2020CR1358 (Pt. 1) OPEN COURT RECORDS
2020CR1358 (Pt. 2) OPEN COURT RECORDS
2020CR1358 (Pt. 3) OPEN COURT RECORDS
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE x2 (after deliberation, position of trust)
GUILTY - SENTENCED TO TWO LIFE SENTENCES WITHOUT PAROLE
CONCURRENT
TAMPERING WITH A DECEASED HUMAN BODY
GUILTY - SENTENCED TO TWELVE ADDITIONAL YEARS
CONSECUTIVE
TAMPERING WITH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
GUILTY - SENTENCED TO AN ADDITION EIGHTEEN MONTHS
CONSECUTIVE
Colorado's 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office presented a theory that Letecia Stauch murdered Gannon Stauch in his bedroom, which was located in the basement of the family's El Paso County home at 6627 Mandan Drive. They believe that he was killed between the hours of 2:30 and 3:15 on the afternoon of Monday, January 27, 2020. He was shot, stabbed, beaten, and burned.
To be clear, Letecia Stauch is the defendant. Albert Stauch was her husband (they're now divorced). Harley Hunt was the defendant’s 17-year old biological daughter. Gannon Stauch (homicide victim) was Albert’s 11-year old son and Laina Stauch was Albert's 8-year old daughter. Landen Bullard is Gannon and Laina Stauch's biological mother, and she is Albert Stauch's first ex wife.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2020
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2020
MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2020
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020
Letecia Stauch seemed to feign both outrage and innocence while speaking about her stepson in the past tense. The tell was most likely unintentional.
1. Notice that Letecia gets Spencer Wilson of KKTV to move forward to his next question by claiming that she's not allowed to talk about the case WHEN WHAT SHE REALLY MEANS IS "I can't answer that question, about the last time Gannon was seen, because I already told detectives two days ago that he didn't actually run away... instead, I was sexually assaulted and he was kidnapped."
2. When she says, "I'm not missing" WHAT SHE REALLY MEANS IS "I just loaded up a moving van and I'm about to skip town, after I stop in Palmer Lake one more time."
3. And when she says, "I am being cooperative" WHAT SHE REALLY MEANS IS "I narrowly escaped a police interview by faking a panic attack and then fled from Memorial Hospital. I also ran from detectives outside a department store and threw my daughter's keys across the parking lot in an effort to escape the situation before they got us both in handcuffs and I directed my daughter to remain silent and ask for an attorney."
KKTV: You are?
LETECIA: I am Tecia Stauch, which is Gannon’s stepmother.
KKTV: You’ve been a part of the investigation since the very first time. You were the last person to see him. Is that right?
LETECIA: Correct.
KKTV: What did you see when you last saw him?
LETECIA: Well, I’m not allowed to talk about anything with the case. I would more so be willing to talk about how the community needs to have faith and continue to work together and not make these false accusations like the things that have been said that I’ve disappeared from the community, that I haven’t been there to help, but there’s lots of reasons behind that.
KKTV: Reasons like death threats, right?
LETECIA: Right. Death threats are one of them. My family’s getting lots of death threats. We’ve counted over twenty some death threats already. Two, my husband’s ex wife is living in our home. And of course I’m not coming home to do these things and to help with the family when I was kinda, like, told I couldn’t. And then many other things that happened with the El Paso County Police Department. You know, and in doing the investigation I was told that I wasn’t complying. Can I elaborate on that?
KKTV: Please do.
LETECIA: Yes, so, I asked for an attorney during the interview and I was denied that by them. I was held, because they were blocking the door, and I was told I couldn’t leave and that if I would have touched them they would have probably, you know, said I still wasn’t complying or said I was, you know, trying to run away or something. But during the interview, I asked several times, could I stop the interview, could I get an attorney. Could I stop the interview, could I get an attorney. I was denied. I was told I couldn’t get nothing to drink, I couldn’t go to the bathroom. I mean, it was continuously that my constitutional rights were violated.
KKTV: And that’s why you say that they said then, you weren’t cooperating with the investigation?
LETECIA: That’s why they said that I wasn’t cooperating at that time, correct.
KKTV: And why did you ask for an attorney at the time?
LETECIA: Well, I asked for an attorney at that time, because there was one individual… there was two really good detectives, and so I’m not, you know, gonna talk bad about detectives, but the tactics they started to get when I would answer questions. They try to… you know, they’re detectives, they’re supposed to twist, the one main goal is to find Gannon. But during that time, some of those things made me feel uncomfortable, the way they were saying things, so I immediately stopped and felt like an attorney would help me with some of the vocabulary and things like that, that I needed help with and understanding some of the things that they were asking.
KKTV: I’m gonna shift gears to what has become a huge online presence of people, obviously trying to do the right thing, help find Gannon, but at the same time, sometimes it just feels like rumor mongering. Have you seen any of those comments yourself?
LETECIA: We have, and see, that’s one of the main things we haven’t been around in the public eye, because I didn’t want to expose my family to it if all these things were going on. You know, there was comments about Gannon getting pushed off the hike, and there was comments about this, and that’s just not true. I took care of Gannon for the last two years in our home, because his mother didn’t wanna do it. And I would never, never ever hurt this child. And I know there’s some questions out there about ‘okay, so tell me what happened’. That’s up to the investigations when they end up letting you guys know, but I’ve cooperated with them. Even to the point that we were held with a gun. And my daughter, a 17-year old who serves our country in the United States Air Force, who has never committed a crime or done anything wrong in her life, was put in handcuffs over the keys that was in her purse so they could take her car.
KKTV: And they weren’t in there?
LETECIA: They weren’t even in her car, I mean her purse. They were in my pocket.
KKTV: And you originally didn’t even know it was law enforcement?
LETECIA: I didn’t know it was a law enforcement officer, because when he came out, I guess he was putting his jacket on and it wasn’t necessarily his fault, he was adjusting and happened to catch me. But I saw the gun and I panicked originally, and kinda thought ‘oh gosh, like, who is this guy?’ and then once I realized it was the sheriff’s office, I was totally okay, but they still had a gun and told me they were gonna shoot me. But I was really concerned about my daughter asking why she was being detained in handcuffs and things like that when that shouldn’t even happen for a child. That shouldn’t happen for someone who was standing inside of a store shopping because we couldn’t have any clothes because all of our clothes were here. If we came here and got clothes, you know, we would be harassed. So she went to purchase some underwear and things like that and was put in the handcuffs in the store, you know, and then brought out with men with guns and there was… that’s just not okay. You know, they could have approached me and said ‘Hi, I’m with El Paso County, can I please get this’ instead of the way that it happened.
At this point, the reporter pauses to check his equipment before asking Letecia about the way people are reacting online to rumors about her.
LETECIA: Oh, oh yes, wow. The rumors have gotten so bad. I pretty much have been told at least ten different ways that these people have these conspiracy theories. I guess they watch a lot of law shows and maybe they have all these theories on how Gannon is dead. And that’s what they’re saying. So I’m like ‘why are you saying that Gannon is dead?’ He is not dead. We are gonna find Gannon. And that’s the main goal that we all have, my family has, just because you haven’t seen us, we have that same goal. We have been out searching. My aunt has been out searching. My family has been out searching. We all have been doing that together so that we can protect each other.
KKTV: How does it feel when not only you have a lost child who you are in care of, but then people blaming you for that child not being here?
LETECIA: You know, I’m just ready for Gannon to come home. Most importantly for him to see his family, but second, I am going to be so ecstatic when I’m able to say to people that I hope they have a really sincere apology for all these theories that have came out online. For all the things they said that I have done or people have done. And I just want everyone to know that we’re gonna find Gannon, and I love him so much, I’ve helped taken care of him for so long.
KKTV: Can you talk to me a little bit about him? I don’t know him.
LETECIA: Gannon is so kind, and he loves to play video games. That’s one of his favorite things. He loves Sonic and Mario. And you know, he’s always helpful, he was always so helpful with the dogs, around the house, we have two cute little dogs, and he was always like a person I could say ‘Gannon can you go do this?’ and he would do it right away. You know, sometimes with kids we have to remind them and things like that, and that’s okay, but he was so sweet and able to help anyone, he could notice when you’re sick and say ‘are you okay?’ and such a kind heart.
KKTV: I know you just said that you can’t say anything about the investigation, so you can just say so again if you can’t answer this, but is there anything we can hear about the hike? Was there a hike? We don’t… that just seems like rumors right now.
LETECIA: You know what? Could we bring my daughter over here? Because she can go and say that, you know, she came home from work after the hike and she can verify that Gannon was at our home.
Harley Hunt, Letecia Stauch’s teenage daughter, came on camera to confirm that Letecia, Gannon and Laina (Gannon’s little sister) went hiking on the afternoon of Sunday, January 26th while Harley was at work, and that she had seen Gannon alive that night, after she returned home from work.
Letecia had taken the two younger children hiking at Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, and then to a Burger King, before heading home on the evening of Sunday, January 26, 2020.
KKTV: Do you feel like I asked you what I need to? Do you feel like this is gonna help kinda turn the tide of what feels like a witch hunt in my opinion?
LETECIA: I think that a lot of people can see that I’m not missing and see that I am being cooperative. And, but to me, it’s okay that they think those things, because the way someone thinks about me, I don’t have a problem with that. My main thing is I would never want someone to think that I would hurt Gannon or any of the children in our home, because that’s just not the case. I’ve spent my whole entire life working so hard in education. There was things online that was talking about my education license and I shouldn’t even be a teacher, and they just didn’t know that. Like, we moved on a military move and I didn’t finish out my contract so I gave up my license in that state. It had nothing to do with any criminal activity, you know, or any of those things, and it just got blown out of proportion on my professional status, you know.
KKTV: Do you feel like these are just internet detectives who think they know what they’re doing?
LETECIA: It definitely is. And you know, here’s the thing that kinda saddens me, it’s like, if you’re gonna talk about someone like that and have a witch hunt out for them, why would you even care, like, about doing those things, because this is a child. You’re telling me that you’re just as mean, you’re just as hateful to talk about someone else like that. That’s how I feel. Like we just should not… we should all come together and wait until the end and see what happens, because Gannon’s gonna come home.
KKTV: Any message for Gannon?
LETECIA: The message for Gannon I have is ‘Gannon, when you get here, you’ll be able to truly tell what happened’ and then I really hope I get a sincere apology from everyone who has made up all those things, especially from my husband.
“We just wanted to add a message to Gannon from my family. It’s that we love you, we miss you, and we know that you’ll come home soon. And Gannon, I can’t wait until you can come home and let everyone know that you’re okay. We love you.”
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2020
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2020
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2020
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020
“First and foremost, I would like to thank all agencies, volunteers, and community members who are working diligently and praying endlessly to bring Gannon home safe. Thank you to my husband who has stayed strong through this and protected our family to the best of his ability and our immediate & extended family members throughout the east coast. To Gannon, please come home soon because your daddy is waiting to watch the new Sonic movie that comes out this week and the cool shirt I got you to wear to the theatre is in your closet.
Social Media has been devastating from the harsh comments, speculations, threats, cyber bullying, etc. It has been a challenge when people are trying to run you off the road, waiting outside your hotel, threatening to kill you, etc. I encourage the Sheriff’s Office to take down those pages that promote negative behavior and violence. Let’s Do what Gannon would do. Be Kind to one another!
We all have engaged in something crazy online at some point but Gannon would want everyone to get along and to focus on finding him.
I know that many people have kids and are invested in this because it hits close to home for them. I would like to think that overall most people are genuine and want to do everything in their power to find G. With that being sad, Please take a step back for a moment and let me explain to you a few details that were not released. For example, just like the video that was leaked, there are additional details that were hidden due to 1) the department doing its job 2) the effects of social media and how some individuals would criticize or hinder the investigation. I chose to listen, I didn’t leak videos or information. But at this time it’s getting later in the process and we just want Gannon home. I feel the need to fill in some gaps. Now let me stress this, POLICE have known this since the first interview.
Saturday Night, G was helping me unload in the garage and cut his foot because there are a lot of tools because Albert does woodworking.
He sat on the edge of the car and we bandaged it up. He was good to go. He always loves helping his dad in the garage build things like his LEGO tables and the flower pot they built for me as a gift. After this, I noticed G kept going to the side of the house.
He told me he was checking to see if the gate was locked because he was the only one with a gate key. It made him proud to be the man of the house while Albert was away. Fast forward, we did a hike on Sunday (cleared), and shopping on Monday ( cleared as well for him getting out of the other side). Please don’t think for a second that there isn’t enough of technology to determine shadows and movement around the truck. There was also proof from my phone that we had taken a selfie in the truck in our driveway that was time stamped. We always send pictures to Albert when we are out and about or when he is away. That can be scanned for actual time verification. Last, from day one the Sheriff’s office has known a description of the person/friend whom Gannon left with.
I explained to them and provided evidence. They had information about G having the key to go out the side gate. Last they have more in-depth details that go along with this pointing to who sent the person or why he may have come. Again, I repeat they have had this Initially and I was asked to keep quiet about it so they could have the best shot at doing their job and bringing G home. The last thing that they needed was a hindrance to their investigation. I encourage you to think of any suspicious cars that may have been in the area watching a few days prior and keep praying for G!
Tecia Stauch”
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2020
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020
Do you intend on telling the truth?
In the case involving missing child Gannon Stauch, do you intend on telling the truth?
In the case involving your stepson Gannon did you inflict harm on him in any way?
Did you accidentally hurt him in a physical way?
Did you murder your stepson?
Do you know personally who is involved with your stepson's disappearance?
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020
The defendant, prior to arrest, ordered a Standard Fake Polygraph Test Certificate and submitted a list of questions and answers regarding Gannon's murder. She wanted to present the fake certificate as proof that she had taken and passed an independent polygraph exam.
The company refused to provide her with the certificate and chose to keep the money. They gave investigators any and all information they had available:
Do you intend to answer these questions regarding your stepson truthfully? YES.
Is your birthday August 4, 1983? YES.
Did you participate in any way in causing harm to your stepson? NO.
Did your stepson return with you to your home? YES.
Did you participate in any way in causing the death of your stepson? NO.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020
Letecia Stauch's first interview with Crime Online was published on February 27th.
On Friday, February 28, an affidavit of probable cause was submitted to the court. It listed four major violations: murder in the first degree - child under twelve - position of trust, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a deceased human body, and tampering with physical evidence. An arrest warrant was issued, and those documents were sealed.
Letecia Stauch's second interview with Crime Online was published on February 29th.
Letecia was arrested on Monday, March 2 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She was held without bond and extradited to Colorado Springs. They were delayed en route when the prisoner “slipped her cuffs” and physically attacked a deputy outside Abilene, Kansas in Dickinson County.
The group arrived at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center on Thursday, March 5, 2020 and Albert Stauch filed for divorce the same day. No additional charges were filed in Kansas.
The initial advisory hearing was televised on March 11. Spencer Wilson of KKTV was in the courtroom although Letecia most likely did not recognize him. Gannon's divorced parents were seated next to each other, directly behind the prosecutor's table.
The decomposing remains of Gannon Stauch were subsequently discovered more than 1300 miles away from home on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Gannon's lifeless body was stuffed inside a suitcase and then discarded in Florida, just off Highway 90 near the Escambia River Bridge.
Charges were upgraded after it was revealed to investigators that Gannon had been shot, stabbed, and beaten before he was stuffed inside the suitcase. He had multiple defensive wounds. There were three bullets found in the suitcase - one in his skull and two in a pillow. The .9mm that was used in this crime was found in the master bedroom, sitting out in the open, on top of a dresser. Evidence of Letecia's DNA (as well as Albert's and an unknown male's) was found on the weapon.
Authorities held a press conference on Friday, March 20. Michael Allen, lead prosecutor, offered a prepared statement and answered very few direct questions.
“Today I’ve filed new formal charges in the case against Letecia Stauch. Those charges are murder in the first degree - after deliberation, a class one felony that carries a potential sentence of life in prison without parole. In addition to that, I’ve filed eight counts of ‘crime of violence’ for the alleged use of a firearm, a blunt instrument, a knife or other sharp object, and for causing the death of Gannon Stauch. These new charges are added to the original charges.” Michael Allen underscored the importance of an active gag order in the case. He then added, “I will not compromise the integrity of this investigation." He also added, “We will not try this case in the media.”
On April 2, the probable cause affidavit was leaked to the media by Sherie Farstveet who would later be accused of abusing professional access to sealed court filings. She has since pleaded guilty to one count of attempted official misconduct in Adams County and is no longer employed by the City of Brighton. She paid $299.50 in court fines and fees.
Shortly after the document was leaked and then released by the court ahead of schedule, Letecia Stauch caught a new case - solicitation to commit escape (May 18, 2020).
Letecia Stauch's first competency examination was ordered on June 5, 2020.
Then, having been held against her will for approximately five months, Letecia sent a four-page letter to the judge. It was dated August 12, 2020. Her original defense team had advised her to not contact the judge directly because any correspondence would inevitably become part of the public record, but she composed and mailed the letter anyhow, without regard for its potentially hazardous consequences.
She’s compared herself to the national flag in its good character and called herself all sorts of interesting things: brave, loyal, innocent, mentally ill with independently documented bi-polar and schizophrenia with a touch of PTSD, OCD, and DID, a victim of coercion, a victim of physical abuse, a victim of mental and emotional abuse, a victim of false accusations and of wrongful incarceration, a soldier for Christ, a doctor of education, a good wife and solid mother, a professional poker player, a school teacher, a flight attendant, a posh fashionista and budding entrepreneur, a blood-drinking vampire in training named Janelle, and a troubled but sweet young lady named Taylor.
Letecia Stauch has quite obviously come undone, and she’s scattered the strangest bits of fractured data around to a variety of disparate and potentially unreliable sources thinking that some hapless crime reporter might come along and stitch all her broken pieces back together again.
“I’m going to win one heck of a civil lawsuit against CJC for the amendment violations,” said Letecia in one of the many letters that she has written to strangers. Stauch was corresponding with a content creator from YouTube called WTAF (Wicked Truths) when she threatened civil litigation against the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. She said, “I am a victim of a broken system run by man that ignores the supreme law of the land.”
In a recorded phone call with a different pen-pal, Letecia Stauch explained that she had given her husband a deadline of August 20, 2020 in order to come clean and tell the whole truth. She made it known that she was going to start snitching on him and “Edgar” piece by piece, outlet by outlet, with solid evidence of their complicity, because she was no longer willing to take the fall for them. She claimed that the man she codenamed Edgar should be in jail for manslaughter, kidnapping and tampering, and that her husband should be in jail for manslaughter. Edgar is a local businessman (real estate broker near Palmer Lake) who allegedly plays high stakes poker and/or hires people to deliver suitcases to Florida. Letecia alleged that she and Albert met this man on their anniversary cruise in January of 2020, and she claimed that her husband owed this man a great deal of money. She alleged that Albert's excessive gambling debt is why Gannon was kidnapped and killed. Letecia Stauch has, of course, changed her story several more times since then.
Letecia thinks Edgar has been using his trusted servants inside the jail to make threats of poison in her peanut butter.
SEPTEMBER 2020: Letecia Stauch gives Crime Online an exclusive interview wherein she implicates her husband and "Edgar" in Gannon's murder, and states that he was killed on January 28th rather than January 27th as had been reported.
In another letter to one of her many pen pals, Stauch claimed to have made some sort of quantum leap from December 2019 to October 2020, saying that she doesn't remember anything that may or may not have happened during that specific period of time - to mean that she was not mentally present for the anniversary cruise, nor the murder, nor the first part of her incarceration - a convenient sort of amnesia. She also describes that she has changed her name to Janelle and is a vampire in training.
Letecia Stauch was deemed competent to stand trial on September 8, 2020 and a second examination was ordered on December 22, 2020..
The probable cause affidavit was leaked to the media by Sherie Farstveet who would later be charged with abusing professional access to sealed court filings. She has since pleaded guilty to one count of attempted official misconduct in Adams County and is no longer employed by the City of Brighton. She paid $299.50 in court fines and fees.
JANUARY 2021: Letecia Stauch was once again deemed competent to stand trial (January 19th).
FEBRUARY & MARCH 2021: Letecia Stauch has a closed door conflict hearing with her public defenders and Judge William Bain, 4th Judicial Chief Judge. She does not get new counsel, and the judge sends the case back to the original court for an Arguello advisement because she would rather represent herself than continue to work with public defenders.
She follows up with a letter to each of the judges (March 8th) outlining her conflict with public defenders once she is officially representing herself. The alleged conflicts were supposed to be considered private and protected information, but Letecia wanted the world to know about her struggle so she cleverly snuck her version of the story into the public record by sending the information directly to her original judge.
Stauch's public defenders withdrew themselves and Letecia represented herself for a brief time, then she was reassigned those same public defenders so that she could fire them and replace them with two private attorneys, a private investigator, and the full support of the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel - at state expense, of course, because she's indigent.
APRIL 2021: Letecia Stauch skips the final divorce hearing (04/30/2021). All she wants is a publishing deal and her Poshmark account. Albert calls his own sort of presser and uses traditional media to ask the public for financial assistance after his divorce hearing. He says that between the murder case and the divorce proceedings, he's accumulated $75,000 in debt.
SEPTEMBER 2021: Letecia Stauch waives her appearance at the proof evident presumption great and preliminary hearing (PEPG) which was held on the 9th and 10th. This is a bond hearing wherein the prosecution delivers only enough evidence in order to prove that Letecia Stauch is most likely guilty of the offenses with which she is charged. It's a careful step to ensure the defendant is being held constitutionally. She was represented in the courtroom by private attorneys Josh Tolini and Will Cook. After a presentation of the initial evidence against her, she was not offered a bond.
NOVEMBER 2021: Letecia Stauch pleads not guilty but her attorneys make it known that there is some sort of question regarding her sanity after her stepson was killed. 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen gives a short presser after the hearing, explaining that her sanity is now in question, but only after the fact, so that's not the same as Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. Trial is tentatively set for March 2022 although Mr. Allen knows that some sort of new issue regarding mental health testing is about to come up which will most likely cause further delay.
The defense has retained Dr. Dorothy Lewis to perform the second sanity evaluation and offer expert witness testimony in Colorado's case against Letecia Stauch. The first sanity evaluation, performed by doctors at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP), stated that Ms. Stauch was feigning the symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). The controversial nature of this second doctor's forensic work was the subject of Alex Gibney's 2020 documentary film CRAZY, not INSANE.
FEBRUARY 2022 - Attorneys on behalf of Letecia Stauch petition the court to change the plea from Not Guilty to Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) and file a motion requesting a bench trial rather than a jury trial.
July 28, 2022 hearing (Crime Curious @ WebEx)
August 25, 2022 hearing (WebEx was unavailable)
September 15, 2022 hearing (Crime Curious @ the courthouse)
October 13, 2022 hearing (Crime Curious @ the courthouse)
The following post was made after the 9/15/2023 hearing.
Letecia Stauch’s first sanity examination, not to be confused with her previous competency evaluations, was conducted by doctors at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP) who are experts in the field of forensic psychology. These mental health professionals will be called to testify when Stauch’s homicide case finally goes to trial. Their official report showed that Stauch is most likely feigning symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
The defense has since requested that a second sanity evaluation be conducted by Dorothy Lewis, a provocative and controversial expert witness who has worked with the likes of Ted Bundy and Arthur Shawcross along with handfuls of other high-profile serial killers, most of whom were facing the death penalty in their cases. Letecia Stauch is not facing capital punishment, as the death penalty was abolished in the state of Colorado shortly after the brutal murder of Gannon Stauch.
Dorothy Lewis is the subject of an award winning 2020 HBO documentary film which was directed by Alex Gibney and called “CRAZY, not INSANE” wherein she describes the three main ingredients in any recipe for murder. They are brain damage and dysfunction, a history of chronic trauma in childhood, and psychotic thinking (with paranoia in particular). She seems to believe that violent offenders can eventually be rehabilitated through complex mental health treatment and has frequently been accused of viewing most murder suspects as victims in their own right.
It is the doctor’s current intention to conduct an MRI and a 72-hour EEG in order to determine and document any potential brain damage and dysfunction. She would also like to perform a full psychological examination and review Letecia Stauch’s first evaluation from the state mental hospital along with the defendant’s entire medical history. However, Stauch’s defense team is having a difficult time scheduling the EEG as this testing is outside the normal scope of a sanity examination, and attorneys for the defense have therefore asked Judge Werner to intervene and order the accommodations.
This will be decided after the next hearing in this case, an evidentiary hearing which is scheduled for October 13, 2022 at 1:30pm. Dorothy Lewis is expected to offer limited testimony at that time via WebEx in order to answer three main questions for the judge before he makes his decision. Those questions are:
Once the second sanity examination is complete, which according to the defense is expected to take two weeks from start to finish, the doctor will need another thirty days to prepare her official evaluation report. Then, once the second sanity report is submitted, Judge Werner will immediately set the case for trial and announce the dates.
And in the meantime, Letecia Stauch has filed a federal lawsuit against the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center, its food services contractor (Trinity Food Services), its medical services contractor (Wellpath), Deputy L. Stengle, and Deputy R. Snipe. The lawsuit alleges constitutional rights violations. She claims they have denied a kosher diet and appropriate medical care which has caused harm and placed her in imminent danger. She is acting as her own attorney in the case and is seeking injunction, policy change, and financial restitution.
The following post was made before the 10/13/22 hearing.
WHAT TO EXPECT
First and foremost, we expect that Letecia Stauch will appear in person and on time.
The judge has ordered her to appear and he has authorized deputies to utilize whatever physical force may become reasonably necessary in order to ensure that Stauch appears in person, on time.
Secondly, we can expect to hear limited testimony from the defense team's proposed psychiatrist (Dr. Dorothy Lewis), a representative of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP), and a representative of the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center (CJC).
Judge Werner needs more information before entering his official ruling on an open motion from the defense. They've asked him to order a specific form of testing that is outside the normal scope of examination with regard to sanity evaluations.
CMHIP performed Stauch's first examination and reported that the defendant is most likely feigning symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Dorothy Lewis believes that she might be able to prove otherwise, but only if she is allowed to perform the neurological testing.
***********************
POSTSCRIPT
We did not hear any testimony during the October 13, 2022 hearing, because the defense withdrew their motion prior to the start of the hearing. They've made arrangements to conduct the examination inside the county jail (without the MRI & EEG).
The entire evaluation process will be audio and video recorded. Those recordings can and will be used against the defendant at trial and sentencing.
Letecia Stauch's second sanity evaluation was scheduled to take place between October 31st and November 4th, and Dr. Dorothy Lewis has agreed to submit her official report to the court no later than December 1, 2022.
And then...
Josh Tolini apparently contracted COVID-19 and was ill during the scheduled evaluation, so Dorothy Lewis had to change her travel plans and perform the examination at a later date.
THE THIRD & FINAL DEADLINE FOR DR. LEWIS TO TURN IN HER COMPLETED REPORT TO THE COURT IS THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2023 AT 5PM. During the 3/9/23 pre-trial readiness conference, Judge Werner said, "It is not a suggestion. It is not a guideline. It is not a hope. It is a deadline."
A jury trial, not a bench trial as previously requested by the defense, began with jury selection on March 20, 2023 in Colorado Springs. Opening statements will be made during the afternoon session on Monday, April 3, 2023. Presentation of evidence will begin on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 9am mountain.
The trial will be available on WebEx and the judge granted permission to record and/or restream the WebEx. Jury selection will be audio only, and bench conferences are off limits.
*****
Did you know the 2006 version of Letecia Stauch wanted to teach law?
"I plan to teach law in the future and also volunteer to help local kids with their education and family problems." - Tecia Lynn Hardin (angelfire.com)
Voltaire himself could not have written such terrible irony into existence.
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