4: Letecia Stauch Week 2 Trial Recap: Attacked Officer, INSANE Audio & Polygraph | Gannon Stauch Case
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Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

Buckle up and crank up that volume. This is Serialist League with Annie Elise.

Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to another episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise, your true crime BFF. Today, we are doing a bonus special edition episode, and I am so excited to share it with you guys because I wanted to get this information out to you fast, like speedy, speedy, speedy fast. And it is all of the information regarding week two of the Letitia Stalk trial. So,

I've been doing this over on my YouTube page, 10 to Life, and I've been putting out the video version of this each week where it recaps the entire trial for that week and the big revelations, the many bombshells, and everything like that. Because if you've been following this case, the Gannon Stout case, and following the trial, I would imagine most of us don't have 40, 50 plus hours to watch the trial live, so I

Starting last week, I wanted to really just jump on and give you guys a summary of everything that was the key takeaways from week one of the trial. So many of you guys responded that it was helpful, that you wanted me to continue doing that. So here I am again, giving you all of the recap for week two. Now, I wanted to jump on here fast, which is why we're doing a bonus episode and not in the normal Monday cadence and schedule, because this week just ended with the trials and OMG, there is a lot to talk about.

And I also want to just say thank you to all of you who have been listening to this podcast and if you've taken the time to give it a rating or a review or share it because we just hit number 11 on the Spotify charts for all true crime podcasts and holy crap guys, I am just like shook beyond belief. I can't even believe it. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There is so much more exciting stuff to come and a lot of guests that are going to be jumping on the co-host mic in the next few episodes. So

remember to follow along if you're not yet on the podcast so you'll always be notified of episodes we release a new episode every single monday but like this there might be a bonus episode or special edition here and there given that true crime never sleeps

But with that being said, let's get right into everything that happened week two of the Letitia Stouck trial. The second week of the trial for Letitia Stouck, the monster who admitted to killing her 11-year-old stepson Gannon, has been an exhausting and emotional experience for everyone involved. The jury is tasked with determining whether or not Letitia was legally insane at the time of the killing, and the graphic testimony has often been hard to listen to.

The evidence presented has been extremely disturbing, leaving the courtroom, viewers, and Gannon's family visibly shaken. Letitia's demeanor has come across as cold and heartless, adding to the already extremely difficult circumstances of the case.

While the testimonies last week were informative, this week has been beyond chilling, revealing more about the calculated actions that Letitia took to cover up her crimes and the details of the suffering that Gannon endured. Even though every day of this trial is long and at times excruciatingly tedious, it's all worth it to get justice for Gannon, the justice that he deserves.

So in today's episode, I will discuss what has gone down each day and highlight the significant moments during the second week of trial. Keep in mind that every day court is in session for upwards of eight hours. So even though these updates are relatively long as well, I've done my best to condense each day without watering it down or leaving out any important details.

Hopefully these summaries make it easier for you to keep up with this case without having to watch hours of court proceedings on your own. The trial left off last Friday with significant testimony from a former neighbor of the family. Letitia attempted to bribe Nicole Mobley to lie to detectives about witnessing Gannon get into a car with a strange man the night that he quote-unquote went missing.

Leticia even offered Nicole money and sent a message that read, What if you just said you remembered something suspicious after seeing this picture and explained the description and that you didn't think it was relevant until now? I swear to you, I didn't do this. I just need help from someone getting this out there so they can start posting in other states. Now, after this text exchange, Nicole submitted the messages and her phone to police for evidence.

Week two, day five of the trial started on Monday, April 10th, 2023, the day after many of us were spending Easter with our families. And the fact that Gannon's family will never get to enjoy holidays with him again only makes me want to see Letitia put away for life even more.

Leticia was brought in wearing the same pink sweater from Friday, looking just as greasy and as bootleg as ever. And after the jury was seated, the prosecution didn't waste any time and immediately called in the first witness of the day, Dr. Susan Ignacio. Susan Ignacio is a Florida associate medical examiner who has been called to be an expert witness in dozens of court cases.

She explained that she conducted the autopsy of Gannon on March 18th, 2020. Now, last week during the testimonies, the screen behind the witness stand showed tons of photos of evidence, which was out of view of the camera and not visible on the live feeds.

However, I'm not sure if it was a mistake, but the evidence screen was visible to the live feed, and it showed everything the medical examiner was discussing this time, which, as you can imagine, was extremely graphic and very disturbing. I'm obviously not going to be showing any of those images from the autopsy here, and many channels that were streaming it live actually covered that portion of the screen or switched to another angle because, like I said, it was horrific.

But I want to give a potential trigger warning here as well, because even though I'm not going to be showing any of the autopsy photos on the video version of this from the autopsy, I'm going to explain what the medical examiner said, and I'm going to describe what she is referring to in the evidence photos. Her testimony is vital to understanding the magnitude of what happened to Gannon, and I believe it will be a large portion for how the jury bases their decision.

On the evidence screen, Dr. Ignacio pointed to the first photo of a severely decomposed small human body and pointed out places where bone was visible due to deterioration. She pointed to an injury on Gannon's chest that she referred to as a sharp force injury, which would have been caused by a blade or a knife.

Next, she pointed to areas on a zoomed-in photo that showed several wounds on Gannon's little hands, and she explained that these were defensive wounds, and that these were created when he put his hands up in an attempt to guard himself from the weapon. The doctor showed a photo of a sharp force injury on Gannon's back and explained that this wound was deeper than his other injuries, and it fractured one of his ribs on his left side.

During this time, Leticia is kind of looking all around the courtroom and seems to be moving uncomfortably in her seat while the damage that she inflicted on her stepson is being displayed to the court. Next, photos of the wounds to Gannon's head were put on the evidence screen. Dr. Ignacio explained that these were different from the sharp force wounds and indicated blunt force trauma on both sides of his head, which resulted in skull fractures.

She said that these fractures would have taken a significant amount of force. The doctor said that in all, Gannon suffered 18 sharp force injuries and four blunt force lacerations. Next, she pointed to a gunshot wound under Gannon's chin and said in conjunction with the blunt force lacerations, that was the cause of death.

The sharp force injuries were only contributing factors, and she ruled the manner of death as a homicide. The prosecution asked about results of routine toxicology report, and it was discovered that Gannon had hydrocodone present in his liver tissue, which the doctor felt was unusual for an 11-year-old child to have in his system.

In another heartbreaking detail, Dr. Ignacio stated that the sharp force injuries and the blunt force lacerations to his head occurred before Gannon died.

It is honestly horrifying to think that this monster woman stabbed this young child 18 times and then when that wasn't enough, she hit him in the head four different times and then put a gun under his chin and fired. It is truly appalling and disgusting.

In cross-examination, Dr. Ignacio stated that the injuries indicate that this was a violent death, and even though there was no pattern to the injuries, it did appear that they were targeted toward the upper body. This shows that the injuries were intentionally inflicted on areas of the body that would kill someone, as opposed to stabbing or shooting someone in the legs or feet, for example.

One thing that I wanted to mention about this trial is that I find it really interesting that the judge is giving the jury the opportunity to ask the witness questions after the prosecution and the defense are finished with their line of questioning. Do any of the jurors have any questions for Dr. Ignacio? Looks like we have a few. Counsel, retrieve those and approach, please.

Let me know if you've seen that before in any trial, but usually after there are no further questions, that's what is stated, and they just move on to the next witness. But I think it's really cool that the jury can actually write things down as they want to ask and know more about certain details being shared. For this witness, the jury wanted to know if she found any burn marks on Gannon's skin from the infamous candle spilling incident.

The doctor said that she wasn't able to detect any burns due to the level of decomposition. And that was all for the first witness, and it really was a reminder of about how difficult and important of a job those medical examiners truly have. Just seeing the images on a screen was traumatizing enough, so I can't even imagine the strength that it takes to be able to do their job, which is often vital to getting justice in cases like this.

And I know it must have been really hard for the jury to see that as well. Nobody wants to see a child, or anybody for that matter, in that condition. But like I said so many times, if the child has to go through it, the least that we can do is see and hear about it to make sure that what happened to them isn't just swept under the rug. After the morning recess, Gannon's dad, Al, was called to the stand again after having given testimony last week.

The prosecution had questions regarding the hydrocodone that was found in Gannon's liver tissue. Al explained that in the past he had a woodworking accident, which resulted in him losing the tip of his finger. After the injury, he was prescribed hydrocodone for the pain, but he didn't finish the prescription and kept the bottle in his nightstand. Al said that only he and Letitia knew about the bottle of pills in that nightstand, and that he never would have given Gannon hydrocodone.

The fact that Gannon had this opioid in his system has me wondering why Letitia would give him such strong pain medication. Was it to subdue him?

Because hydrocodone is known to cause extreme drowsiness, and if she were trying to help with the pain of his candle burns, sure, but why would she choose that medication? Why not ibuprofen? Something more appropriate for a child. So, it begs the question, was she trying to get him drowsy for a specific reason? Possibly to make what she had planned to do a bit easier. Did she want him to be asleep when she tried to attack him?

And I know that doctors rarely prescribe these types of drugs anymore, even for adults with severe pain. So again, to give it to a child without instruction from a doctor seems at the very least irresponsible. And to me, it shows a level of premeditation in this situation. The next witness called by the prosecution was FBI agent Andrew Cohen.

Agent Cohen explained what it means to get a wiretap warrant and how they're difficult to obtain due to wiretapping being one of the most invasive tactics that can be used in an investigation. He explained that wiretapping is only able to be utilized when all other tactics have failed in gathering critical information.

Agent Cohen said that shortly after Gannon was reported as missing, Letitia's phone was seized by police. She then went to another county in Colorado and she purchased a new phone from a Walmart under a fake name. Recordings from some of the wiretapping sessions were played in court and involved conversations that Letitia had with a customer service representative from a company called FakePolygraph.com.

Leticia called the number and said that she hadn't received the email of the report that she paid for, and the representative told her it would be 10 to 15 minutes. She called back a few more times until finally the representative realized why she wasn't receiving the email.

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. An official message from Medicare.

A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. Maybe you can save too. With Medicare's Extra Help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov slash extra help. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. My health.

Hi, yes, I was just talking to you. Is there a way to confirm where you sent those? Because I still didn't get them. Yeah, so I'm just going to get that resend for you. So if you wait for the next 10, 15 minutes and let me know if you haven't received it by then. I was saying, can you check the email? Because I just want to make sure. Okay, yeah, give me a moment.

Spoke T-E-C-I-A-L-Y-N-N-2-0-0-6 at yahoo.com. Okay. Okay, cool. So you did that in 10 to 15 minutes? Correct. Okay, thank you. Have a good day. Come in, please. All right, yes, perfect. I can see here. So you talked 10, 15 minutes and you...

You said it again, I still don't have it. Yeah, no, unfortunately it's actually been blocked by management this order due to the content of the questions, so we're not going to be able to send this report. Okay. Do I get my money back?

Unfortunately not on this case, no. Obviously, in terms of conditions it does clearly state that any sort of illegal activities or anything like that, obviously the management do reserve the right not to send the reports. Obviously we do incur processing fees, that's why a refund wouldn't be true. So what do you do now? Just delete it and go on about why I can't get money? Yes, we would do indeed. I got you. Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye.

After the representative told her that she couldn't receive the report due to the questions relating to illegal activity, more than likely about Gannon's death, she probably started to panic and felt like she needed to cover her own ass somehow, so she called the number back and tried to play it off like there was some glitch in their system and that she only asked about infidelity. Here is the representative not buying any of her crap.

Oh, yeah. Sorry. I can hear you now. How can I help you? I talked to you earlier and you said that the request I did was blocked or something. But I looked at the terms and conditions and it says you can't say things about infidelity and stuff like that. So I'm not sure how that was blocked. Say that again, sorry. You can or can't? No. Okay. So I did a report earlier and you said you would send it to me. Then when I called back, you said it was blocked.

blocked that I wasn't allowed to get the report but then I clicked the terms and conditions and it says you can do questions about infidelity and stuff like that. Yes, infidelity you can, correct. Right, and that's what I did. Your report was about infidelity, was it? What did you say? You're saying your report was about infidelity?

Yeah, like I answered, I put questions in for it and you had to select answers. And you said something about it being blocked? Yes. What were your questions? So it was about during the time that we were away inside of like in another state that I talked to and I gave the person's individual's name, Ortega. That was one of them. Then it said, are your eyes blue? And I did a couple of questions that were on the bottom.

Okay. Yeah, not sure in that case. Unfortunately, that's not what came through. Yeah, I'm not quite sure what's happened there then. Because I read that you can do this. Yeah, it says on there that you can do that. Yeah, you would be able to about infidelity, but the questions that were submitted here were not to do with infidelity. Yeah, I didn't submit questions that were not to do with infidelity.

Okay. All right. See what I have to look into that then in that case. You want me just to write you the questions down? No, it's okay. I'll just need to have a look into this then to see what can be done. Okay. Just remind me again, what was the name on the report? It was Stouck, S-T-A-U-C-H. Uh-huh. And that's your surname, is it? Your last name? Yes. Okay. And first name is? Peter. Peter.

Okay. And how do I spell that? It's C-E-C-I-A. C-E-C-I-A. Yes. Okay. All righty. Well, let me have a look into that and I can come back to you. Okay. Thank you. What's the best number to get you on? 843-798-1700. Okay. Thanks a lot now. Take care. Bye-bye. Thank you.

Special Agent Andrew Cohen said that during this time, Letitia told Al that she had passed a polygraph test that proved she had nothing to do with Gannon's disappearance.

I actually went and I looked at this website, and that idiot, Letitia, really wasted $300 to try to fake a polygraph. Even a sketchy fake polygraph website has more integrity than her and wouldn't even give her the results or even issue her a refund, which kind of like, thank God she did this and was so stupid to do this, because to me, it just goes to show again,

Not a level of premeditation, but a level of trying to cover your tracks, not necessarily in line with insanity. And that's what Letitia's trying to claim, that it was a moment of insanity. And then, you know, and I get that a moment of insanity, then you can go through the motions of covering it up afterward when you are sane. But like, I'm not buying her story.

Next on the stand was an evidence technician with the El Paso Sheriff's Office named Christina Cervantes. Christina explained that she had received several calls and had seen Letitia in person at the station, asking if she could get back some of the items that had been seized as evidence. On February 12th, she received another call from a person who sounded like Letitia, but the caller said that their name was Harley Hunt, which is Letitia's daughter.

I think you might have been busy or something, so I waited to call back for a little bit. It's all right. How did you call? I just called you like maybe 15, 20 minutes ago, and you said, hold on.

No, that wasn't. There's four of us working here, so that wasn't me. Yeah. I'm like, I don't recognize your name. We're busy. Okay, so I'm trying to find out about some content. So mine was in a car. So my book bag, which had a lot of my Social Security card, birth certificate and stuff that was in a car that still impounded. And I just want to know, they gave me the purse.

one day out of it, but how can I get a book bag and I need my MacBook for school. Your MacBook, okay. What is your name? Harley Hunt. Harley Hunt, and do you have a case number so I can look it up? Let's see this. I have this paper. It says agency number. Is that it or I have a VIN number? It should be agency. Agency number? All right, 2020-1382.

All right. Let's take a look here. You said it's a book bag? There's a black and white book bag that was in the backseat of the white Jetta. And it has like my passport, my social, my birth certificate, my dog paperwork, my map book. Let's see. Yeah, there's like a blue, there's one blue bag that had a map book in it. And then there was a black and white blue bag and there was like my diamond rings are in it.

And then there was a pink holder that had, like, my birth certificate and all that in it. Okay. And I understand they might still be holding the car, but, like, I can't, like, even, like, work or anything without having my passport because I'm a flight attendant. Okay. And you said your name was Carly Hunt. Is that correct? Carly Hunt. Carly Hunt. Okay.

Okay, well I can tell you right now everything on this case is evidence. So because it's evidence, I cannot release it back to you without written authorization from basically a higher authority. They have not given us any written authorizations to release. So unfortunately, what you may want to do is contact the detective on this case. Have you been in contact with anybody? No.

All right, well, let me go ahead and get the lead detective's number for you. And you can call them in reference to this, okay? Okay. All right, hold on just one second. So Letitia tried to call and pretend to be her daughter, sounding like a full-grown woman, talking about needing a math book for class, but in the same breath said that she's a flight attendant and needed her passport for work.

At the time of that call, Harley was only around 17 years old, and Christina Cervantes was aware of that and could tell that this call was fishy. Also, why would a 17-year-old have diamond rings in their school backpack?

That was just embarrassing, to be quite honest, and it's clear by those last two recordings we heard that Letitia thinks she's way smarter than she actually is. It also makes me wonder why she was so adamant about getting Harley's book bag and passport back. Was Letitia's passport in there as well? Was she trying to get their passport so they could flee somewhere? Were the diamonds to sell and pawn to get cash? Regardless, Christina told this fictitious Harley person, a.k.a. Letitia,

that she couldn't release any of the property because everything was considered evidence in an open investigation and she would need to get special permission from the lead detective. I'm almost certain that request would have been quickly denied. The next witness called is a digital forensic detective with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office named Michael Bauman. Michael's job as a digital detective is to locate and preserve data from electronic devices such as cell phones and computers.

Detective Michael explained different programs that are used to extract data from these devices, such as text messages, search history, location history, call logs, banking info, app usage, photos, etc. I mean, you name it. He explained that he did a data extraction on two different iPhones that Letitia owned. After the defense asked a brief question to clarify how the data extraction works, there were no further questions.

The next witness was a sergeant with the El Paso Sheriff's Office named Kurt Smith. During his brief testimony, he explained that he did the same type of data extraction on Gannon's cell phone. After his testimony, the court was released for a lunch recess. When court reconvened, you could see Letitia in the corner smiling and giggling to herself as the jury was brought back in.

Now, I don't see what could possibly be funny after the horrific testimony given earlier that morning, but I guess someone like her doesn't take what's going on very seriously or just doesn't seem to care. The prosecution called their next witness, who is a detective with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office named Christina Perry. Detective Perry explained that she used an undercover Facebook profile to see if she could get any information from the Gannon Stouck missing Facebook groups.

And oftentimes, I just want to say, when there is any sort of investigation or crime case going on, there are usually Facebook groups made. Sometimes one, oftentimes many. So if you ever are trying to sleuth on your own or follow a case closely, I encourage you to look at Facebook because a lot of the times they will have a group created where there will just be constant updates in there.

a little warning and I should also say as a footnote there oftentimes is a lot of speculation and rumor involved in those groups it's not just fact however it is sometimes helpful to follow those I personally do for some just because I find it helpful as updates are happening in real time they often are shared in there but anyways

Detective Perry said that she was present when Al called the detectives and stated his concern over Letitia's car being missing and not being parked at the elementary school where Letitia claimed to have left it. After the call, the detectives went on a search for Letitia's Volkswagen SUV, but they were unable to locate it. And the next day, Letitia arrived at the sheriff's office in her SUV, and it appeared to still have water droplets on it, indicating that it had been freshly washed.

Detective Christina Perry said that she went to the family home to conduct a search and gather more witnesses for questioning. Christina attempted to speak with Harley, Leticia's daughter, but apparently Harley refused to talk to detectives about anything pertaining to Gannon.

So while the detective Christina Perry was there and assisted in the search at the family residence, several pieces of evidence were found that will be explained further by other detectives who handled the items. Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy, and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. An official message from Medicare.

A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. Maybe you can save too. With Medicare's Extra Help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov slash extra help. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

During the investigation, Christina testified that there were numerous times when Letitia would say that she was coming to the station for an interview, but would either come late or not show up at all.

Leticia had also been conducting various money transfers, which made the detectives very nervous that she might be preparing to flee. This made it so that they were able to get a warrant to track her car. So she discusses obtaining surveillance footage from a neighbor's security camera here, where Leticia could be seen with Gannon in a red truck, and then another instance where she backed her SUV into the driveway. Earlier in this case, I remember that a neighbor with security footage stated that Gannon appeared to be out of it when he was around the truck.

which knowing what we know now, could have been a result of hydrocodone in his system. The footage later showed Gannon's sister Leanna arriving home from school, Harley arriving home from work, and then the two sisters leaving together in Harley's car. The next day, Harley and Letitia were seen rearranging the cars in the driveway before Letitia left to go pick Al up from the airport.

Now, in cross-examination, the defense asked Detective Perry about utility workers that were in the area on the day that Gannon supposedly went missing. And she said that none of them mentioned hearing any gunshots that day and that after viewing over 40 hours of surveillance footage, she didn't hear any gunshots either.

After a short break, the prosecution called their next witness, Tim Farrell, who is a detective with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. Detective Farrell testified the investigation at the family residence on January 28th, where he and another detective were there. They found a pair of shoes in the laundry room that appeared to have been freshly washed.

The shoes had a pink stain on the bottom that looked like it could be a blood stain that did not fade in the wash. So they were swabbed and placed into evidence. Detective Farrell testified that many photos were taken throughout the home and that they discovered burn marks on the couch in the basement, as well as an area of carpet that appeared to have been cut out.

In the backyard, a 2x2 foot piece of carpet that matched the missing space in the basement was found in the trash can, along with a candle that had a piece of fabric stuck in the wax. The fabric was different from the carpet and the couch.

During Detective Farrell's testimony, the jury viewed pictures that were taken in the family home. The bedding was stripped off from Gannon's bed and was collected for evidence, which revealed discoloration on his mattress. He also noticed a brown smear on the door handle inside Gannon's bedroom.

The detective collected guns that were found in the master bedroom, and Tim testified that he felt like something was off in the home, especially with Letitia's actions. He started to feel more suspicious that she knew more and had done something to Gannon.

So Detective Farrell referenced what we heard in previous witnesses' testimony, that Leticia was difficult to get in for questioning and that when she did finally show up, her car had been freshly washed. Leticia's behavior, along with the evidence found at the family home, caused her to become a person of interest in Gannon's disappearance.

Now, as we kind of go into Letitia's stories, Letitia was brought into the hospital after she claimed to have been raped by the person who kidnapped Gannon and had agreed to a SANE exam or a rape nurse exam.

Detective Farrell was later notified that Leticia left before the nurse could complete it. He explained that he had been a part of a surveillance team who was in charge of keeping track of Leticia and her daughter Harley. This was to make sure that she didn't flee or get rid of any evidence before they could obtain warrants to seize items like their phones and cars.

During the surveillance, Detective Farrell watched Harley and Letitia go into a Marshall's, and while they were shopping, undercover officers followed them around the store. During this time, he was notified that a judge had signed a warrant to retrieve Harley's phone and car. Letitia was seen leaving the store with Harley's phone first, and as officers started to approach her, she bolted away from them at a full sprint.

Detective Farrell testified that he then pulled his firearm and commanded Letitia to stop running, and she complied when she saw the gun. When Harley was taken out of the store, he reported that Letitia yelled at her, don't tell them anything, even though neither one of them were under arrest. The only reason they were detained is because of how Letitia reacted when she saw the officers who were there to collect the phone and car.

During Tim Farrell's testimony, Letitia was biting her nails, moving around in her seat, rubbing her face, and seeming very nervous and uncomfortable.

The next witness was a detective for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office named Peter Vigil. Detective Peter testified that he was present during the search of the family home. He said that when he entered Gannon's bedroom, he smelled the odor of ammonia or bleach, and the scent got stronger as he moved further into the room. He explained that this led him to believe that there had been cleaning products in the room, but that he didn't see any in there at the time.

He saw a stain on Gannon's mattress that appeared to be blood and swabbed the stain to be analyzed later.

The last witness on the stand was a reporter named Spencer Wilson, who used to work on stories in the Colorado Springs area for CBS4 news station. Spencer was a part of the team working on the Gannon story, and he was there to cover the news about a search at the family's home. He explained that while he was standing on the sidewalk outside of the home, a moving van and a car drove by and yelled out the window at him.

The person yelling was being critical about the way that the news had been covering the story, and it took him a moment to realize that it was actually Letitia yelling out the window at him. When he realized it was the person that this entire story was about, he kind of got excited about the opportunity to possibly speak with her and said, if you have such a problem with it, why don't you come and speak to me?

Since I had been keeping tabs on the case and the social media along with it, a lot of people were talking about her at the time. And then when it did click, I had this moment of, oh gosh, this is the person everyone's trying to talk to. What was her demeanor like when she did that?

Angry, I guess is the best way to put it. She was not. Excited that I was there, she's not excited to see other members of the media there. There was a lot of people down there covering the story and just the word she said to me were basically you're doing this wrong. Okay. And so then that's when you make this arrangement to go talk somewhere else.

Did you, in fact, do that? That's correct. I offered to do an interview. She mulled it over for a quick second. There was some conversation in the car. Eventually, she said, okay, we'll give this a shot. And I said, being...

The reporter I was for that station, I don't want everybody else to have this at the same time, so let's go somewhere else. And she agreed that it would be a spectacle if we were to do it right there. So we drove to a construction lot maybe half a mile away. Okay. And just for contextual reference... Spencer testified that Letitia requested that her face not be on video. So he set the camera up facing him and the back of Letitia's head. And this is in an now infamous interview.

Spencer said that this interview was a huge win for his career and for the news station. But for some reason during his testimony, Letitia had her head in her hands. I don't know, she must have been embarrassed about the things that she said in the interview and how manipulative and big of a liar it shows her to be. But Spencer said that Letitia showed her true colors during a pivotal moment in that interview.

At the very end, this was the thing that was the most interesting to me and why I remember it so much is that I asked, is there anything that you would want to say to Gannon? In this interview, she had told me that she believed he was coming home. She said, yes, gave her statement. And I said, okay, we got it. And then she said, you know, what if we did that one more time? And I said, sure, whatever you want. So I went back, turned the camera back on, but this time she was crying.

when she was not crying the first time and her demeanor completely changed. It went basically from I can't wait till your home, everyone's going to see that I'm not lying, they owe me an apology to I will not mimic someone crying but she was very upset in the second part which took a second to happen. Based on on the things that you were hearing coming from the defendant, Leticia Stouck in this case, during that interview

Did it seem that she was more focused on how she was being perceived publicly as opposed to. Helping find again, absolutely. I talked to neighbors who are more concerned for. You are I am which is stepmother. You've been a part of the investigation since the very 1st time you were the last person to see him. Is that right? Correct. What what did you see when you last saw him?

Well, I'm not allowed to talk about anything with the case. I would more so be willing to talk about how the community needs to have faith and continue to work together and not make these false accusations like the things that have been said that I've disappeared from the community. I haven't been there to help, but there's lots of reasons behind that.

uh reasons like death threats right right death threats are one of them my family's getting lots of death threats we counted over 20 some death threats already um two my husband's ex-wife is living in our home and of course i'm not coming home to do these things and to help with the family when i was kind of like told i couldn't um and then many other things that happened with the el paso county police department you know and in doing the investigation i was told i wasn't complying

And can I elaborate on that? Please do. Yes. So I asked for an attorney during the interview and I

And I was denied that by them. I was held because they were blocking the door and I was told I couldn't leave. And if I would have touched them, they would have probably, you know, said I still wasn't complying or said I was, you know, trying to run away or something. But during the interview, I asked several times, could I stop the interview? Could I get an attorney? Could I stop the interview? Could I get an attorney? I was denied. I was told I couldn't get nothing to drink. I couldn't go to the bathroom. I mean, it was continuously that my constitutional rights were violated. And

And that's why you say that they said then you weren't cooperating with the United States. That's why they said I wasn't cooperating at that time. Correct. And why did you ask for an attorney at the time? Well, I asked for an attorney at the time because there was one individual, there was two really good detectives. And so I'm not going to talk bad about detectives.

But the tactics they started to get when I would answer questions, they try to, you know, they're detectives. They're supposed to twist. The one main goal is to find Gannon. But during that time, some of those things made me feel uncomfortable the way they were saying things. So I immediately stopped and felt like an attorney would help me with some of the vocabulary and things like that that I needed help with and understanding some of the things that they were asking.

I'm going to shift gears to what has become a huge online presence of people, obviously trying to do the right thing, help find Gannon. But at the same time, sometimes it just feels like rumor mongering. Have you seen any of those comments yourself?

We have. And see, that's one of the main things we haven't been around in the public eye because I didn't want to expose my family to it if all these things were going on. You know, there was comments about Gannon getting pushed off the hike and there was comments about this. And that's just not true. I took care of Gannon for the last two years in our home because his mother didn't want to do it. And I would never, never, ever hurt this child. And I know there's some questions out there about, OK, so tell me what happens next.

That's up to the investigations when they end up letting you guys know. But I've cooperated with them, even to the point that we were held with a gun. And my daughter, a 17-year-old who serves our country in the United States Air Force, who has never committed a crime or done anything wrong in her life, was put in handcuffs over the keys that was in her purse so they could take her car. And they weren't in there.

They weren't even in her purse. They were in my pocket. You originally didn't even know if it was a law enforcement officer? I didn't know it was a law enforcement officer because when he came out, I guess he was putting his jacket on and it wasn't necessarily his fault. He was adjusting and happened to catch me.

But I saw the gun and I panicked originally and kind of thought, oh, gosh, I got the who's this guy. And then once I realized it was a sheriff's office, I was totally OK. But they still had a gun and told me they were going to shoot me. But I was really concerned about my daughter asking why she was being detained in handcuffs and things like that when.

That shouldn't even happen for a child. That shouldn't happen for someone who was standing inside of a store shopping because we couldn't have any clothes because all of our clothes were here. If we came here and got clothes, you know, we would be harassed. So she went to purchase some underwear and things like that and was putting the handcuffs in the store, you know, and then brought out with men with guns. And there's, that's just not okay. You know, they could approach me and said, hi, I'm Wade El Paso County. Can I please get this instead of the way that it happened? I'm just going to check your shot. Doing great. I'm not sure that we're

Still good on recording. Still can hear you okay? Okay. Yeah. Sounds like we're good. Everyone small my mic. I want to make sure it's not going to happen here. I should try and clarify here. Not necessarily crime rates, but the way that people are reacting online to rumors about you with the search. Oh, yes. Wow. The rumors have gotten so bad. I pretty much have been told at least 10 different ways that these people have these conspiracy theories. I guess they watch a lot of law shows and maybe they have all these theories on how

how Gannon is dead. And that's what they're saying. So I'm like, why are you saying Gannon is dead? He is not dead. We are going to find Gannon. And that's the main goal that we all have. My family has. Just because you haven't seen us, we have that same goal. We've been out searching. My aunt has been out searching. My family has been out searching. We all have been doing that together so that we can protect each other. How does it feel when not only you have a lost child who you are in care of,

but then people blaming you for that child and family. You know, I'm just ready for Gannon to come home. Most importantly, for him to see his family. But second, I am going to be so ecstatic when I'm able to say to people that I hope they have a really sincere apology for all these theories that have came out online, for all the things they said that I have done or people have done. I just want everyone to know that

We're going to find Gannon and I love him so much. I've helped taking care of him for so long. Can you talk to me a little bit about him? I don't know him.

Gannon is so kind and he loves to play video games. That's one of his favorite things. He loves Sonic and Mario. And, you know, he's always helpful. And he was always so helpful with the dogs around the house. And we have two little cute dogs. And he was always like a person I could say, Gannon, can you go do this? And he would do it right away. You know, sometimes with kids, we have to remind them and things like that. And that's okay. But he was so sweet and able to help anyone. He could notice when you're sick and say, are you okay? And such a kind heart.

I know you just said that you can't say anything about the investigation, so you can just say so again if you can't answer this. But is there anything we can hear about the hike? Was there a hike? That just seems like rumors right now. You know what? Could we bring my daughter up here? Because she can go and say that she came home from work after the hike, and she can verify that Gannon was at our home. Okay. Yeah, that's fine with me. If she doesn't want to, that's okay, but you're allowed to say that. Is that okay so far? Yes. I need Harley.

I need Hartley because they want you to verify with Gannon at home after the hike because you didn't go to the hike, but you came home from work. Hmm. No, just answer the question. Yes, you came home from work and you can verify Gannon was at home. Yeah. I thought she didn't have to be too in depth because she is still, you know, a child. But I want to make sure that someone knows that there's another person to verify that Gannon. Sure.

does she need to hold this no yes so i came home later that evening i was at work and i can verify that he was there that night so there there was a hike that you guys went on but then you guys came home yes where'd you guys go hiking garden of the gods oh yes okay um i guess when and then we ate burger king afterwards so you know there you go yeah um and then it just was i'm gonna go to play at a friend's house

And then it was just, I'm off to go to Plains and get a princess. Unfortunately, I'm not able to like comment on that anymore. And for that reason is because some things have been turned and twisted. And, you know, that was one of those stories you were talking about where people say things. We had to hear things like who would let their child go out at dark and things like that. And that's just why I don't want to answer that. If I had to give, I'm not going to say that part. That's okay. Nevermind. I could take that out. I understand that it gets tricky with people's stuff.

Do you feel like I asked you what I need to do you feel like this is going to help kind of turn the tide of. What feels like a witch hunt in my opinion. I hope is it my own camera? Okay. Okay. I think that a lot of people can see that I'm not missing and see that I am being cooperative and, but to me, it's okay that they think those things because my, the way someone thinks about me.

I don't have a problem with that. My main thing is I would never want someone to think that I would hurt Gannon or any of the children in our home, because that's just not the case. I've spent my whole entire life working so hard in education. There was even things online that was talking about my education license and I shouldn't even be a teacher. And they just didn't know that. Like we moved on a military move and I didn't finish out my contract. So I gave up my license in that state.

It had nothing to do with any criminal activity, you know, or any of those things. And it just got blown out of proportion on my professional status, you know. Do you feel like these are just Internet detectives who think they know what they're doing?

It definitely is. And, you know, here's the thing that kind of saddens me. It's like if you're going to talk about someone like that and have a witch hunt out for them, why would you even care, like, about doing those things? Because this is a child. You're telling me that you're just as mean. You're just as hateful to talk about someone else like that. That's how I feel. Like, we just should not. We should all come together and wait until the end and see what happens because Gannon's going to come home. Any message for Gannon?

The message for Gannon I have is, Gannon, when you get here, you'll be able to truly tell what happened. And then I really hope I get a sincere apology from everyone who has made all those things, especially from my husband. We just wanted to add a message to Gannon from my family is that we love you and miss you. And we hope that you come home soon. And Gannon, I can't wait for you to come home and let everyone know that you're okay. We love you.

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So first of all, we can hear and see if you're watching the video version of this, that she literally tells Harley exactly what to say. And you can even catch her a few times referring to Gannon in the past tense.

Then, she was really quick to turn on the tears when she realized her first statement to Gannon probably wouldn't be received well. In the first statement, she was more concerned about getting an apology than she was about him actually returning home safely. That's clearly how she felt, but in her manipulative mind, she knew she had to come across more loving and concerned on camera for her public image.

However, I think everyone could pretty much see right through that interview and that the fake tears didn't make a bit of difference in how she is perceived. Day six of the trial started on Tuesday morning. The first witness called to the stand was Letitia's half-brother Dakota Lowry. I don't think anybody was prepared for how emotional his testimony would be.

Before the prosecution even began questioning him, Dakota yelled, "'Why, Tisha?' from the stand. You could immediately tell that the death of Gannon and the arrest of his sister as the responsible party for the death had absolutely shaken him to his core. So much so that they took the cameras off of him for a couple minutes. The jury left and they made sure that he was okay and could gain his composure before resuming and answering questions."

But before they turned off the cameras, you could see Letitia sitting there, not even looking bothered in the slightest that her brother was so heartbroken. It's important to note that Dakota has been open about his anger towards Letitia. He did not want to testify, but he was subpoenaed, meaning that he had no choice. He flew in from North Carolina on Monday night so that he could testify on Tuesday.

the grief and trauma that he is still dealing with could be easily noticed during his testimony as well. While we are all so angry and sad for Gannon and Gannon's family, but I also do feel for Letitia's family. They didn't ask to have a monster for a family member, and they, just as much as anyone else, wish none of this ever happened to Gannon or his family.

In late January 2020, after Gannon went missing, Dakota, their mom Deborah, and their aunt Brenda flew from North Carolina to Colorado. According to his testimony, their family initially felt that Letitia was being wrongfully accused for something they thought that she would never do, and they wanted to be in Colorado to support her, but also to help in the searches for Gannon. On January 31st, the family helped Letitia start moving things out of the family home.

Now, the family had been staying in a hotel, and Brenda had rented a van to help move things out. Dakota testified that when they were moving belongings from the family home into the van, there were police there keeping a close eye on everything being brought out of the home. And for him, in that moment, he was aggravated because he felt as if their entire family was being closely watched and being looked at as if they were criminals.

Because of that and how the people of Colorado were treating them, he said that they never actually searched in Colorado for Gannon. But he claims that he still wanted to look, and so did some other family members of the family. On February 1st, Letitia was planning to leave Colorado. She went to rent a new van at the budget rental store, since the one they initially packed everything in was their Aunt Brenda's, and it's the one that she had rented.

So they were all moving items, including many suitcases, from the first van to the second van. Dakota saw Letitia struggling to carry a green suitcase that looked extremely heavy. When he saw that suitcase, he felt that something was off. But when he asked her what was in it, she told him there was softball stuff in it, which unbeknownst to him at the time, that was actually the suitcase that held Gannon's body.

which was exactly why it was so heavy for her to carry.

Now, I know that a lot of people are going to wonder how he believed her about the suitcase's contents. But if you really think about it, at that time, they didn't think that she would ever do anything to Gannon. He was only considered missing at that point as well. And considering she had so many different suitcases being loaded, I can understand why they didn't open up every suitcase. But this does go to show that most of the time, our gut feeling that something is weird or wrong is usually correct.

After discussing the suitcase Letitia was carrying, the prosecution showed a photo of the suitcase that Gannon was found in. Now let's listen to that part of the testimony as well as some of the parts that came after. At this time, I'd like to publish People's Exhibit 48. It's already been admitted into evidence. Go ahead. You recognize that suitcase we see on the TV screen? Yep. How do you recognize that suitcase? It's an old suitcase.

I remember that suitcase a little old and it's green. Is that the suitcase you saw your sister putting into the budget van? That the suitcase you asked her about what's in it? Yep. Is that the suitcase you didn't feel right about? Yep. That suitcase you told you softball equipment was in? Yep. Thank you. Take that down. So what happens after you get everything loaded into the budget van from your aunt's rental van?

At that point, we was ready to go home. Did you drive Brenda Ockward's van back? And did Ms. Stout, your sister, drive the budget van? I can't remember if we turned that van in there at that place or if we had to turn it in somewhere else. But I mean, I had to drive one of them because it was just me and her. So do you eventually turn back? It's an Enterprise van, right? Is that where you rented the van that Brenda Ockward rented? I think, yeah.

did you take that van back yeah we took it back i think we took back later on that day and did you take the nissan ultima back to denver to catch your flight yep what did the defendant tell you where she was going to go i don't think i can remember i don't remember i don't think members are saying something about going back to myrtle beach and did she leave with harley yeah and all they live did they leave from the hotel i can't remember where we split up at i can't remember where we but did your sister have to go back to the hotel to pick up harley

yep i think so and is that the last time you saw your sister until today how much older is your sister than you 14 years you known her your whole life yeah can you give the jury uh an idea about the family background how often when you see her as you're growing up that kind of thing like holidays came around on holidays where would you guys meet in north carolina

But she didn't come down here or go down there. We might have went to the beach and seen her. Had you gone to Myrtle Beach on a few occasions to hang out with Harley? Yeah, me and her. I used to go down there and stay with them. We'd go to the water park, stuff like that on the weekends. Can you let the jury know who your father is? James Lowry. And would that have been your sister's stepfather? Yes, sir.

Is your dad still alive? I swear. Do you know when he died? Seventh birthday, 2004. Do you know the circumstances on how he died? Got hit by a car. Was he walking out in the street? I don't think he was on the street. I think he was on the side of the road. Do you know anything about the relationship between your father and your sister, Letitia Stout?

No, sir. Had your sister ever told you anything unusual between their relationship, between your father and... No, sir. If there had been something unusual, do you think you would have heard about it? Objection. Overruled. Yes, sir. Why is that? Because, I mean, I'm pretty sure my mom would have said something. Your mother, Debra, was she... What kind of mom was she? She was a great mom to me. What do you say to me?

I'm just saying that I had no problem with my mama. Was she very protective? I think none of us should have a problem with my mama. Was she very protective of the kids? Yes, sir. Including Ms. Stout? Yes, sir.

The ending of that testimony is what really struck me. He seems to be upset about the light in which Letitia has tried to paint their mother in. Now, I don't know much about Deborah, but the way that Dakota spoke about it seems as though he was alluding to Letitia being the only child to have a problem with their mom. It seemed like he was just looking for a way to insert his opinion on Letitia's claims toward their mother, and when the opportunity arose, he took it.

There was some more testimony done after that segment, including talk about Letitia's mental health. Dakota didn't remember Letitia having any serious mental health issues, but he did say that he thinks she may have OCD. However, he described OCD as obsessive cleaning disorder rather than obsessive compulsive disorder, which made me think that if she really is someone who is a neat freak, so to speak, she did a horrible job on crime cleanup with all the evidence that she left behind.

Cross-exam wasn't extremely long. Dakota admitted to the defense that he initially thought Letitia had suffered from some sort of break, but at this point, he doesn't think so anymore. The cross-exam was mostly focused on the family, specifically Dakota's dad. Dakota confirmed his dad has an alcohol issue and shared that his father used to regularly harm his wife and their mom, Deborah.

He also shared that one time his father forced him to drink so much alcohol that he passed out. Letitia was seen nodding her head when he was telling this story about being forced to drink, which, chill out, Letitia, because that piece of information isn't making your case any better, but it's almost as though she was trying to nod and be like, yeah, our dad was mean to us, our dad did things, which, not to excuse the father's behavior in the slightest, but like, that doesn't give you a leg to stand on, in my opinion.

The saddest thing Dakota said in all of this was, when everything first happened, when we first found out they found the little boy's body, we found out where he was found at that point. I knew she did it because when I saw that suitcase and asked her about it, she was acting funny to me. I can't imagine having to come to the realization that my sibling was even capable of something so heinous.

It sounds like she won't be hearing much from her family based on how they feel about her and the anger that they hold toward her. After DeConis' testimony, a couple of detectives who had placed GPS trackers on the rental, Nissan Altima and Leticia's Volkswagen SUV, came in and they were questioned. Nothing super significant came of those testimonies, and lunch was taken, and then they brought up John Wotan. John is an Avis and budget rental representative.

He was there to discuss the car's whereabouts after February 1st. He explained that the car pinged in multiple different areas and states. The car drove through and made stops in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida before being returned to a branch in South Carolina over a week later. Eventually, the van ended up in Rhode Island. Once in Rhode Island, John Grassl, a detective lieutenant, was in charge of processing the car for evidence.

When they say this case spanned multiple states, they were clearly putting that lightly. This case has so many different locations involved, it's almost hard to keep track of. Detective Grassl took photos of the van and then searched the van for any pieces of evidence that he could find. He found a dog toy and a prepaid Verizon card, which, well done on the Verizon card, Letitia. We already knew that she bought another phone when hers was taken, so this was just proof of that.

Detective Grassl also noticed quite a few stains inside of the van. He chemically tested those stains, and there was a color reaction which indicated blood or iron. During the cross-exam, Detective Grassl did clarify that he didn't know whose blood was in the car, and that the sample was sent off to Colorado. Next to the stand was the 911 dispatcher, who took the initial call that Letitia made to report Gannon as missing.

Not much came from her testimony other than her saying that typically when a child is a runaway for the first time, the parents act a bit more concerned than Letitia seemed to be acting. Obviously, knowing what we know now, it makes total sense as to why she wasn't acting concerned because, hello, she was not concerned.

But nonetheless, it did strike the dispatcher as odd initially. They did play the 911 calls, but the quality was really not that great in the courtroom. Sergeant Hubble testified next, and he is from the El Paso Sheriff's Department and was working on the case, which initially started as a runaway child and then switched to a missing persons investigation.

A video was shown that Sergeant Hubbell had taken. The video was essentially the tour of the home, which was great for the jury to see because it really showed the layout so that they can get a full understanding of everything.

Sergeant Hubble explained that all available detectives began working on the case as soon as they started feeling a lack of cooperation on Letitia's end. He discussed the blood that was found in Gannon's room, and again, for someone who's a clean freak, allegedly, she did a terrible job, and thank goodness for that.

Sergeant Hubbell explained that finding the blood really escalated their investigation. There was blood found on an electrical outlet in Gannon's room. They also found blood on the walls and, as discussed last week, on the concrete underneath the carpet in his room. While they could tell that the blood had been cleaned up, there were traces left behind and some areas weren't as clean as others.

Blood was found in different areas of the house, such as the living room floor, the laundry room, the downstairs steps, the storage room floors, and more. But, as expected, the majority of the blood was found in Gannon's room. The last testimony of the day came from a forensic nurse named Amanda, who was doing the SANE exam on Letitia. And this was on January 29th, after Letitia had disclosed that she had been violently raped during her interview with law enforcement.

And if you aren't familiar with that story, go back a couple videos on my YouTube channel because I break it all down. She had like three different rapists that she named saying like that her and Gannon were held hostage, but then this attacker and assaulter allowed her to make phone calls. Like it's just bizarre, bizarre, bizarre. So while this nurse was testifying, Letitia apparently said that she was going out to the waiting room to see Harley, but then she actually left and never came back.

However, from what the nurse did gather, there was no evidence of her ever being assaulted, nor was there any evidence of trauma to her head. Leticia told her that the incident happened in her home between 2.45 and 4 p.m. However, we know that Lena came home from school shortly after 3 p.m., so by that timeline, it wouldn't make any sense.

And first off, it really upset me that she lied about being sexually assaulted and took up a nurse's time for no reason. There are people who are actually getting violated and people who are trying to help them and are basically not believed due to people like Letitia lying about things like this.

The nurse did notice marks on Letitia's hands, which would indicate a struggle. And it would make sense considering what we've learned and that Gannon was trying to defend himself. So that was the final testimony on Tuesday, and then court was set to resume Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning started with Detective Jessica Bethel, a former El Paso Sheriff's Office detective who was the lead in Gannon's case. Jessica explained that this case got a lot of social media attention and quickly grew to having at least 10 agencies involved. It was described as an all-hands-on-deck approach. Jessica initially reached out to Leticia about wanting to come to the house to talk to them and search the house for clues. However, Leticia didn't want Jessica to come over to the house.

She told her that there were other kids in the house and she didn't want them overhearing conversations. So Letitia and Jessica agreed to meet at a Starbucks per Letitia's request. Al accompanied her and another detective accompanied Jessica for that interview. The interview wasn't something that brought forth a bunch of information. However, there was something that stuck out during it. And it stuck out to me.

Gannon had supposedly texted Al asking for bath salts on Monday. This was a day after Gannon had asked Letitia for some, and she claimed that she had given him a bath bomb to help with his stomach issues. Al said that after Gannon texted him about bath salts, he told Letitia to go and check his backpack. Allegedly, a two-pack of Swisher Sweet cigars was found.

According to all we've heard about Gannon, he doesn't seem like the type of 11-year-old to be hiding cigarettes.

There's something that just seems very odd in this. It seems like maybe Letitia was going out of her way and staging things ahead of time to make Gannon look like an out-of-control, young, almost teenager. An out-of-control tween, I would say, would fit her narrative of him being a runaway. Now, I want to play a part of Jessica's testimony that really stood out to me. This is in regards to all of the times that Letitia contacted Jessica on those first couple of days and her avoidance of interviews.

Were you making efforts to get the defendant down to the sheriff's office to sit for a formal interview? Yes, while that was happening did Al stout again and father show up at the sheriff's office and actually sit for an interview. Yes, he did. Was that about 430 PM on January 28th? Yes.

Did you send a text to the defendant asking her to come down at roughly the same time? I did. Did she come down? No, she did not. Did she even respond to your text message? I don't believe she responded initially, no. Okay. Later that evening at about 6 p.m., did you get a call from the defendant? Yes, I did. And what was the call? Was it to your cell phone?

Yes. Does the sheriff's office have areas in the building that make cell phone service difficult? Yes, they do. Did you experience that with this particular phone call? Yes, I did. So what did you do in response to that? Because I wasn't able to completely talk to Leticia on the phone, I hung up with her and I called from a landline located within the sheriff's office. Did you get a better connection on that? I did.

Was that particular phone call recorded? No, it was not. Do you remember what she told you or what the discussion was during that phone call? She was discussing her relationship with Gannon and Lena. She told me about how her parenting and Al's parenting was separate.

that they never formally adopted each other's children, that she wasn't allowed to make parenting decisions for Gannon or Lena, and Al was not allowed to make parenting decisions for Harley.

Okay. And then did she tell you during this particular phone call the last time that she actually saw Gannon, at least the way that she's reporting it? She did. She mentioned that she saw him, I believe it was between 3.15 and 4. And she had mentioned that there was a TV show on that she had liked to watch. And I asked her what that TV show was, and she could not tell me the name of the TV show.

Did she describe the clothing that Gannon was last seen wearing by her? Yes, she did. What was that? She said it was a blue shirt, blue pants, and his tennis shoes. Did she also mention a blue hoodie? Yes.

did you ask her during this phone call if she would come down and talk with you at the sheriff's office yes did she accept that invitation or did she decline it she declined did she give you a reason why she was declining it she said that her stomach was bothering her and she was having to make multiple stops at different walgreens to use the restroom later on at about 7 0 3 p.m did you get another call from the defendant i did what was that phone call about uh she was facetiming me

And she was mad because her daughter was left alone with a bunch of men in the home, she claimed. At that time, the sheriff's office was at the home to get Lena at Al's request. So I think that's later on when she's asking about that. Would that potentially have been at 1152 p.m., that particular call?

a facetime call where she's upset about and needing al to come home that could have been yes okay did you i guess uh after that 703 call um did you get another call from al in which he was upset yes i did what was that all about al was al called me and he was sobbing i could tell that he was upset

And he told me that he didn't tell us everything. He had previously done an interview with my partner, Mark Riley. And he explained that Leticia had rented a vehicle from the airport when she picked him up and that he did not disclose that to us.

Did he also talk about trying to find her normal vehicle, the black Tiguan? Yes. Was he able to find it? He was not, no. Was that causing him distress, at least as he's relaying it to you? Yes. Did that lead to him coming back into the sheriff's office for another interview? Yes. And then later on that night, about 10.45 p.m., did you get a text message from the defendant? No.

A rather long text message. She's texted me multiple times that night. Yes. Do you remember the specific content of that text message? I don't for that time frame. Okay. If I showed you a report, would that refresh your memory as to the specific content of that text message? Yes. You may approach. You may.

And for the record, what I'd handed to detective, I'm sorry, Miss Bethel is pagination 01-0043. Did that refresh your memory as to this longer text message? Yes. What did the text message say to you? She was asking what I wanted from her and she was saying that she was being set up and that she learned that information from a fellow blue with El Paso County.

Was that basically an implication that she had an inside source to the investigation to you? Yes. Was that did that turn out to be true? No, it was not true. Did she also express during that text message the same sort of thing that she was upset about her daughter being in the house with people from the sheriff's office men from the sheriff's office? Yes.

Did she relay in that particular text message the idea that she could hear what was being discussed inside the home because of cameras or something in the home? Yes. Did you respond to her? I did. What did you respond with? I asked her if she had any information to help me find Gannon. Did you also invite her to come into the sheriff's office to talk with you? Yes. Did she accept or what happened? She declined. Can we retrieve that page from you?

Leticia's first phone call to Jessica seemed over the top. I don't understand why she would need to talk to the detective about their parenting styles being different and not being able to discipline. It was almost like she was using Jessica as a therapist or to get her on her side. The excuse she made about stopping at different Walgreens to use the restroom was so oddly specific.

Also, her FaceTime call about Harley being left with a bunch of men is ridiculous. She said that she had cameras, so why was she so worried? Couldn't she have just watched the cameras if it was that big of a deal to her? The prosecution then went and played audio from a FaceTime call between Letitia and Jessica. It's pretty short, so let's listen to that full audio. I'm just trying to figure out, I got your message about something I talked to you earlier and

You didn't say anything else. I'm just trying to be, I'm confused at what you want me to do, what's going on. You talked to me, now you want to talk to me again. Well, you sent me that message saying, I don't know what you want from me, so. Yes, because, I mean, my child couldn't leave. I couldn't go home. I don't have anywhere to sleep. I mean, like, I just don't understand. Well, I'm sorry. I mean,

That sort of kind of came out of left field for me. All I'm trying to do is gather information to find Bannon. I don't understand what you mean came out of left field. My own child could not leave. So how is that out of left field? What do you mean your child couldn't leave? She was trying to go to Starbucks and was left there and forced to stay there with men in and out the home by herself. Okay, I don't know what happened at your home. Um...

I know that she was offered the opportunity to come into the office and she didn't want to. So she, she didn't go into the office. What does she need to go into office for food? She can't go get coffee and had to be asked why she gets coffee. Starbucks app to see that she gets coffee like every day. Is there anything more that you, you might be able to share with me to help me find Gannon?

Where are you now? You keep asking me this over and over and over. Where are you now? I'm not going in to talk to you without an attorney when you already talked to me earlier. Okay, and that's perfectly fine.

I just don't understand what's going on. Do you have any further information to give me that may help me find Gannon? Any new developments, new information? I told you this. Okay. Well, then I'm going to go ahead and end the conversation then because we've already spoken. Okay. So why do you keep saying to, because someone came.

and looking for me, wanting me to go talk to them. So now it's you. So I'm trying to figure out what's going on. You and I have already spoken. If you don't want to come in to speak with me at the office, that's completely fine. I don't know. And so what I'm saying at this point in time, Letitia, is if you don't have any other information for me to actively look through to find Gannon,

There's no point in me continuing this conversation. I need to get off the phone here and start working on leads and developments. All right, thanks.

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Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Letitia was clearly more concerned about her and Harley than she was about Gannon. Personally, I feel it was evident that her intentions were to make her life as easy as possible and not have to deal with Gannon being missing. She seemed to be working on distracting Jessica with anything she could other than Gannon's whereabouts.

After that call, Letitia and Jessica kept texting, but all the text messages were mostly centered around Letitia herself. Not much about Gannon. Jessica was continually pushing for an interview, and in the early morning hours of the 29th, Letitia texted Jessica with a story about something happening to her, but said that she couldn't talk about it in front of Al as he would become violent.

So Jessica scheduled a 10 a.m. interview at the sheriff's office, but Letitia didn't show up until about noon. Letitia claimed that she was late due to taking safety measures, as she claimed that her daughter Harley was being stalked and that they were getting death threats. However, Jessica said that there was no indication of either of those things being true. So what was she doing during that two-hour window?

Shortly after that, they started playing the interview that Letitia showed up to at noon for, which was over four hours long. In the beginning of that recording, Letitia was in the room by herself waiting for the interview to start, and quite honestly, she seemed unbothered as hell. The prosecutor wanted the jurors to take note about how she was acting and how it relates to her mental health.

Anyways, sorry that's not important, but now I'm craving a Hot Pocket.

So Letitia acknowledged that they would be recording the call, knowing that that was going to happen. However, she wanted to make sure that they wouldn't share what she said, since she would be telling them some very personal information. She also was read her Miranda rights, agreed, and signed a waiver acknowledging her agreement. So Letitia started talking, and Letitia talked about her job as a fifth grade teacher and that she just finished her job. She was in between deciding what to do next.

She said that she has a doctorate in special education, but since she didn't want to be a teacher anymore, she was thinking about being a flight attendant and had been conversing back and forth with Spirit Airlines.

Letitia talked about taking a hike at the Garden of Gods the day before Gannon went missing. She said Gannon started having stomach problems and accidents, so their hike was cut short. But she noted that it was totally okay. Her exact words. She said Gannon's ADHD medication sometimes caused him stomach problems, which caused him to struggle with constipation. Letitia then spoke about Gannon lighting the infamous candle.

Gannon was allowed to light candles so long as he was being safe. Leticia said that the alarm went off and when she tried to enter the code, the alarm wouldn't stop screeching fire, fire, fire. Shortly after that, she realized smoke was coming up from the basement.

Now, Lena is a very heavy sleeper, but fortunately, she woke up quite easily that night. Leticia gave her the keys and had her take the dogs to the car. She went to the basement and saw a fire on the ground. According to her story, Gannon was asleep on the couch next to the fire. They were able to put out the fire, and they left the home because the fire was out. She was panicked, and Gannon was upset and afraid about punishments to come. When they got back, they agreed to fix the carpet the next day.

Now, I want to pause right here. Remember her story of him knocking the candle over while playing on his Nintendo Switch when he wasn't supposed to? Which is it? Because once again, she's unable to keep a story straight.

Leticia then began talking about the next morning. She said on Monday, it's when she first noticed the burns. Again, I find it hard to believe an 11-year-old child would be so badly burned that their skin is bubbling and peeling that they wouldn't have said anything sooner. Also, just for clarity's sake, as we sort through all of her lies, this version of the story has already been disproven based on the video shown during opening statements.

Because if you remember that video, it was taken on Sunday night. So it wouldn't make sense for her to take that video but not know about the burns. And let's listen to it again just as a refresher. Are you sure you didn't do it on purpose? Okay, you promised.

He comes pinky promise. Okay. All right. So listen, listen. All right, we're going to sell stuff to fix it. Okay, so we figure out what we got to sell. We can sell the sofa. We can sell whatever because we got to get it fixed. So lady don't be mad at us and kick aside the house. Okay. You got it.

You got it? I'm just worried about my parents. Okay, shh. Listen, listen, listen, listen. So tomorrow... In that interview, Letitia explained that Gannon was home from school on Monday not just because he was having stomach issues, but also to help deal with the carpet. According to her, the reason he stayed in bed late was because he knew the plan was for them to go out and run errands later.

The court went to recess for lunch and came back to listen to more of that interview. In this part of Letitia's bogus interview, Letitia talks about driving to the new home builds in the neighborhood to find a construction worker to help fix the carpet. She said the guy in the construction area gave them a roll of the carpet that was used in their living room.

But then, she quickly said that she actually gave him the garage code so that he could go in and fix it for them while they were gone. Her and Gannon then ran some errands, including going to Petco to find some clothes for the dog. Letitia said Gannon's stomach was hurting, so he stayed in Al's truck. She said she parked in the front and was still keeping an eye on him while she was in the store.

and she actually said that she went to Petco twice. At some point, they got gas, and next to Letitia talked about what happened when they got home. She said that she heard noises, saw that the bookshelf where their guns were typically stored was open, and realized that the guy was still inside the house. She then started crying, saying,

She said she didn't think anything about him having a gun and walked downstairs. When she opened the storage closet, the carpet guy was standing there with gloves on and holding a gun. He pushed her to the ground and was trying to take advantage of her in a sexual way. She said Gannon came in and was trying to protect her. Then she said she blacked out for a little bit. But when she came to, she thought Gannon was hiding. So she ran upstairs because Lena was about to come home.

When she went downstairs, the man had Gannon. She said Lena got home and that she sent her to go get the mail, following up with, and this is a quote, "...the reason I sent Lena away was because I wanted her to be safe too, so I sent her on a mission to get mail. Lena never gets the mail. Nothing like that. I sent her on a mission to get the mail. I started making things up for Lena to do. I told her just to stay gone for a little while."

Now, I honestly wonder what the detective was thinking in that moment. I'm pretty positive they've never had a situation in which someone like the construction guy just lets the victim just casually go upstairs to talk to their stepdaughter and then send them out while the perpetrator essentially holds the other child as a hostage. It just does not make sense. But nothing that Letitia has said has made any sense, so I'm not shocked about that. But back to the interview.

According to Letitia, when she went downstairs, she was pleading with this guy and he began assaulting her again.

She said that she hit her head on the table again, she blacked out, and that when she woke up, she didn't know what had happened. Letitia said that the man asked her for a suitcase, which she provided, and he kept hitting her on the head, causing her to black out again. When she woke up, she claimed Gannon was gone. She broke down and said that Gannon didn't actually leave the house. She was worried about the punishment of giving someone the garage code, and that that's why she lied.

The whole time she was talking about that, she seemed more emotional than she was any time prior to that moment. But then she dried up real quick, or just stopped the fake crying, and had zero emotion. She was taking accountability for not reporting the truth of Gannon being kidnapped sooner. She said she planned to tell Harley when she got home from work, but then didn't. They were all supposed to go out for sushi, and she couldn't just take the girls and simply tell them that Gannon wasn't there.

So, she disclosed that she had made a plan to call authorities if it got to a certain time and she didn't have any information or plan to get Gannon back from this supposed intruder. The way that she was acting in that interview was not an act of someone who was having a mental breakdown. She was able to decipher right from wrong. According to her story, she knew right from wrong.

So she seems very calculated in her movements and in her stories. No one simply schedules a time to call the police unless they're being calculative and trying to get away with something.

Letitia then talked about calling the police. She said that's when they came. They asked her the questions, searched the house, her car, and everywhere else on the property. The search took four hours, and it was late at night when it was done. Letitia quickly jumped subjects and talked about getting a rental at budget. Her car was a lease, and she said she could only put 1,000 miles on it. According to her, she was very anal about it.

She said her car was actually parked in the short-term parking at the airport, and she admitted to lying to Al about where the car was by telling him it was at the elementary school. She said she didn't want him to know that she was going to give up teaching full-time to be a flight attendant, so leaving it at the school made sense to her.

Leticia kept talking about the car and the places that she left it, such as outside of a hotel. Jessica then asked Leticia about Gannon's burns again. At first, she said she didn't remember where the burns were on his arms, but that she said it was in the inner forearms. I kind of think that she said she didn't remember because she needed to try to think back to what she had told detectives beforehand. There is no way I just wouldn't remember where my child was severely burned at.

Jessica was really trying to get to the location in which this carpet guy was found and hired, but Letitia didn't want to give an address because if she was wrong, it wouldn't be fair to her. The lady is just so calculated that she absolutely had to be sane during all of this, in my opinion.

So Letitia finally gave a name and a description of this who we now know is a fake carpet guy. Well, I guess she actually gave two names. She said it was Eduardo or Eduardo, a five foot eight skinny guy wearing a tool belt, a winter vest, blue jeans and boots. Letitia said she left $50 on the counter and told him that they had cameras on her way out of the door.

Letitia continued talking about the attack and then asked if it was too late to check her body. When Jessica asked specific questions, Letitia had a hard time answering them in detail. However, she did say that the guy went inside of her, if you get what I'm saying, that he like finished inside of her.

According to Letitia, Gannon was yelling help at some point, and the second round of the assault, Gannon was yelling get off of her. Gannon didn't know exactly what this man was trying to do, but knew that someone was trying to harm her, according to Letitia.

Leticia said she could smell, you know, an odor of paint or drywall, that kind of odor and alcohol on this man. Leticia was basically talking in circles by this point. And I know that is exactly what Jessica was trying to get to happen. While confusing for us to watch and listen, they needed to capture her in her lies.

When the detective mentioned the SANE exam, Leticia said, I would do anything for you to figure out who Eduardo is. But then she said that she already had washed all of her clothing that she was wearing during that time and that she actually didn't even remember what outfit she was wearing. Leticia was clearly done by this point, so she asked if she could leave. The detectives told her that they wanted her to go to the hospital. She said she would go do that, but that she wanted to go home beforehand and she didn't want to be looked at differently because of the police showing up with her.

The detectives explained that they would go in through the back door in plain clothing so it would be discreet. She started naming reasons why she needed to go home, though. Couldn't go to the hospital. Had to go home first. And some of her reasons were that she was hungry, thirsty, had chapped lips, needed to shower, her lips were burning, and whatever else she could think of or say in that moment. And I just have to say, for someone whose stepson was missing, the lack of concern for him really was showing. Rather than

going to the hospital to get a sane exam to find this perpetrator who kidnapped him, you're more concerned with going and putting Aquaphor on your lips? Like, make it make sense. And for someone who claimed to be harmed herself and claimed to want this perpetrator found, she really didn't seem interested in following the steps to ensure that that would happen. It was all about her, and her only. But it all makes sense, because this was just a complete made-up story to take the focus off what really happened to Gannon.

Eventually, Letitia walked out of the interview room. A different detective, who was a man, took her cell phone and told her that they were applying for a search warrant. Letitia responded that it was unconstitutional, and he told her that she could bring that up later. She kept asking for directions and her family. They eventually told her that she was being detained for false reporting until they could get a search warrant and they put her back in the interview room.

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

Go to ssa.gov slash extra help.

Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It was essentially one big verbal temper tantrum at the end, since she wasn't getting her way like she had planned for. By this point, the interview recording was not fully done, but it was late in the day, so the announcement was made that whatever is left on the audio, about 30 minutes, would be played on Friday morning. So day eight started on Friday, continuing with Letitia's four-hour interrogation video. She could be seen standing in front of the couch, taking what seemed to be some sort of medication.

After that, it seemed like she sipped a little too much water because she then proceeded to stuff some napkins down her pants and said, "I just peed myself a little. Now my pants are wet." She was continuing to be a little weird and she could be seen pacing around and she was either starting to feel really nervous because she knew no one was believing her lies or she was trying to make it look like she was having a lot of anxiety so that she could get out of that room.

She argued with the detective about the door being open and told him that she has claustrophobia and hadn't taken her lorazepam, gosh, that's a full word, lorazepam that day, which is a medication for anxiety. Detective Jess Bethel was seen coming back into the room and Letitia complained about having chest pains from the door being closed and said it was giving her anxiety.

So Letitia asked if she could use the restroom, and Detective Bethel said that she could, but that they would have to be with her to make sure that she didn't flush or wipe so that no evidence was lost from the alleged attack. After that, she said that she just needed her medication and didn't want to see medical professionals, but they had already contacted EMTs at that point to come and check her out.

When the EMTs arrived, she acted like she was having severe chest pressure, which somehow made it so that she couldn't comprehend or answer questions, as simple as her birthday. The EMTs didn't find anything wrong with her after running her vitals, and they told her that her oxygen was 100%, even though she said she was having trouble breathing.

Now, I know that severe anxiety can sometimes make you feel like you are having a heart attack and can make you feel like you can't breathe. But knowing what we know about Letitia, it seems like she was just being dramatic because she didn't want to be in that interrogation room any longer and she didn't want to answer any more questions. They ended up transporting her to the hospital for further testing and to complete that SANE exam due to the alleged attack. Based on previous testimonies, we know that she ended up leaving the hospital without completing the exam.

Two days later, on January 31st, she began moving her things out of the family home and had the interview that we heard about from the reporter Spencer Wilson. If you remember in the interview with reporter Wilson, she told him that several of her constitutional rights were violated during that interrogation and that they didn't allow her to eat, drink, or use the restroom.

The video shown in the court proved all of those statements to be false. Because remember, she was munching on a Hot Pocket, downing a Coke, and then, I mean, I guess she didn't use the bathroom because she peed her pants. But again, just another Letitia lie. That should be the hashtag, Letitia lie, and like we count how many.

So Detective Jess Bethel testified that after Letitia had moved out of the family home, she began texting her multiple times a day asking her if she could retrieve her passport and her bag from the car that was seized. There was a period of time where Jess stopped getting any messages from Letitia, and at the beginning of March, investigators found out that she had fled to South Carolina.

Jess and some other detectives obtained a probable cause warrant for her arrest and made the trip to South Carolina to extradite her back to Colorado. Leticia was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and she was transported in a minivan by Detective Bethel, Deputy Michaela James, and Detective Riley.

Now, in the van, Letitia was mostly cordial and even sang songs, a la Jodi Arias, nod to her. She ate, she played games, and talked to the officers to pass the time on the over 24-hour trip back to Colorado, which I can't imagine being stuck in a vehicle with Letitia for that long, so I really feel for those officers on that one.

The entire trip was video recorded, and the courtroom was very happy and relieved to hear that they weren't going to play the entire video, especially after having to just sit through that four-hour-long interrogation. However, a small portion of the video from that trip was played, and it documented a complete change in Letitia's demeanor.

In the clip, you can see Letitia moving around, which we now know was her attempting to free her hands from the handcuffs that were attached to a belly band placed around her waist. She made several glances at Deputy Michaela James' lap area, which is where her gun was secured in a holster on her hip.

Letitia was successful in getting her hands free, and she grabbed a full, unopened Monster Energy drink can and suddenly struck Deputy James in the face. I mean, the freaking audacity of this woman.

Detective Riley was driving 75 miles per hour on Interstate 70 in Kansas and struggled to safely get to the side of the road to help Deputy James subdue Letitia. On the side of the road, he slammed on the brakes, which caused Letitia to fall back, and Detective Bethel jumped out of the passenger side and was able to get her to stop fighting.

Detective Riley wasn't able to exit on the driver's side immediately because of the traffic going past them on the interstate. During the attack, Letitia kept saying that Deputy James was threatening her, and Detective Bethel testified that when she got out to help, she could see Letitia eyeing her gun as well. Now, I think up until this point,

Letitia had been trying her best to seem like little Miss Innocent, but that mask was quickly ripped off and she looked like a complete psycho in this video.

Also, her saying that she was just trying to open the door to get some air is complete BS. Because if she really just wanted to get some air, why wouldn't she have just opened her own window or her door on her side rather than striking the detective in the face with a can of like an unopened energy drink can? It's unreal.

There was a door on her side, but even if she was hot, it wouldn't make sense to completely open a door in a moving vehicle that was going 75 miles per hour. Her story doesn't make sense. Make it make sense, Letitia. Make it make sense. It seems like whenever Letitia doesn't get what she wants right when she wants it, then she just snaps out of nowhere. Could that be indicative of what happened to Gannon? Possibly.

So Detective Bethel stated that when they were moving Letitia to the new patrol car, Letitia dropped all of her weight, which caused Detective Bethel to injure her shoulder and would actually require surgery to fix it.

She stated that after Gannon had been found, Letitia's story kept changing even more, and they weren't able to recover the shell casings from the gun, the weapon that caused the sharp force injuries, or the clothing that Letitia was wearing during the murder. She also said that Letitia began speaking in different accents in her interviews and acting like she had different personalities, but the detective didn't believe that she was insane, just very manipulative and calculated.

The defense asked Detective Bethel about Letitia's demeanor during the other 23 hours of the trip, and she said that she had acted normal up until the point of the attack. They also asked her if she had read any books about mental health disorders and asked her to give her definition of sanity, insinuating that she didn't really know what would constitute someone as being medically insane or not.

In redirect, Detective Bethel stated that she had a lot of experience with people who had been diagnosed with mental disorders, and that Letitia never came close to that same level. The next witness on the stand was a crime scene investigator named Christian, who has worked for the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab for over four years. He has worked over 75 crime scenes and has testified 10 times as a crime scene investigator in other court cases.

Investigator Christian responded to the family home on February 3, 2020, and was asked to complete a search for latent bloodstains and projectile defects, or defects caused by a firearm. He explained that latent bloodstains are stains that are very diluted or have been cleaned and need processing to be made visible. His role at any crime scene is to collect, document, and preserve blood and DNA.

To do this, he used a product called Bluestar, which we learned from previous testimony, is used to assist in making latent bloodstains more visible. If it's placed on an area where blood is present, the area will glow bright blue in the dark. The investigator Christian explained that his main task was to find blood between the garage and Gannon's bedroom, and the evidence screen began to show the photos he took after the Bluestar was sprayed throughout the home.

The photo showed blue star reactions, which glowed blue on areas of the garage floor, boards in the garage, in the laundry room, the rug at the base of the stairs, a corner in the storage room in the basement, the landing on the stairway going down to the basement, the landing wall, and the wall next to where Gannon's bed frame was located. There were also reactions to bloodstains under the area where the carpet had been cut out by the couch, and on the concrete under several other large areas of the carpet.

So the investigator Christian testified that he was also looking for projectile defects, but apparently none were found. Next, he showed several photos of cleaning products that were found around the home, as well as vinegar on the washing machine, which is known to be a good stain remover for blood.

not looking good for Letitia. So that wraps up week two of this trial. It's been long, emotional, and hard to process, but I hope that by breaking this down, you are all able to digest all of the information a bit easier. I will continue to bring you all of the updates in this angering and heartbreaking case, and hopefully it will be just a few more weeks until Gannon receives the justice he deserves.

Thank you so much for listening to this bonus episode of Serialistly. And as a reminder, if you want to watch the video version of this so that you can see the courtroom footage, the interrogation footage, all of that stuff, head on over to my YouTube, 10 to Life, or you can search Annie Elise and you can watch the video version there.

But otherwise, I will keep you updated in this case. I will keep you updated week to week over on my YouTube. And I will see you this Monday for a brand new episode of Serialistly. All right, guys. Thanks so much. This is your true crime bestie signing off. Have a great weekend, guys. Bye. An official message from Medicare.

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