gannon based on information provided by the stepmother who claimed he had gone to a friend’s house and had not returned.
Following several weeks of law enforcement and community-led searches for the missing boy, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrested Letecia Stauch in early March on charges of murder, child abuse, and crime of violence before his body was recovered.
Throughout all efforts to locate Gannon, investigators were already focused on Letecia Stauch based on her statements to law enforcement and evidence found at the family home and within her car.
During an initial interview with detectives, Letecia Stauch claimed a Hispanic male had raped her and kidnapped Gannon. According to court documents, she refused to undergo a medical examination to find evidence of a sexual assault and refused to provide any further description of an attacker. She later provided many different versions of events, which investigators detailed in the arrest affidavit.
Investigators believe Gannon was shot, stabbed, and beaten in his basement bedroom by the stepmother on January 27, 2020. A forensic search of the family home found blood stains were found on the boy’s mattress, carpet, baseboards, and electrical socket by his bed.
'My little boy is not coming home': Parents react to news of stepmother's arrest on murder charge
Police say Gannon’s body was loaded into Stauch’s Volkswagen Tiguan to hide his body before she parked the car at the Colorado Springs Airport where she rented another vehicle and picked up his father after he traveled for military service.
One of the areas searched by law enforcement was a stretch of Highway 105 in Douglas County where investigators recovered a piece of bloody wood. The arrest affidavit states investigators believe Gannon’s body was originally dumped at this location using her Volkswagen, but she later returned to the area in another vehicle.
Gannon’s remains were eventually found on March 17, 2020, inside a suitcase dumped under a bridge near Pace, Florida. Investigators believe the stepmother dumped the body during a trip to South Carolina.
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