Found Deceased CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 **ARREST** #42

[MadTing]

No, but it does seem likely.

The AA had Google searches she made in regards to the carpet being burned, as well as dealing with the smell (pg 22).

So I do think there was some sort of a fire.

I was wondering if she may have been planning to start a fire herself with a candle and make it look like an accident to either destroy evidence of a murder in a room or even to dare i say it kill gannon via smoke intoxication or worse. But then the Dehumidifier searching doesn't add up unless she was looking to try to save herself from any smoke inhalation.

 

[Love Never Fails]

BBM:

Great questions!

The answers are somewhat subjective, but I'll give you my opinion.
I was willing to give HH the benefit of the doubt until I read the affidavit.

The line for me was upon discovering that she refused to cooperate with investigators in the case of her missing, vulnerable, 11-year-old stepbrother.
_______________________________

For me, there's the Red Line. HH crossed it.

The argument that "she's a minor" is not going to cut it for me. At all.

Moral development, i.e., knowing right from wrong, understanding the link between actions and consequences, empathy, etc., occurs prior to the age of 18. There's not a magic switch at 18, where, Voila! People reach an age of moral accountability.

If HH doesn't know the difference b/t right and wrong now, she likely never will.
I personally suspect she never will…or if she does, she'll disregard it, just as she disregarded it in this case.

Either wittingly or unwittingly, and, frankly, none of us knows which is the case, HH aided TS in cleaning up a crime scene by purchasing cleaning supplies for her, then taking LS out of the house while TS scrubbed TS's blood off of walls, floors, etc.

Do I think HH knew at the time she was purchasing supplies to help her mother clean up a bloody murder scene?
No.

Do I think HH now realizes she purchased supplies to help her mother clean up a bloody murder scene?
Heck, yeah.

She knows.

HH has lied to reporters for her mother.
Even little kids know lying is wrong.

The argument that, "Well, she probably believed her mother," is laughable to me.
Do people honestly think HH doesn't know that her mother is a consummate liar?
She knows her mother lies with practically every exhaled breath.

She also knows her mother did something bad to GS.
She made a decision not to cooperate with LE.

Which is to say, she made a decision not to help investigators find her missing 11-year-old stepbrother.

There's my Red Line.

JMO.

Excellent post! Yes! Love this.

 

[Seattle1]

I think Colorado may be one of the states where a juvenile can't be questioned without a parent present and if they are, their statements can't be used (in a criminal matter). If true, I can't see where LS would ever make this happen.

I don't think LS voluntarily talked to LE again after the alleged car key and guns drawn incident. Actually, wasn't HH part of this alleged incident?

Refresher from the archives:

– In a Jan. 31 interview with Gazette news partner KKTV, Letecia claimed she was initially denied her request for a lawyer by Sheriff’s Office detectives.

– Letecia also said that her 17-year-old daughter was briefly put in handcuffs when detectives pulled over their vehicle Jan. 30. She claims deputies had guns drawn and told her they were going to shoot her without identifying themselves as law enforcement officers. A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office would not comment on the claims, citing the ongoing investigation.

– Foul play is not suspected, and the investigation is not a criminal one, investigators said.

From the AA:

AS voluntarily went to EPSO for interview on Jan 29 (#82);

AS VW seized and towed from office to EPSO evidence facility (#68);

Towards the end of the interview, LE also seized AS phone and detained her while they applied for a warrant for LS DNA (#99);

LS was transported to hospital from EPSO after she alleged a medical issue (#102);

Before DNA warrant could be served, LS departed hospital without telling LE (#105);

LS made call from hospital waiting room and was soon collected by unknown party before reunited with HH at a location several miles from hospital. Police were conducting physical surveillance and therefore LS meeting up with HH known (#105);

After EPSO seized LS VW on Jan 29, she obtained a 2020 Nissan Altima, and LE granted a warrant to install GPS on the Nissan (#148);

So -- does anybody recall why HH was allegedly pulled over and briefly handcuffed on January 30? (I previously believed LE was seizing LS vehicle during stop but I was wrong). Is this incident cited in the AA?

WATCH: Gannon Stauch press conference and case update; stepmom arrested on suspicion of murder

 

[lucidtx]

I was wondering if she may have been planning to start a fire herself with a candle and make it look like an accident to either destroy evidence of a murder in a room or even to dare i say it kill gannon via smoke intoxication or worse. But then the Dehumidifier searching doesn't add up unless she was looking to try to save herself from any smoke inhalation.

I think it's noteworthy that she told multiple iterations of the candle and carpet burning story to Al, the sitter and others in her circle but it doesn't seem like she ever told LE about anything like that. Her searches about the carpet were all between midnight and 1, early on the 27th. It does seem like that would be the time when the wheels were starting to turn and she may have started planning for the coming morning and afternoon.

 

[jvikes]

I haven't caught up yet, and I'm sure someone has already answered you. However, I've been vocal about being sympathetic towards HH, so I'll give you my 2¢.

Personally I think when we are discussing a crime committed by any person of their own volition, we have to first think of justice for the victim and any other people affected by the crime. Thankfully we have laws that tell us which crimes we can objectively call worse than other crimes and we have a system that is set up to (theoretically) punish worse crimes with worse punishments. I'd go so far as to say *most* of us have an inborn moral code and there's a line we draw between what we can and can't do in good conscience.

So, for example, if I had murdered someone when I was a teenager, I would expect to face some serious consequences, regardless of my dysfunctional childhood.

But it's noteworthy that minors are, by law, usually treated differently - less harshly - than an adult guilty of the same sort of crime. Society knows and accepts, in general, that minors are not fully grown and don't have fully formed areas of the brain that control executive function.

(I'm pretty sure that last sentence is grammatically incorrect, but hopefully you get my gist.)

So, subjectively I can feel sympathy for someone and still objectively say they were wrong and should be held accountable. Sympathy can lead to compassion, in how a criminal is treated and/or perceived, while still saying the criminal is guilty.

So, this is getting long. In this particular case, I do not think HH participated in the murder of Gannon. If she struck him, cut him, shot him, then she should be held accountable for that. If, however, she knew some things that might have been incriminating for her mother, and could not bring herself to share info with LE, it is directly related to her mindset... namely a mindset that has been forged into her very being since before birth, by an evil person. And I'm positive that, in that position, I, having had a similar mother, would have believed her (incredible, fantastical, absolutely illogical) excuses 100% over my own understanding.

Storytime. Listen, at 26 I didn't invite certain relatives to my wedding because my mother was feuding with them. These are some of the nicest people! But showing her my loyalty, even without any idea of what wrongs they had done her, was of utmost importance. I didn't need to know the details; my heart simply broke for the pain they caused my poor victimized mother. And.... I felt loved when I told her they wouldn't be getting invitations. I was so trained - like a dog - to be unquestioningly loyal and obedient and blind - and all for a bit of affection - that I behaved like a b**** to these people who had done me no wrong.

Was I responsible for treating them badly? Hell, yes. I should have grown up a lot sooner and gotten my head out of my a$$. Can I still have sympathy for the poor girl who grew up with that sort of training? Sure. It helps me explain and understand... It helps me grow into a better person.

If HH's only crime is not cooperating fully with LE at first, I believe it's because she could not bring herself to disbelieve her mother. Where would she get the capability of making that stand? It would be like a stranger asking a loyal dog to attack his master while his master is feeding him a steak and rubbing his belly.

There's a difference between committing a crime oneself vs. believing a crime was committed by another and promptly taking that to authorities if you've never betrayed that person before. It's a gradual and slow process of realizing, and denying, and hoping and finally accepting. If LE handled it right, HH is now fully cooperating. But how they handled her is entirely dependent on understanding where she's coming from.

Thanks for your perspective. It is important, like I think you're saying, that HH wasn't a perpetrator and nothing in the AA indicates she did anything illegal. Not cooperating is not illegal. My only thing is I felt sorry for her, attributed her as being a victim also. However, the word uncooperative with LE changed my view almost on a dime. Not that I think she did anything criminal, I just find it hard to continue to think she is a victim to be handled with kid gloves anymore. But that's just MOO. I respect yours and your experience (I didn't have that myself growing up, so harder to identify with).

edit: typo - it is legal to not cooperate

 

[Love Never Fails]

I haven't caught up yet, and I'm sure someone has already answered you. However, I've been vocal about being sympathetic towards HH, so I'll give you my 2¢.

Personally I think when we are discussing a crime committed by any person of their own volition, we have to first think of justice for the victim and any other people affected by the crime. Thankfully we have laws that tell us which crimes we can objectively call worse than other crimes and we have a system that is set up to (theoretically) punish worse crimes with worse punishments. I'd go so far as to say *most* of us have an inborn moral code and there's a line we draw between what we can and can't do in good conscience.

So, for example, if I had murdered someone when I was a teenager, I would expect to face some serious consequences, regardless of my dysfunctional childhood.

But it's noteworthy that minors are, by law, usually treated differently - less harshly - than an adult guilty of the same sort of crime. Society knows and accepts, in general, that minors are not fully grown and don't have fully formed areas of the brain that control executive function.

(I'm pretty sure that last sentence is grammatically incorrect, but hopefully you get my gist.)

So, subjectively I can feel sympathy for someone and still objectively say they were wrong and should be held accountable. Sympathy can lead to compassion, in how a criminal is treated and/or perceived, while still saying the criminal is guilty.

So, this is getting long. In this particular case, I do not think HH participated in the murder of Gannon. If she struck him, cut him, shot him, then she should be held accountable for that. If, however, she knew some things that might have been incriminating for her mother, and could not bring herself to share info with LE, it is directly related to her mindset... namely a mindset that has been forged into her very being since before birth, by an evil person. And I'm positive that, in that position, I, having had a similar mother, would have believed her (incredible, fantastical, absolutely illogical) excuses 100% over my own understanding.

Storytime. Listen, at 26 I didn't invite certain relatives to my wedding because my mother was feuding with them. These are some of the nicest people! But showing her my loyalty, even without any idea of what wrongs they had done her, was of utmost importance. I didn't need to know the details; my heart simply broke for the pain they caused my poor victimized mother. And.... I felt loved when I told her they wouldn't be getting invitations. I was so trained - like a dog - to be unquestioningly loyal and obedient and blind - and all for a bit of affection - that I behaved like a b**** to these people who had done me no wrong.

Was I responsible for treating them badly? Hell, yes. I should have grown up a lot sooner and gotten my head out of my a$$. Can I still have sympathy for the poor girl who grew up with that sort of training? Sure. It helps me explain and understand... It helps me grow into a better person.

If HH's only crime is not cooperating fully with LE at first, I believe it's because she could not bring herself to disbelieve her mother. Where would she get the capability of making that stand? It would be like a stranger asking a loyal dog to attack his master while his master is feeding him a steak and rubbing his belly.

There's a difference between committing a crime oneself vs. believing a crime was committed by another and promptly taking that to authorities if you've never betrayed that person before. It's a gradual and slow process of realizing, and denying, and hoping and finally accepting. If LE handled it right, HH is now fully cooperating. But how they handled her is entirely dependent on understanding where she's coming from.

Your view is a compassionate one. No argument with that.

However, it is not incumbent upon LE to “handle it right” in dealing with HH during those weeks Gannon was missing.

During those weeks, HH was driving her own vehicle, working at a job, enrolled in the Air Force and planning a career. Meanwhile...

An eleven year old boy was out there somewhere in the cold, all alone, alive or dead. LE needed everyone to be cooperative so Gannon could be found. Even little Laina was likely cooperative and she is around 9 years old.

The AA states HH was not cooperating with LE. That AA was drawn up WEEKS after Gannon went missing and in fact, right before TS was arrested.

Hopefully, HH is now cooperating.

 

[Seattle1]

I have no idea what to make of her searches and stories about the burnt carpet, but I think it would've been mentioned in the AA if investigators had in fact found any evidence of the carpet in the home having been burnt or repaired. Something like that would have been difficult to totally conceal considering how thoroughly they checked the flooring throughout the house.
Edit: from page 20.

View attachment 241843

Hmmm.... I recall that the burned carpet was a story from SM (and banned from WS discussion). If LE did not find any evidence of the alleged burned carpet per AA, then perhaps it was a rumor(?)...

Was LS thinking about trying to disguise the murder of GS with a house fire?

 

[jillycat]

Well, HH is better than her mother insofar as she hasn't, to our knowledge, actually done any of the horrific, murderous things we can be confident that her mother did. What her daily and overall experience was within the Stauch family isn't anything we're likely to have answers to anytime soon -- maybe she was indeed the "princess" or "golden child," maybe she bore the brunt of LS' wrath and was forced to function as her surrogate within the family economy, and of course LS' shadow economy of much-resented labour, blame and shame.

I guess that in the absence of evidence that points towards HH's complicity with her mother's crimes I don't get the seeming antagonism towards her, especially given the timing of the AA in relation to what we know now. It seems like classic guilt by association -- and the "Edguardo" nonsense detailed in the AA shows just how focused LS was on casting that guilt on anyone who wasn't her. I feel like including HH in this LS-sponsored narrative helps to give that particularly malignant strategy fresh legs. Anyway, time and doc dumps will tell, I suppose.

And, being a Golden Child is not a place of honor or desired status in a family. It’s an exhausting excruciating way to live. The child is simply an extension of the soul-sucking parent, similar to an extra appendage. Golden children have to be both loyal in-the-trenches foot soldiers, and twinkling stars shining exclusively on the sick parent, who has no meaningful gifts of her or his own.

 

[Geneic]

I don’t feel comfortable accusing HH of any involvement either. She bought cleaning supplies prior to GS being reported missing. Nothing weird there and if she believes/believed her moms story, she may not have thought anything about it afterwards. I could see LS having her pick her up in random places so the alleged people making death threats against her couldn’t find her or for fear of her safety. Again, at the time I believe HH believed everything her mom was telling her. If you believe your mom is innocent and everyone is against her, you’d probably be protective of her. I bet this has since changed with LS being arrested and reading the evidence against her. I don’t think it’s fair to speak about her as if she is a guilty for actions she has made without knowing more. The focus should be on the murderer and poor victim vs casting aspersions on others that we have no proof of committing any crime. Only one person is sitting in jail. Could change and if HH is arrested have at her.

 

[mothwings]

The affidavit is so damning. It was not the "witch hunt" Stan described.

 

[MsBetsy]

So at what point do you hold a 17 year old accountable for their actions? This smacks of enabling them to do whatever they wish. No responsibilities for it. I disagree with you.

I also think a seventeen year old should be held responsible if they participated in a crime or helped in the cover up.

But I also agree with the OP that it is possible that TS lied to her daughter and she may not have been involved at all. We don't know what their relationship was like but I wouldn't doubt that HH was afraid to confront her mother. We don't know what excuses TS gave to her for needing the cleaning supplies or needing rides or renting the car. Maybe HH believed her.

My own daughter questions me all the time but I have known teenagers with authoritarian or manipulative parents who wouldn't dare question their actions for fear of retaliation. Some kids will avoid a confrontation at any cost.

It's also possible that HH was afraid to speak to police as long as her mother was still free. After she was arrested she may have cooperated with them. If not, then she should be prepared to face whatever consequences there may be.

Imo

 

[Teche]

Refresher from the archives:

– In a Jan. 31 interview with Gazette news partner KKTV, Letecia claimed she was initially denied her request for a lawyer by Sheriff’s Office detectives.

– Letecia also said that her 17-year-old daughter was briefly put in handcuffs when detectives pulled over their vehicle Jan. 30. She claims deputies had guns drawn and told her they were going to shoot her without identifying themselves as law enforcement officers. A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office would not comment on the claims, citing the ongoing investigation.

– Foul play is not suspected, and the investigation is not a criminal one, investigators said.

From the AA:

AS voluntarily went to EPSO for interview on Jan 29 (#82);

AS VW seized and towed from office to EPSO evidence facility (#68);

Towards the end of the interview, LE also seized AS phone and detained her while they applied for a warrant for LS DNA (#99);

LS was transported to hospital from EPSO after she alleged a medical issue (#102);

Before DNA warrant could be served, LS departed hospital without telling LE (#105);

LS made call from hospital waiting room and was soon collected by unknown party before reunited with HH at a location several miles from hospital. Police were conducting physical surveillance and therefore LS meeting up with HH known (#105);

After EPSO seized LS VW on Jan 29, she obtained a 2020 Nissan Altima, and LE granted a warrant to install GPS on the Nissan (#148);

So -- does anybody recall why HH was allegedly pulled over and briefly handcuffed on January 30? (I previously believed LE was seizing LS vehicle during stop but I was wrong). Is this incident cited in the AA?

WATCH: Gannon Stauch press conference and case update; stepmom arrested on suspicion of murder

Always was so confusing...LS claimed that the keys were in her pocket yet they were pulled over.

 

[RaspberryMama]

Your view is a compassionate one. No argument with that.

However, it is not incumbent upon LE to “handle it right” in dealing with HH during those weeks Gannon was missing.

During those weeks, HH was driving her own vehicle, working at a job, enrolled in the Air Force and planning a career. Meanwhile...

An eleven year old boy was out there somewhere in the cold, all alone, alive or dead. LE needed everyone to be cooperative so Gannon could be found. Even little Laina was likely cooperative and she is around 9 years old.

The AA states HH was not cooperating with LE. That AA was drawn up WEEKS after Gannon went missing and in fact, right before TS was arrested.

Hopefully, HH is now cooperating.

Right. I see what you are saying. And no, LE is not responsible for "handling it right." I agree with you there. That wasn't quite what I meant... I just think if they handled HH in a certain way they could have aided her in getting to the point of being cooperative sooner rather than later. I do think it had to be a process with her, not something that she was capable of doing right away. And if LS had to give approval for LE to interview HH, then no way could we expect that to happen.

Maybe I am way off. I identify more with Gannon, honestly, not so much with HH. As I stated earlier, I can easily imagine my "golden child" siblings blaming me for my own disappearance.

Haha, I am obviously a very messed up individual. I can see myself making excuses for my siblings too. In fact, I started doing just that before I began this paragraph. So it's possible I have some misplaced sympathy. I'm willing to admit that.

I don't have any step-siblings, but I was very protective of my little sister, and easily believed she was worthy of being the golden child. If it had come to choosing between her safety and believing my mother, I don't know what I would have done. That's a road I am thankful I never had to go down.

I can say without hesitation now that I would and have placed my own wellbeing and the wellbeing of my children ahead of any and everything my mother could ever ask of me. I came out of the fog with a vengeance, let's say. I'll keep praying for HH because I do think there's hope for her.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

I'm done for today with updates to the Case Archive (there were only a handful).
I did try to enhance the crime scene photos from the AA but they are so grainy and I could not improve, which really is fine with me.

Justice for Gannon sub-section;
Justice For Gannon by amanda reckonwith
AA updates begin here, so scroll...
4/3/20 Released. The arrest probable cause affidavit was set to be released 4/10, with a preview opened to the parents 4/2/20. Since they were leaked to social media, the court released them to the news media as well (on April 3).

The Main Case Archive holds everything else. The searches, pressers, articles and pictures before the arrest, and also the non-justice stuff like memorials after the arrest.
Gannon Stauch -CO- by amanda reckonwith

If you're usung a cell phone try this and scroll: Gannon Stauch

 

[MsBetsy]

I think it's noteworthy that she told multiple iterations of the candle and carpet burning story to Al, the sitter and others in her circle but it doesn't seem like she ever told LE about anything like that. Her searches about the carpet were all between midnight and 1, early on the 27th. It does seem like that would be the time when the wheels were starting to turn and she may have started planning for the coming morning and afternoon.

She probably didn't mention the carpet burning incident to LE because it didn't fit in with her rape story.

The runaway story was plan A and the rape/ abduction story was Plan B.

Imo

 

[floridamomma]

They’ll get her. She’ll be deposed before trial, and have to tell the truth under penalty of perjury.

If she wants to plead the Fifth, the prosecution could offer her an immunity deal that would inhibit her ability to do that, and force her to talk.

She is very important in all of this, and if she doesn’t decide to do the right thing, then she can be compelled to.

Indeed. What a crappy, horrible, rotten position to place your daughter in! I mean, for the love of ALL THE THINGS, TS clearly has placed herself on quite a pedestal but wow, just wow. It seems she's playing a game of How Many Lives Can One Liar Ruin?!

Gag.

 

[Knox]

No, responding officers also noted that there was no burning smell in the home and no sign of any burnt or repaired carpet.

They said it smelled like coconut down there

 

[Heaven Leigh]

Depending on how close TS and HH was,,I could see her even telling her something happened. Of course not the truth but telling her it was accidental.

 

[MsBetsy]

Always was so confusing...LS claimed that the keys were in her pocket yet they were pulled over.

Yes, I thought her story was that police came to the store or parking lot to get the car. She said LE thought her daughter had the keys in her purse, but TS had them in her pocket.

 

[LietKynes]

They said it smelled like coconut down there

The first thought I had was air freshener.
Like TS thought she'd erase any horrible smells of blood by spritzing the basement ?

Or there's other coconut smells that are in suntan lotion.
At that time of year it's not likely.