More than three years since 11-year-old Gannon Stauch’s body was found in northern Florida, his alleged killer and stepmom Letecia Stauch’s opening statements began on Monday. 

Follow Gazette reporter @ZachNDupont on Twitter for updates from court.

Opening statements

Following the selection of the 19-person jury selection, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen began opening statements for the prosecution by telling the jury that the case will come down to insanity, and that by the end of the trial the prosecution will have proved Stauch was sane at the time of Gannon’s killing. 

“The evidence will show she could distinguish between right and wrong,”  Allen told the jury to begin his opening statement. 

Allen walked the jury through the evidence that the prosecution plans to show, including how Stauch allegedly stabbed her stepson 18 times as he fought back before shooting him three times, and how she allegedly drove his body to Florida in the trunk of her car in a suitcase before throwing it over a bridge into a river below.

Allen alleges that all of this evidence, as well as testimony from experts at the state hospital in Pueblo, will prove that Stauch was sane at the time of Gannon’s killing. Allen made the claims while acknowledging that the defense will have an expert witness testify that they found Stauch to be insane at the time of Gannon’s death. 

The defense’s expert, Dr. Dorothy Lewis, is a former clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale University, the author of several books on the topic of the insanity plea and the subject of the documentary “Crazy, Not Insane.”

The documentary outlines Lewis’ work with notorious killers such as Ted Bundy, Arthur Shawcross, John Allen Muhammed and many others.

During his opening statement Allen showed several pictures of evidence that will be presented, including alleged blood stains found in Gannon’s bedroom and a picture of the suitcase that Letecia Stauch used to hide Gannon’s body . 

“The defendant took deliberate actions to hide those crimes from the world,” Allen said. 

Allen ended his opening statements by playing audio of Stauch’s call to 911 to report her stepson as missing. When the dispatcher asks Stauch about the last person to have seen the boy alive, she responds: “I guess me?” 

Defense attorney Will Cook opened with some theatrics, pointing to how most people already find his client “guilty” or “evil.” Cook then pretended to walk out of the courtroom, acting defeated before returning to say he “can’t just check out now” because it “wouldn’t be fair to (Stauch).” 

“We have lost in the court of public opinion and in the media, she is guilty,” Cook told the jurors. “Do your job, listen to the evidence… That is all I’m asking of you, give us a fair shake.” 

Cook went on to display a selfie of Letecia Stauch and Gannon Stauch that Cook alleges was from the day before Gannon’s death. Letecia Stauch could be heard quietly crying at the defense table when the selfie was shown. 

“Behind those photos and smiles Ms. Stauch … was dealing with trauma and abuse that had been going no since she was a toddler,” Cook said, referencing that Stauch was allegedly assaulted and molested for years as a child. 

Stauch’s abuse as a child, according to Cook, led to her developing dissociative identity order and that their expert found Stauch to be insane at the time of the incident. 

“You must, to be fair and impartial, you must believe it (insanity) is a valid defense,” Cook said. 

To finish his opening statements, Cook claimed that the lack of a motive presented by the prosecution will prove that Stauch was insane, and that she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.  

“You’re going to have countless witnesses, evidence, exhibits, photos and videos,” Cook said to the jury. “You know what you’re not going to hear … a motive.

“The reason is there is no motive, there is no reason. It doesn’t make sense. It’s insane.” 

Stauch’s trial in 4th Judicial District Court began March 20 with jury selection, where attorneys worked to select a pool of potential jurors to call back on Monday.

The juror pool

Attorneys in the Stauch case spent the past two weeks working toward selecting the final 120-person potential juror pool — a process that was completed early last week, said Robert McCallum, the public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department.

To start off jury selection Monday morning, more than 15 people told Judge Gregory Werner that their circumstances had changed since their first appearance in court, and now they may no longer be able to serve on the jury. 

The change in those potential jurors’ circumstances included their employers informing them they wouldn’t be paid while serving on the jury and medical hardships such as upcoming surgeries for themselves or family members. 

After over an hour, attorneys came to a resolution on the 18-person jury for the trial. The jury includes 11 men and seven women.

Expected length of trial

Stauch’s trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, with the prosecution’s endorsed witness list obtained by The Gazette at more than 150 people.

The trial will continue Tuesday morning with the prosecution’s first witness. 

Stauch faces 13 charges including first-degree murder, child abuse and tampering with evidence. If found guilty of the first-degree murder charge, Stauch will be given a mandatory sentence of life of prison, per Colorado law. 

In addition to the murder trial, Stauch faces a second case in which she is accused of attempting to escape from the El Paso County jail in May 2020. The second case against Stauch is on hold until the completion of the first-degree murder trial.