Testimony continued Tuesday afternoon in the Letecia Stauch murder trial; she stands accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon Stauch.
As CrimeOnline reported, prosecutors say Stauch stabbed, shot, and beat Gannon inside the family’s El Paso County home in Colorado, on January 27, 2020. Months later, his body was found stuffed into a suitcase beneath a bridge in Pace, Florida.
Stauch is now on trial at the El Paso County Court, facing first-degree murder and related charges.
Tom Griffin, a private bloodstain pattern analysis consultant and crime scene investigator, took the stand Tuesday afternoon. Griffin said he reviewed crime scene photos taken inside the Stauch family home in Fountain, in 2020, and also went into the residence to review the crime scene.
Based on his expertise, Griffin said it appeared that someone tried to clean up a bloody mess in Gannon’s bedroom, which he assessed after seeing the way diluted blood had flowed on surfaces.
He said he found blood in many parts of the room, including a stain on an electrical outlet, 54 blood stains on the walls, blood on the carpet, and blood on the padding under the carpet.
Griffin added that blunt force trauma, a gunshot wound, and a sharp force injury happened to Gannon inside his room.
Griffin said that some of the blood stains were on the upper part of the wall above the victim’s bed, meaning Gannon was likely in his bed for at least part of the attack. Other bloodstains indicated that Gannon was also attacked while he was on the floor.
“From bloodstain pattern analysis, I can say with it being Gannon’s blood, he’s on or near the floor for at least one or two impact events, spatter-producing events,” Griffin said.
Detective Pete Woods with the Myrtle Beach Police Department testified next. He helped with Stauch’s arrest in March 2020, in Myrtle Beach, and said she didn’t resist or try to run.
After Stauch’s arrest and while searching her belongings, investigators found a suitcase and blanket with blood stains, Woods said.
Letecia Stauch is facing charges of:
- Murder in the First Degree (Child Under Twelve-Position of Trust §18-3-102(1)(f))
- Tampering with a Deceased Human Body, §18-8-610.5
- Tampering with Physical Evidence, §18-8-610(1)(a)
Stauch pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The trial resumes Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. MT.
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[Feature Photo: Gannon Stauch/Facebook via Landen Hiott]
