CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, found deceased, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 *Arrest* #54

[katydid23]

"I'm going to stop now because I'm running out of steam" translation "I've got nothing!"

That is one of the all time worst closing lines ever....anti-climactic as heck.

 

[Penny68]

Possibly there are many step parents realising they are the one doing it all for the child/children.

Thinking angry about the mother and father doing their own things and the step parent needing to do everything for their child. Sure many never realised how it would hit them once they moved in with the parent of children.

But to take it out on the innocent child beats me.

My heart aches for precious Gannon.

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1643081076309635073

Sounds right: LS can only shed tears for herself, not Gannon. If the abuse she suffered as a child was true, she would be a champion for children-- not a tormenter and killer. She attacked this child out of vengeance toward her husband and Gannon's mother!

 

[Bbgiraffe]

I just keep going back to LS searching on Google, January 25th, the same day Al left. "One day some people will wish they treated you differently" who was she referring to? Surely not one of her mom's old boyfriends, right?...or when exactly did this "psychotic break" happen.

What a disrespectful joke it is to sit there now and pretend like she is crazy, when at the time of Gannon's disappearance she was not only trying to frame up any and everyone for this crime but also making absolutely deplorable statements about poor Landen. "I took care of him because his mother didn't want to do it" and allllll the other things she did to try and smear Landen and as she's saying this, his body is probably 20 feet away in the trunk of a rental car or back of a uhaul because her plan was to cover up her crime THAT SHE KNEW WAS WRONG by taking his body across the country in the hopes no one would find it. NOT TO MENTION the fake polygraph attempt, the phone call where she seems to gloat "they think I'm still in Colorado". The multiple escape from custody attempts. Just all the lies.

For her attorney to claim there is no motive is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. From her searches online in the days leading up to the murder, we can see that she is angry and resentful. She wants out of the marriage. She feels put upon by having to take care of her step-children. Here she is...by herself again while Al is away. She "sent my husband sexual messages and he ignores them". She wanted to hurt Al. She did not like Gannon. There is the motive. The defense attorney is correct to say that the prosecution doesn't need to present a motive, because the motive is blatantly obvious when all this just basic evidence is taken together. And this is just what we have from the arrest affidavit. There will be much more I am sure.

 

[katydid23]

EVERYONE was suspicious of LS. We all knew.

I remember reading posts on her 'next door' app----seeing her helpful neighbours, stepping up to find Gannon. They had kids , most knew Gannon, and so they all sent in their ring cam footage.

And they thought they saw him walking that afternoon. A couple cameras showed him walking away from his street.

IIRC, LS did not initially correct them and admit it was not Gannon. It was another neighborhood Mom who posted it was not Gannon, and then LS spoke up and confirmed it wasn't.

And that stuck with me immediately. She had to know it wasn't him, but she kept quiet.

 

[Bbgiraffe]

I've been trying to write about this story in my blog and I really would love to include every detail and be as accurate as possible with sources. That being said, does anyone have any link to the rental car and the receipt with the mileages put on? Thank you!

If you are looking for the one Letecia herself gave to Leigh Egan from crimeonline here is the link to the article that has it.

Gannon Stauch: Stepmom explains rental car as search for missing Colorado boy continues [EXCLUSIVE PART 2]

It’s been one month since 11-year-old Gannon Stauch vanished from his Colorado home. CrimeOnline spoke exclusively with the last known person to see him. Tecia Stauch, the stepmother of Gannon, admits the boy was under her care when he disappeared. She said she last saw Gannon on January 27...

www.crimeonline.com

 

[Seattle1]

You can be severely mentally ill and not insane. I hope they define insanity for the jurors and everyone in the court room, insanity as it legally stands in the state/country this is in.

I don't really understand how DID would automatically qualify as insane. It's a dissociative disorder. It is not housed in the same area as the other disorders that you typically see in insanity. You could have e.g. four personalities and all could be reasonable. Are they saying in this state that having a split personality is not reality? Having a fractured personality in itself to me does not actually meet the definition of insanity, whereas something like psychosis clearly would. If DID automatically qualifies as insane then they are saying that everyone with a DID diagnosis is insane which seems bizarre. I don't know. I have views on this that I don't think are a good idea to put here. I'm not saying that someone with DID couldn't be insane but I don't think they automatically are.

Regarding 'not guilty by reason of insanity' I would have no problem with that being the end result of a trial no matter how vile the crime IF the truth is that the person was psychotic in the true sense at the time and was not operating in reality as we know it. However, that typically does not involve cover up attempts and it has a totally different pattern. In most things other than a first time psychotic break or onset of various things it would also have a history. I hope they emphasise the difference between being severely mentally ill and insane. They are not the same thing.

To the people who are worried that she may end up in the institution alternative to prison that was mentioned in this thread - if it's any consolation, as others have already pointed out, these places are often worse than prison. People often want to be removed from these places and go back to prison. It should not be like this actually, as I do not think that anyone who is truly insane should be punished (just want to clarify, I mean examples such as if someone literally sees a monster and kills it but it turns out to be a person), but I know a lot of people will disagree with me. I don't think that is the likely outcome in this trial, but I'm not massively familiar with the US legal system or medical system and so I don't really want to offer an opinion.

It sounds like all of this stuff was completely irrelevant to this case anyway.

RIP Gannon, I am so sad that this happened.

^^bbm

Agree. LS's own expert witness -- Dr. Lewis, explains DID best in the title of her HBO documentary: "Crazy Not Insane."

And the state's doctors that actually physically examined LS (versus a telephone interview) opined LS was feigning symptoms of DID.

IMO, LS chose this defense in a desperate attempt to save her relationship with her then 17 yr old daughter and Gannon's stepsister.

If not DID, I was long prepared for the defense to blame Gannon's murder on LS's daughter! MOO

Found Deceased - CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 *Arrest* #53

These are the doctors I have on my notes. There was another one, but now I can't find his name. 8/11/22: People's Notice of endorsement of witnesses (Dr. B. Thomas Gray, Dr. Loandra Torres & Dr. Naoko Hashimoto). Don't know if any of them are out of state though. Thanks, @Niner ! I googled...

www.websleuths.com

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1643081076309635073

 

[arielilane]

CO v. Letecia Stauch: Daily Trial Updates

Letecia Stauch is accused of beating, stabbing and shooting her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon Stauch, in 2020.

www.courttv.com

DAILY TRIAL UPDATES

DAY 1 – 4/3/23

• A jury of 12 is seated with six alternates
  • WATCH: Jury Is Seated In Stepmother Murder Trial
• The state dismissed count 3 (Child abuse resulting in death) because this charge came about prior to Gannon’s body being recovered. Count 1 (murder in the first degree) was added in lieu of this.
• Prosecutor Mike Allen described 11-year-old Gannon’s brutal murder in his opening statement, saying that the child was stabbed, beaten and then shot.
  • Allen said this case is about insanity, the evidence will show the defendant could distinguish between right and wrong, that she is capable of forming intent.
  • Video was shown where Gannon could be heard crying about burns, Letecia was heard talking about a fire and having to sell off some items like a sofa.
  • Allen talked about this home, which was supposed to be a safe space for Gannon, it was turned into a place for nightmares, a place where Gannon was stabbed 18x and fired at by a gun.
  • Allen said Letecia took deliberate action to hide her crimes from the world.
  • Allen said Letecia intentionally came up with different stories to explain what happened to Gannon.

 

[arielilane]

We’re back in court for evidence, will start being presented at 9 am MT today.

Each trial day:

There will be a 15 minute recess sometime between 10:00/10:30 am
Around Noon will recess for lunch
There will be a 15 minute recess sometime between 3:00/3:30 pm
Recess for the day @5:00 pm MT

 

[arielilane]

WATCH LIVE: Stepmother murder trial

Letitica Stauch stands trial for allegedly murdering her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauchin a bloody and brutal killing.

lawandcrime.com

 

[arielilane]

Letecia faces 12 charges including first-degree murder.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1642995008763740160

 

[iamshadow21]

^^bbm

Agree. LS's own expert witness -- Dr. Lewis, explains DID best in the title of her HBO documentary: "Crazy Not Insane."

And the state's doctors that actually physically examined LS (versus a telephone interview) opined LS was feigning symptoms of DID.

IMO, LS chose this defense in a desperate attempt to save her relationship with her then 17 yr old daughter and Gannon's stepsister.

If not DID, I was long prepared for the defense to blame Gannon's murder on LS's daughter! MOO

Found Deceased - CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 *Arrest* #53

These are the doctors I have on my notes. There was another one, but now I can't find his name. 8/11/22: People's Notice of endorsement of witnesses (Dr. B. Thomas Gray, Dr. Loandra Torres & Dr. Naoko Hashimoto). Don't know if any of them are out of state though. Thanks, @Niner ! I googled...

www.websleuths.com

I haven't watched Dr Lewis's documentary yet, but I think one of the most humanising and accessible ways of explaining DID to someone who has no clue about it is to show them Truddi Chase& on Oprah. It's on Youtube. It's sixteen and a half minutes long, it's very well handled, and it's a much, much more realistic way of showing that people with dissociative disorders exist and survive and are everywhere in our societies and are fully integrated - as law abiding citizens - even if they're many people in one body. Truddi and her Troops were a high-number system that went through horrific child abuse. But they had a successful career, parented a daughter, and spent their lives advocating for other people who had endured child abuse. About eight and a half minutes in they talk about DID being completely compatible with sanity, which is echoed by their doctor when he comes on right at the end.

Now, the flipside is the catalogue of completely sane criminals who have tried to claim DID as a defense for brutal, violent acts on others. In my opinion, it's not likely most, if any, of these people had a dissociative disorder, let alone DID. But it's the SODDI defense for when there was provably nobody else there to blame, so you just say, um, well, it must be the other dude IN MY BRAIN... (that'll work). Spoiler: it doesn't. They executed a woman with a catalogue of mental illnesses including a dissociative disorder only a few years ago. It is entirely possible, due to her mental state (she had a fairly significant amount of uncontrolled psychotic symptoms from her other conditions, as well as the dissociative disorder) she may not have even understood that she was being executed or why when she died (and the ethics of that sentence being carried out are really uncomfortable to me). But in the opinion of the courts, and my own opinion, from what I know of the case, was that her crime was not the result of her dissociative disorder.

Whatever LS's mental state, whether she has DID or not, there is no justification for anything she did to Gannon, and, in my opinion, the convoluted lying and complicated cover-up does not seem compatible with DID, even in its most chaotic, disorganised state. It is, however, in my opinion, in line with someone who is used to acting out and getting away with it.

I am not a psych of any kind, but I am someone with a dissociative disorder. I am speaking based on my personal knowledge and experiences, so take all this very much as My Opinion Only.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Possibly there are many step parents realising they are the one doing it all for the child/children.

Thinking angry about the mother and father doing their own things and the step parent needing to do everything for their child. Sure many never realised how it would hit them once they moved in with the parent of children.

But to take it out on the innocent child beats me.

My heart aches for precious Gannon.

It comes with the territory of being a stepparent. Or any parent.
It is called responsibility.

Perhaps that is why Tee was googling ‘find a new husband without kids’. She could have done that - divorced Al and get a new child-free man. Instead, she chose to eliminate the child of her current husband.

She doesn’t deserve to be called a stepmom.
She’s pathetic. And a murderer.

 

[Knitty]

Thread is closed. Please continue at Thread #55