When Al Stauch left for a National Guard work trip in January 2020, he had no idea it would be the last time he would ever see his11-year-old son, Gannon.
“You’re always going to be in my heart, and I’m going to be in your heart,” he told his son just before he left for the Denver airport on Jan. 25, 2020, he testified Tuesday,KOAAreports.
Gannon replied, “‘OK, Daddy, I love you and I’m going to finish watchingPokemon,'” Al said. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”
Al was the first witness to testify in the trial of Letecia,a Colorado woman charged with first-degree murderin connection with Gannon’s Jan. 27, 2020, death.
Gannon Stauch; Letecia Stauch.El Paso County Sheriff’s Office; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office via AP
On March 17, 2020,Gannon’s remains were found in Florida, and Letecia was charged with first-degree murder.
“That’s my boy,” Al said, struggling to hold back tears.
As soon as Al found out that Gannon was missing, he rushed back to Colorado.
He testified that he thought it was odd that Letecia picked him up in a rental car, saying she was worried about racking up too many miles on her own leased car, KOAA reports.
“In these moments, when it’s an emergency, miles on the car don’t matter,” he testified. “In the moment, I was like, ‘Do whatever you want.'”
She allegedly said she left her car at French Elementary School in Security-Widefield, where she worked at the time, KOAA reports.
“I drove around the school three times just to make sure I didn’t miss it,” Al testified. “That was the key moment. She knows more than she’s telling me.”
Right after that, he called the Sheriff’s Office to tell them about his suspicions, KOAA reports.
Gannon Stauch and Tecia Stauch.El Paso County Sheriff’s Office
Father Worked with Investigators Against Then-Wife
Later on, he worked with investigators and made tape-recorded calls with Letecia with authorities on the line, 9News reports.
On Tuesday, jurors heard audio from some of those calls.
Letecia had said that a man broke into their home, raped her and kidnapped Gannon, 9News reports.
When he asked her why there was no sign of the attack inside the home, she said, “I cleaned it up,” he testified,9Newsreports.
“My first impression was that it was a bulls— story,” he testified, KOAA reports.
As the conversation continued, Al asked Leticia point blank if she had killed Gannon, KOAA reports.
“Did I kill Gannon?” she replied. “The answer is no. I can’t believe you asked me this.”
He said, “There’s a lot of unknowns. This is the fourth version of the same story… I just don’t know what the hell is going on.”
“I loved Gannon,” she said during the call. “I would never want to hurt Gannon.”
Prosecutors have said in the affidavit that they have a lot of evidence of a brutal crime inside Gannon’s room.
“Evidence recovered from the residence and inside Gannon’s bedroom supports that a violent event occurred in the bedroom,” according to the affidavit.
This “caused bloodshed, including blood spatter on the walls, and enough blood loss to stain his mattress, soak through the carpet, the carpet pad, and stain the concrete below his bed.”
According to the affidavit, Letecia asked her 17-year-old daughter to purchase trash bags, baking soda and carpet powder before calling 911 to report Gannon missing. Investigators said these items were used to clean up blood.
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The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
