Google is not Letecia Stauch’s friend. Her web searches took center stage as the prosecution called its last witness to the stand. Letecia is on trial for the murder of her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon Stauch, on January 27, 2020. His body was found stuffed in a suitcase that was tossed off a bridge in Pace, Florida almost three months later. Letecia admits she killed Gannon, but insists she suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly called multiple personality disorder.
She changed her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity in February 2022. Letecia claims an alternate personality named Maria Sanchez shot Gannon because she thought he was a caped intruder. An autopsy revealed Gannon was stabbed 18 times, had a fractured skull from four blows to his head, and was shot in the jaw.
Investigator Kevin Clark outlined numerous Google searches on Letecia’s phone that were made prior to her arrest. Among them:
- How long before a body starts to decompose in a bag
- What does a dead body look like after a month
- How do they identify bodies found in another state
- How does the FBI find people
- How to make my fingerprints not scan
- Several searches for “face transplant” and “plastic surgery”
- Casey Anthony and Patrick McKenna
- Find an immigrant who will admit to a crime
- Spanish girl names
Letecia and attorney Will Cook were giggling at the defense table during Clark’s testimony. It was noticeable to people watching the live stream of the trial and also apparent to the prosecution. District Attorney Michael Allen called them out for the behavior.
“I don’t know what’s so funny over here, judge, but a lot of interruptions coming from my left,” Allen remarked, directing the comment to Judge Gregory Werner.
Letecia was more animated than in previous weeks. She frequently had her head on the defense table when hours of recordings of conversations and interviews were played. As the final witness for the prosecution testified, she made heart symbols with her hands and mouthed, “Happy birthday, Harley. I love you,” to her daughter, Harley Hunt. Monday was her 21st birthday. Harley testified two weeks ago, acknowledging that she had not seen her mother since she was arrested on March 2, 2020.
The prosecution rested after weeks of testimony and a mountain of evidence. The defense began its case with Dr. Ronda Niederhauser, a clinical psychologist on Fort Carson. Letecia had two appointments with Dr. Neiderhauser in December 2019, a month before Gannon was murdered. Letecia complained of anxiety and difficulty sleeping and said most of her symptoms were work-related. She needed a letter from Dr. Neiderhauser in order to quit her teaching job because she was under contract. The doctor provided a letter, then recommended medication and therapy. During cross-examination, Dr. Neiderhauser testified that Letecia did not appear to be suffering from severe mental illness.
The star witness, Dr. Dorothy Lewis, had not arrived at the courthouse, so a three-hour recess was called. During the break, Judge Werner asked Letecia if she made a decision about testifying. Letecia said she wanted to wait until after Dr. Lewis’ testimony.
Dr. Lewis needed assistance to get settled in the witness stand. She is 85 years old and is considered a pioneer in the controversial diagnosis of DID. After a lengthy summary of her experience, accomplishments and schooling, which included Yale and Harvard, the prosecution asked if Dr. Lewis was licensed to practice psychiatry or medicine in the state of Colorado. “No,” she replied and went on to explain she is able to testify in other states, with the exception of Florida and California.
Defense attorney Josh Tolini clarified that he did not contact Dr. Lewis to treat Letecia but rather to evaluate her. Prosecutor Dave Young asked if she knew the definition of insanity in Colorado. Dr. Lewis gave a long-winded reply about what insanity means, but not whether she knew the legal definition in Colorado.
For anyone with a soft spot for the elderly, Dr. Lewis’ testimony was difficult to watch. There were several cringe-worthy moments throughout her roughly 12 hours of testimony. Some were real doozies.
Dr. Lewis wanted an EEG (electroencephalogram) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) because there were aspects of Letecia’s behavior that were consistent with brain damage. She testified it was her understanding that the court refused to pay for the tests and insisted she begged to have these tests done but was told by Tolini that the court wouldn’t sign off on them. During cross-examination, she was informed on October 13, 2022, the request was withdrawn by the defense.
Dr. Lewis exclaimed, “This is news to me right now. I had no idea that this was ever withdrawn. It was my understanding that the court had refused to grant the funding to have these things done which in my experience is a first.”
Plot twist…it turns out Dr. Lewis sent an email to Letecia’s attorneys which read, “I have been reading more on Letecia, and I think we should drop the EEG request.” Prosecutor Young asked why she sent that email, then blamed defense attorneys during testimony. Dr. Lewis explained that she didn’t consider this as withdrawing it permanently and that there were other things that needed to get done. Then came a comment that caused both sides to get riled up; Dr. Lewis blurted out that Tolini told her they can do the EEG later because there would be an appeal. The statement was stricken from the record and the jury was instructed to disregard it.
Frustration in the courtroom was obvious as Young continued to hammer Dr. Lewis about missing documents, including a letter written by Letecia’s “alter”, Maria, which was seen during a taped evaluation session. Young wanted it on the record, while the jury was out of the room, that the letter was lost and that Dr. Lewis would not pull it out during testimony. However, as the afternoon session of testimony began, Dr. Lewis said she actually did have those documents with her.
“Did I not say this was going to happen?” bemoaned an exasperated Young.
The jury was excused again, while attorneys on both sides examined the pile of documents Dr. Lewis had with her. The letter was not among them.
The atmosphere in the courtroom reached the boiling point earlier when Dr. Lewis informed Young that she made a note during one of her interviews with Letecia that she liked to be called Maria as a child. She told an incredulous Young that she forgot to mention this earlier, but thought it was interesting. Dr. Lewis couldn’t remember where she heard that nugget of information, though previous testimony confirmed that she never talked with any of Letecia’s family or friends.
Chunks of the recorded sessions with Letecia were played during cross-examination by the prosecution. The defense referred to them frequently but did not show a frame of the videos. The audio quality was not great, but the follow-up questions helped fill in the blanks. Letecia appeared to change personas during her interview with Dr. Lewis. Among them were Jasmine, who traveled to Dubai, and Taylor, who informed Dr. Lewis she couldn’t speak directly to Maria, the personality Letecia blames for killing Gannon. Taylor said she calls attorney Tolini by his first name, Josh, but Maria refers to him as “pendejo” the Spanish word for “asshole.” It also means stupid.
Maria makes her appearance in a subsequent video clip where Letecia is speaking with a foreign accent, stating she killed Gannon because she saw a man in a black cape and shot him.
“I’m trained to kill,” she stated repeatedly throughout the interview.
She also claimed Letecia had nothing to do with Gannon’s death or dumping his body in Florida. She denied stabbing Gannon, even though an autopsy revealed he suffered 18 stab wounds. Young asked Dr. Lewis why she could summon Maria but the other psychologists who examined Letecia could not.
“Magic,” replied Dr. Lewis.
Dr. Lewis was adamant about Letecia being psychotic but seemed to stop short of slapping a DID diagnosis on her.
“I believe she did not know the nature of what she was doing,” Dr. Lewis testified. “She is and was psychotic and therefore she was insane.”
She did allude to signs that indicated Letecia might be afflicted with DID and continued to opine about the need for additional testing. Young wanted to know how Letecia was able to get married twice, raise a daughter, have a career, and achieve Master’s and Doctorate degrees while suffering from severe mental illness. Dr. Lewis, a highly-educated scholar, informed Young that Letecia’s Ph.D. was obtained on the internet and suggested that he “look into that.”
Throughout the two days of the defense presenting its case, Judge Werner delivered some verbal spankings. Dr. Lewis was supposed to be ready to testify on Tuesday at 9 a.m., but didn’t show up. Her testimony was pushed to 1:00, but she was tardy. She was firmly instructed by the judge to be in court and ready to testify at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. She was late again, sharing that she had food poisoning from the night before.
Judge Werner sternly told everyone there that smoking, both tobacco and marijuana, were prohibited in the El Paso County Courthouse. Apparently, security cameras caught someone from the courtroom smoking a joint in a stairwell. Cell phones became a point of disruption a couple of times. The first was a ringing phone while Dr. Lewis was on the witness stand. She fumbled to turn it off but ended up turning it over to her son. Judge Werner reminded everyone to turn off their phones, but later, had to twice threaten to confiscate them because someone continued to pull out their phone during testimony. It’s been crystal-clear from the beginning of the trial that electronics were not allowed unless you were a member of the media.
Finally, the ultimate question that Judge Werner asked Letecia Stauch was answered. She will not testify in her own defense.
It’s been a long trial. The defense is expected to rest on Friday. Closing arguments will follow. The case will go to the jury to decide if Letecia Stauch was insane when she viciously attacked 11-year-old Gannon and ended his life in the bedroom where he slept every night. The room that should have been filled with dreams of a boy’s bright future instead became a bloody crime scene. And here we are.
Jenesis Productions 
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