A Colorado woman knew what she was doing when she stabbed her young stepson 18 times and then shot him in the head before driving across the country to dump a suitcase with his remains over a bridge in the Florida Panhandle, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of her trial.
Authorities allege Letecia Stauch killed 11-year-old Gannon Stauch in his bedroom a few hours before reporting him missing on Jan. 27, 2020, while his father was on a National Guard deployment. They have suggested she was unhappy in her marriage and resentful of being treated like an unpaid babysitter.
Attorneys for Stauch, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, countered that by claiming she suffered a “major psychotic crack” as a result of childhood trauma when she killed Gannon.
The dueling narratives for why Stauch carried out the crime came during opening statements in Colorado Springs for a trial expected to last several weeks.
District Attorney Michael Allen argued in his opening statement that the steps that Stauch took to cover up her actions are proof that she knew what she did was wrong and was therefore sane.
She cleaned up blood in Gannon’s bedroom, moving his body to various locations to hide it before disposing of it “like garbage” in a river that flows into the Gulf of Mexico in hopes it would never be found, he said.
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