COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — The state called Al Stauch, father of murdered 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, as the first witness in the murder trial of Letecia Stauch.
Letecia Stauch is accused of killing Gannon, her 11-year-old stepson, in 2020. She showed little emotion Tuesday in the courtroom as her husband talked about ways he believed she manipulated him over the years.
FOX31 has been at the courthouse for the trial, live-tweeting the details as they emerge.
Al answered questions following recordings of Letecia and Gannon in the days leading up to his disappearance. The court also heard lengthy recorded phone calls between Al and Letecia that the FBI coached Al through in February.
Father’s doubts grow in Gannon’s disappearance
Al told the court he was in Oklahoma for military training in late January 2020 when Gannon disappeared. Al testified that Letecia first told him Gannon went to a friend’s house and didn’t return. Al found it abnormal when Letecia picked him up at the airport in a rental car following his son’s disappearance.
“I asked, ‘How did you get to the airport if your car’s not here?’” Al testified. “She said she parked it at French Elementary School, which is where she was employed.”
Al said a key moment in realizing that Letecia may have been involved in Gannon’s disappearance was when he drove past French Elementary School to look for Letecia’s car and couldn’t find it. He told the court that he drove through the parking lot three times and her car wasn’t there.
“That was the key moment when I switched,” Al testified. “She knows more than she’s telling me she knows.”
After realizing Letecia’s car wasn’t at the elementary school, Al told the court he alerted the police and thought maybe Gannon could have been with the missing car.
Stepmother’s story about boy’s disappearance changes
As days went on in Gannon’s disappearance, Al told the court about more stories Letecia told him.
“She proceeded to tell me a story about how a man got in the house somehow,” Al testified. “Raped her abused her beat her and then beat Gannon up and took Gannon. She also said he got burned. I said, ‘Well, where’s all the mess, the blood, everything?’ She said, ‘I cleaned it up, got scared.'”
Al said he met with the FBI and agents helped him record calls with Letecia, where he would ask questions to try to get information.
The court heard a recording of the first call lasting almost two hours. Letecia is heard on the recording calling the sheriff’s office investigation a witch hunt. She gets emotional when asking Al if he thinks she did something to Gannon. Many different stories are told by Letecia when Al asks her to go through what happened in the days leading to his son’s disappearance.
Trial continues on Wednesday.