In a day of wild testimony, jurors heard that Letecia Stauch, the woman on trial for allegedly murdering her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch, sought a fake polygraph test, apparently drugged the victim, and even made a call to deputies while pretending to be her teenage, biological daughter.
Prosecutors in El Paso County, Colorado, claim the 39-year-old stabbed and shot the victim on Jan. 27, 2020, while the boy's father was out of town for National Guard work. She cleaned up the scene and hid his body. She called 911, claiming Gannon was missing. This launched a search lasting more than a month before a bridge worker found a suitcase in Pensacola, Florida, during inspections. Gannon's remains were inside.
Dr. Susan Ignacio testified about finding acetaminophen and hydrocodone in the child's system during the autopsy. The hydrocodone in particular was "unusual."
Dr. Susan Ignacio, an associate medical examiner, testified acetaminophen and hydrocodone were found in #GannonStauch's body during his autopsy. "I found it unusual," she said. #LeteciaStauch pic.twitter.com/Wcf2fEGGPi
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 10, 2023
Both drugs together are found in the medication Vicodin. Prosecutors on Monday recalled Gannon's biological father Al Stauch to the stand. He testified about getting "some sort" of hydrocodone prescription after cutting off the tip of his right index finger in a woodworking accident. Witness Stauch said, however, that he only took one or two pills because an accompanying Ibuprofen prescription was enough for him. He kept the remnants of the hydrocodone on a nightstand by his bed. He would never give his son the drug, he said. Only he and "possibly" his then-wife Letecia Stauch knew the medication's whereabouts.
Al Stauch previously testified about confronting Letecia about her shifting stories amid Gannon's disappearance. In court, he only called her "the defendant."
Letecia Stauch changed her stories during the missing person case, authorities said, including falsely claiming that a man raped her.
Investigators said that as part of her alleged attempt to hide the truth, she went to a company for fake polygraph results.
Jurors heard audio on Monday in which she told a call taker that she had not received the results yet. Eventually, the call taker told her that management blocked the results, saying it was because the nature of the questions were related to illegal activity.
Investigators had wiretapped this call as part of their work looking into defendant Stauch.
Also on Monday, jurors heard audio in which Letecia Stauch called the El Paso County Sheriff's Office claiming to her biological daughter Harley Hunt. In the call, "Hunt" said she wanted the contents of the car impounded in the investigation. For example, she wanted a bookbag including her social security card and birth certificate. There were diamond rings in a black and white bag.
"Harley, I can tell you right now, everything on this case is evidence," El Paso County evidence technician Christina Cervantez said in the audio. She could not release this back to "Hunt" without written authorization. She recommended "Hunt" contact the lead detective on the case.
Testifying on Monday, Cervantez said she found it odd that "Hunt" claimed during the call to be a flight attendant. The real Harley Hunt was 17 at the time.
Letecia Stauch is putting up an insanity defense. Her attorney did not dispute that she killed Gannon.
"There is no explanation for it," defense lawyer Will Cook said of the killing during his opening statement. "I don't have one."
Prosecutors, however, said that Stauch knew what she was doing when she cleaned up the crime scene and hid the body across the country.
