EL PASO COUNTY, CO — Testimony resumed Wednesday morning in the murder trial of Letecia Stauch with more phone calls between Al Stauch and Letecia in the weeks following Gannon's disappearance.
Jurors began the day listening to the rest of the FBI-recorded phone call between Al and Letecia on February 15, 2020.
Al is heard in the call being frustrated with Letecia as he’s trying to get answers about what happened to Gannon. Letecia at one point said, “I’m tired of being portrayed as the killer of a child I love.”
Al and Letecia can be heard at one point arguing about Gannon’s mom, Landen, being at the Stauch home after Gannon’s disappearance. Al is audibly frustrated because he said Letecia and her daughter Harley Hunt packed their bags and left the Stauch home, saying, "You guys left. You bounced."
Another FBI-recorded phone call was played for the courtroom. The call between Letecia and Al, where an FBI agent was coaching Al and suggesting questions to ask. This phone call is just over an hour long.
It begins with Al asking, "I feel like this is all my fault in the end because I was gone when it happened.” Al then began asking questions about the puddle of blood in the corner of Gannon’s room where his bed was that seeped down to the concrete floor.
Letecia then accused Al and others of walking into Gannon’s room and contaminating his room with blood. Letecia said whatever blood was there was from the burn on his arms, and a cut on his foot.
Al said he saw surveillance video of Gannon walking to the truck, and he said it looked like Gannon was sluggish and drugged. Letecia said, “Like really, Gannon drugged?!... He was probably very tired."
Al then put FBI Agent Amber Cronan on a three-way phone call with him and Letecia. Letecia said she’d call the FBI agent back in a few minutes and proceeded to hang up the call.
FBI Agent Amber Cronan was called back to the witness stand after the hour-long phone call was finished playing for jurors. Agent Cronan testified saying it seemed like Letecia cared more about herself than what happened to Gannon.
“The significant pause in her speaking when they hooked up the 3-way call gave me the impression she might have been reluctant to speak with me,” said FBI Agent Amber Cronan when testifying about Letecia Stauch.
We’re now listening to the phone call between Letecia and FBI Agent Amber Cronan. Letecia was asked to describe in detail what happened on the day of Gannon’s disappearance. This phone call is nearly a half hour long.
Letecia explains trying to get Al a bike from Craiglist, going to Dunkin’ Donuts, and Petco twice. Letecia then explained how when she and Gannon got home, Letecia heard a loud noise downstairs. Letecia said when she went downstairs, a man was standing near the storage room.
Agent Cronan testified there were multiple different stories that Letecia told about Gannon’s disappearance. She also acknowledged there was no evidence to support there was an intruder and no evidence to support that someone kidnapped Gannon.
On another call between Al and Letecia, Al is attempting to get the whereabouts of Letecia. This phone call was on February 15th. During the call, Letecia informed Al that she was staying with a woman named Michelle that lived in Monument.
Previous testimony indicated Letecia was known to already be well on the east coast by the time this call took place.
Following the phone call, Agent Cronan was called back to the stand, she testified saying there was not a real person by the name of Michelle in Monument.
Agent Cronan testified saying she has dealt with people with severe mental health issues. “It’s different. They may not have logical reasons for what they do,” said Cronan. She acknowledged that Letecia had logical reasons for what she was doing throughout the investigation.
Letecia's lawyers cross-examined Agent Cronan by beginning to ask how long she had viewed Letecia. Cronan said she wasn’t personally interacting with her. She also said if there was something they wanted to know during the phone calls, they would give Al a note.
Letecia’s attorney then asked why Letecia wasn’t arrested, because she was telling a lot of different stories and admitting Gannon’s blood was in his room. Cronan said an arrest wasn’t made because they didn’t have probable cause yet, and Gannon’s body was not found yet.
This ended the cross-examination of FBI Agent Amber Cronan.
Jonathan Grusing, a former special agent, was the next witness to be called on Wednesday afternoon. He was assisting with the FBI-recorded phone calls between Al and Letecia Stauch.
Grusing said his goal was to have Al continue talking to Letecia so they could find out what happened to Gannon. “If we don’t accuse Letecia of killing Gannon, she would continue talking with us,” said Grusing.
Grusing testified saying Letecia would give up small hints and clues as her stories kept changing. He said she would also shift blame to other people, including Al and Gannon’s biological mother, Landen.
Grusing was released from the stand and another call between Al and Letecia was played.
Al called Letecia saying he found out that the information about Quincy Brown isn’t true. During the phone calls, Letecia said the man in the home was Quincy Brown, and that Brown assaulted her and then took Gannon. Brown was actually a local registered sex offender.
Al said it was brought to his attention that Quincy Brown’s family said Brown has been in Mexico for the past two years.
Grusing took the stand again, and he said they advised Al to remind Letecia she’s a good person and a good parent. Following these statements was another phone call between Al and Letecia. This one was just over 40 minutes long.
During this phone call, Al told Letecia, “I fully believe something happened and it was an accident and you panicked… I know that you did something, and I know that you’re responsible.”
Al said he’s “worried to death” that one day he'll have to testify about what happened, and he won’t know what to say, except that Letecia lied to him over and over, and didn’t tell the truth."
Al said he hope it doesn’t come down to murder because he hasn’t seen his son in three weeks. He then asked Letecia again about the blood in the corner of Gannon's room, saying he saw it and it was Gannon's blood.
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:
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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