Gannon Stauch murder case: Father confronts stepmom Letecia after she stabs 11-year-old son 18 times
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EL PASO, COLORADO: An audio clip was played before the jurors in the Gannon Stauch murder case on Tuesday, April 2. In the clip, the grieving father Al Stauch can be heard confronting his wife and accusing Latecia Stauch of brutally stabbing and shooting his stepson, “Did you kill Gannon?” “I can’t believe you asked me this!” she responded. The ongoing trial is now an insanity defense by her attorney who didn’t dispute that she killed the child on January 27, 2020, in El Paso County, Colorado.
As per prosecutors, Latecia stabbed the 11-year-old 18 times and shot him once in the head. However, she tried two more times but missed the earlier shots. “There is no explanation for it,” said defense lawyer Will Cook in his opening statement before adding “I don’t have one.” The jurors are now weighing whether she was sane during the act. District Attorney Michael Allen of the 4th Judicial District argued on Monday, April 3, she was totally in her senses while carrying a heinous crime. “Everything that happened to Gannon from that point forward was her decision. She carried out actions to kill Gannon, to put his body in the suitcase and hide it, to hide evidence of what she did to Gannon, told numerous stories to investigators to manipulate the course of the investigation, and finally to discard Gannon inside that suitcase off of a Florida bridge like garbage,” he said in the court.
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'I just got to know'
A bridge worker found the remains of Gannon stuffed in a suitcase in Pensacola, Florida, on March 17, 2020. During the course of the investigation, Latecia gave multiple unreal stories, and in the clip, Al is heard questioning his wife, “I just got to know.” “You told me to be straight up. I got to know what’s happening to my son,” Al continued. “There’s a lot of unknowns,” as he pointed out that she changed her story to him “for the fourth time,” as per Law&Crime report.
"Did you kill Gannon?" Al Stauch finally asks #LeteciaStauch on the recorded call.
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 4, 2023
LS: "I can't believe you asked me this!"
She asks why he thinks she killed Gannon.
AS: "You changed your story again...for the fourth time." pic.twitter.com/ZM5RFhtVhF
‘Okay, daddy, I love you'
During Tuesday’s testimony, Al recalled he last saw Gannon on January 25, 2020, and they were at the top of the stairs and were about to leave with his mother. The father then hugged his son and ran his fingers through the child’s hair which he did mostly when leaving. “Something I would always tell the kids when I had to leave or when they would go back to their mom’s house, was like, ‘You’re always going to be in my heart, and I’m always going to be in your heart, and I’ll see you when I get back,'” Al Stauch said. “And he said, ‘Okay, daddy, I love you, and I’m going to finish watching Pokémon.’ Remember it like it was yesterday.”