Letecia Stauch, 39, is accused of killing her stepson Gannon Stauch, 11. (Inset photo of the Gannon is a file photo; Courtroom photo from Law&Crime Network)
A forensic psychologist testified that she did not see evidence of dissociative identity disorder — formerly known as multiple personality disorder — in a woman charged with murdering her own stepson.
Letecia Stauch, 39, is currently standing trial for the January 2020 death of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch. According to prosecutors, she stabbed the boy in his bedroom and shot at him three times, striking him once in the head. She then allegedly cleaned up the scene and hid the boy’s body before calling 911 to report that he was missing. Prosecutors say she then put the boy’s remains into a suitcase, which she took with her across the country to Pensacola, Florida, before tossing it over a bridge railing.
Bridge workers found the suitcase — and its grim contents — on March 17, 2020. By that time, Stauch had been arrested and charged with murder.
Stauch has asserted a defense of dissociative identity disorder sparked by a traumatic childhood. Prosecutors maintain, however, that she knew what she was doing.
Testifying before jurors on Wednesday, Dr. Jackie Grimmett said the disorder is very rare. She called it “very destructive” and “disabling,” and said that people who have it can be very frightened. They don’t know what’s happening to them, she said, and they can feel very strange. Those living with the disorder also cannot hold down jobs or relationships, and they are not very productive, the doctor said.
Stauch’s history, Grimmett said, doesn’t support such a finding. She testified that she saw none of the impairments matching the claims Stauch was making about herself. She also said that she doubted others would not notice if she had disorder.
Jurors also heard testimony that Stauch constantly lied to the child’s father and her own family in the search for Gannon when he was considered missing.
Grimmett testified that Stauch’s prior defense team brought her onto the case to evaluate the defendant’s competence to face charges, not to consider insanity or to treat her. Nonetheless, her testimony clashed with the defense lawyers’ theory, and the state called her to the stand. Grimmett, in describing dissociative identity disorder as debilitating, said Stauch did not describe such dysfunction.
The defendant claimed to have various personalities, and named them, according to the doctor. Those alleged personalities were named Taylor, Tecia, Jasmine “and, I believe, Jasper,” Grimmett said. The state questioned the doctor on whether Stauch mentioned personalities by the name of Victoria, Harmony, Christina, “Little Lucia, or Maria Sanchez.” Grimmett answered in the negative.
The doctor found this behavior inconsistent with dissociative personality disorder, saying that the defendant selected names based on things she liked and aspirations she had — but that’s not how it works.
“The alters present themselves to you,” Grimmett said, describing a typical case. “You don’t create them, and you don’t name them kind of whimsically.”
Grimmett said she didn’t see the defendant changing personalities. She suggested that by discussing the different personalities and also claiming to talk to vampires, Stauch was trying to feel better about her situation.
In providing further detail about the defendant’s claims of talking to vampires, Stauch said that she was introduced to them when she was living in Alaska.
“And they used to go door-to-door like Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Grimmett said, describing what Stauch told her.
Stauch apparently claimed to have a button in her cell with which she could summon vampires Justice, Jasper, and Patrick.
“She didn’t really kind of offer them in any kind of meaningful way,” she said. “It wasn’t explaining anything or trying to use that information necessarily. But she certainly referenced them throughout the interview.”
When asked about the names, Stauch referenced the book and movie series Twilight, the doctor said. Stauch brought up a vampire council, and Grimmett looked it up to determine whether it was from the series.
The doctor testified that Stauch did have traits of borderline and narcissistic personality disorder, such as lacking empathy and not experiencing people’s thoughts and feelings, but these characteristics didn’t rise to the level of either diagnosis.
A forensic psychologist found that #LeteciaStauch had traits of borderline and narcissistic personalities, but didn’t meet the threshold for either. pic.twitter.com/bD9lX2cxcT
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 26, 2023
Stauch also asserted she did not believe the murdered rapper Tupac Shakur was dead, according to the testimony. That was in conjunction with her claim that Gannon could be brought back to life.
Accused stepson killer #LeteciaStauch mentioned vampires in her forensic interview with a forensic psychologist, saying she got the names from the movie, Twilight. Stauch also mentioned #Tupac, telling the psychologist she did not believe the late rapper was dead. pic.twitter.com/joOzE1Tkck
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 26, 2023
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