Letecia Stauch opening statements describe brutal murder

Opposing an insanity defense, a Colorado prosecutor told jurors that Letecia Stauch, 39, actually knew what she was doing when she brutally stabbed and shot her stepson Gannon Stauch, 11, then hid his body across the country.

“Everything that happened to Gannon from that point forward was her decision,” District Attorney Michael Allen of the 4th Judicial District told jurors on Monday. “She carried out actions to kill Gannon, to put his body in the suitcase and hide it, to hide evidence of what she did to Gannon, told numerous stories to investigators to manipulate the course of the investigation, and finally to discard Gannon inside that suitcase off of a Florida bridge like garbage.”

Authorities maintain that Stauch murdered Gannon in his bedroom on Jan. 27, 2020, while the child’s father, Al Stauch, was out of town for National Guard work.

She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Her attorney Will Cook told jurors on Monday that she experienced dissociative identity disorder, and she suffered both physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her mother’s lovers while growing up. He said that Letecia Stauch, a teacher, had been known as a loving stepmother.

“There is no explanation for it,” Cook said of the killing. “I don’t have one.”

Allen said that Letecia Stauch knew right from wrong when killing Gannon, falsely reporting him missing, and lying to investigators during the search for the missing boy.

He told jurors she recorded herself on Jan. 26, 2020. In the audio, she questioned Gannon about spilling candle wax. She voiced concern about a damaged carpet.

Gannon, who sounded obviously distressed, had been injured.

“I’m just worried about my burns,” he said.

Letecia Stauch shushed him.

“I’m just worried about my burns.” The day before #GannonStauch disappeared the defendant recorded herself questioning #GannonStauch about the spilling of a candle (wax). Prosecutor tells jury #LeteciaStauch manipulating him, saying they have to sell things to fix the carpet. pic.twitter.com/0UZRCmgmJn

— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 3, 2023

Stauch stabbed Gannon 18 times, authorities said. In describing that damage, Allen noted injuries to the child’s chest, back, and head, but he highlighted the arms and hands in particular, saying these were defensive wounds.

Gannon sustained a crushing blow to his head, which fractured like an eggshell, the prosecutor said. Allen told jurors that Letecia Stauch got a gun and opened fire at Gannon three times. Two shots missed, but one struck the child’s jaw, traveling through his head and lodging into the back of his head, the prosecutor told jurors.

“Gannon’s life drained from his body, drop by drop,” Allen said.

Letecia Stauch had taken the photo of Gannon in bed the morning of his disappearance. In a preliminary hearing, testimony was the pictures showed Gannon sleeping and unharmed. Authorities say Stauch killed Gannon some time after taking the pic. #LeteciaStauch pic.twitter.com/yvUw9WGkT8

— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 3, 2023

Allen said that defendant Stauch’s actions after the killing — cleaning the scene, discarding evidence, and putting the body and some evidence in a suitcase — showed that she knew right from wrong.

When she called 911 to report Gannon missing, the call taker asked who was the last person to see him.

“I guess me,” defendant Stauch said in audio played for the court.

Pros opening: #LeteciaStauch killed 11-yr-old Gannon, stuffed his body in a suitcase and disposed of him 1,400 miles away in Florida. With Gannon’s remains was a pillow and blanket matching bedding shown in a pic taken by the Letecia of Gannon in bed the morning of disappearance pic.twitter.com/Pzw7Eo0QaA

— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 3, 2023

Eventually, Stauch took Gannon’s remains in the suitcase to Pensacola, Florida, where she pushed it over the railing of a bridge over a river that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. She hoped no one would ever find the 11-year-old, Allen said. But someone did on March 17, 2020. An “unlucky bridge worker,” who was checking the bridge for safety, encountered the suitcase, Allen said.

During the search for Gannon, Letecia Stauch told investigators various stories about the disappearance, including that she was raped (though she gave different names of her attacker), Allen said. “Most cruelly,” she alleged that the child’s birth mother Landen Hiott was involved in his disappearance, the prosecutor said.