Law&Crime Network will be covering the following trials this week. You can watch trials live on our website and YouTube page.
ID v Lori Vallow Daybell
Lori Vallow Daybell (Mugshot: Madison County Jail)
Lori Vallow Daybell and her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell, are each accused of murder in the 2019 deaths of Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17. The children disappeared on different dates in September of that year. Vallow was initially arrested in Hawaii in February 2020 on charges of child desertion. The two defendants were indicted for the murder of Vallow’s children and Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, 49, in May 2021. The alleged killer couple’s cases were recently severed and will be tried separately.
Joshua “JJ” Vallow, and Tylee Ryan
Vallow has been dubbed as the “doomsday cult mom” as she allegedly thought she was a “godlike figure” responsible for aiding in the “apocalyptical end times.” Jury selection is expected to kick off Monday, April 3. Vallow faces the following charges in this trial: two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception, two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and grand theft.
*Note: Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom. Law&Crime Network posts each day’s full audio recording on YouTube.
CO v. Letecia Stauch
Letecia Stauch (Mugshot: El Paso County Sheriff’s Office)
Letecia Stauch is accused of fatally attacking her stepson Gannon Stauch, 11, in his bedroom in January 2020, in El Paso County, Colorado. Authorities claimed to find blood on a mattress, walls and floors, as well as in Stauch’s Volkswagen Tiguan SUV. Stauch allegedly claimed that a man named “Eguardo” raped her, and kidnapped Gannon. Investigators said she didn’t call 911 about her account, and she didn’t want to look into collecting evidence against the alleged attacker.
Gannon Stauch
Gannon’s remains were found stuffed inside a suitcase under a bridge in northwestern Florida in March 2020, about six weeks after Stauch took a trip there. An autopsy showed Gannon had been shot and stabbed, and he appeared to have defensive wounds on his hands.
Stauch took off from Colorado and was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At one point, she acted as her own lawyer and in made unsubstantiated claims that a doctor who examined her was “clearly an actress” and her defense lawyers were in “cahoots” with the prosecution.
Stauch faces multiple charges including first-degree murder, child abuse, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence.
OH v Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mitchell
Trial continues this week for a former Columbus police vice squad officer for the murder of a young woman in August 2018. Andrew Mitchell was indicted on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges for the death of 23-year-old Donna Castleberry. Mitchell went to trial in the spring of 2022, but in April, a judge declared a mistrial because jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
On the night Castleberry was killed, Mitchell allegedly picked her up in an unmarked police car during an undercover prostitution sting. Mitchell claims Castleberry stabbed him, so he shot her out of self defense. However, during the first trial, prosecutors said that she was shot in the back of Mitchell’s car while attempting to escape.
Audio recordings played in court broke down the moments leading up to the shooting. Castleberry can be heard saying “do not put your hands on me,” “no, help” and “ please help me!”
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