The Preliminary Hearing for Leticia Stauch started on September 9, 2021 in Colorado.
Gannon Stauch (11) disappeared from his family’s Colorado Springs home on Jan. 27, 2020. His step-mother Letecia (38), was the last person to see him alive. It is alleged that she murdered Gannon in his bedroom while the two were home alone that afternoon.
Reporter Colette Bordelon has been covering the hearing extensively and some horrific details have been revealed.
Sgt. Jason Yoda testified that Gannon had been shot in the jaw, stabbed in the chest and back, and suffered a skull fracture. He also had cuts on his arms and hands that appeared to be defensive wounds.
Gannon’s body was allegedly placed in a suitcase by Leticia and her appeared to have been in the suitcase for some time. An autopsy found a bullet in his skull. Two bullets were discovered in a pillow that was with him in the suitcase.
This info is from the Denver Post:
In Gannon’s bedroom, investigators found evidence of blood splatter on the walls and blood stains on his mattress, carpet and bedroom floor. Authorities also found traces of Gannon’s blood on the family’s garage floor and on the bumper of Stauch’s car, according to an affidavit filed against her.
On the day Gannon disappeared, Stauch asked her teenage daughter to stop by a store and buy carpet-cleaning supplies, baking soda, trash bags and other items around 5 p.m, according to the affidavit.
Leticia declined to be present at the preliminary hearing and allowed proceedings to go ahead without her. She appeared briefly by video link and she had confidence in her counsel and did not wish to appear in person even though she understood it was her right to appear there in person.
We knew before this week that Gannon’s death was likely violent, but we learned more sad details at the preliminary hearing. This info is from Gazette.com:
A Florida medical examiner determined Gannon had a gunshot wound to his jaw, a skull fracture, a stab wound in his back and another in his chest, said Sgt. Jason Yoder of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
A bullet was found in Gannon’s head and two more were recovered from his pillowcase, investigators said. A weapons expert determined those bullets matched the type of ammunition used in a gun found on the nightstand in Stauch’s bedroom, Sgt. Rosario Hubbell of the El Paso County Sheriff’s office said. The gun had Stauch’s DNA on it, but also the DNA of at least two other people, Hubbell said.
On the morning investigators believe Gannon was killed, Stauch took two photos of him lying in bed, Hubbell said. The bedding in those photos appears to be the same as bedding found with Gannon’s body when it was recovered from inside a suitcase that appeared to have been thrown off a Florida bridge, investigators said.
Investigators discovered a blood stain on Gannon’s bed, blood spatter on the wall nearby and a large blood stain on the floor, Hubbell said. The carpet itself appeared to have been cleaned, he said, but the concrete underneath the carpet was stained. DNA analysis conducted on the blood samples linked them to Gannon, he said. Some of Gannon’s blood was also found on Stauch’s shoe.
Another law enforcement official, Kevin Clark, walked through location data that showed Leticia Stauch drove to Florida shortly after Gannon went missing and stayed in a hotel just 3 miles from where the body was found.
During the afternoon session of the hearing, we learned more:
– A firearms expert believed the gun found on the nightstand was used to shoot Gannon because the bullet found in his head was consistent with the ammunition used in the weapon, Hubbell said.
Judge Gregory Werner is scheduled to make a ruling Sept. 23 as to whether the case will go to trial or not.
This is a developing story that will be updated as info is presented. Join us at TrueCrimeSociety.com for more.
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