EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — Letecia Stauch, who is accused of murdering her 11-year-old stepson, will not have access to the jail library for up to 90 days, according to an April 14 affidavit from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
The suspension comes after Stauch in February elected to represent herself in the first-degree murder trial of Gannon Stauch, who investigators said in an arrest affidavit was killed on the afternoon of Jan. 27, 2020.
> Video above: Letecia Stauch to represent herself at trial.
Stauch, who is being held at the El Paso County jail, refused to attend the law library program, resulting in the library suspension, the April 14 affidavit says. The affidavit says she cited "medical concerns" as the reason.
"She was concerned that her drowsiness would interfere with the early morning hours of her library slot," the affidavit says, and was told "medical staff could address her medical concerns to better fit with her assigned law library schedule."
The affidavit says Stauch said she "didn't need the law library" and to "take her off the law library list."
Judge Gregory Werner on Feb. 26 granted Stauch's request to represent herself during an Arguello advisement, which is typically used when a defendant wants to represent themselves at trial.
"It might sound audacious, but I'm really good at poker, and you know that saying, 'You got to know when to hold them and when to fold them'?" Stauch said during that hearing. "I've got the winning hand ... an ace in the hole."
Stauch also previously complained to the judge that she was granted access to the law library at the jail only a few hours a week, which is where she would need to go to access case documents electronically.
In early March, a judge ruled that Stauch be given access to the nearly 1,800 pages of discovery in the case, with the personal information of some witnesses redacted. Her next hearing is scheduled for May 20.
The Stauch case has been delayed since June 2020, after her attorneys questioned whether she was mentally competent to aid in her defense. She had been accused of plotting an escape from jail and was moved to the state mental hospital in Pueblo for evaluation.
Previously, a judge ruled that Letecia Stauch is competent to stand trial.
According to the arrest affidavit, Stauch is accused of killing Gannon and then moving his body through the house, into the garage and loading it into the back of her Volkswagen Tiguan.
She also had her 17-year-old daughter buy carpet cleaner, trash bags, baking soda and vinegar, according to the arrest affidavit. Investigators theorized in the records that Stauch then cleaned up the evidence of the killing before calling 911 at 6:55 p.m. that evening to report that Gannon hadn’t returned home after heading out to play with friends.
She later changed her story, claiming she had been held at gunpoint and raped by a man who abducted Gannon, according to the affidavit. Investigators could find no evidence to support that story.
Deputies responded to her call that he was missing about 3½ hours after she made it, conducted what court documents describe as “a limited search of the residence," and at the time the officers were there, Letecia Stauch’s Tiguan was backed into the garage, according to the records.
Those documents indicate that Gannon’s body was in the car at the time.
RELATED: 'My little boy is not coming home': Stepmom of Gannon Stauch arrested on first-degree murder charge
A long-running investigation – and extensive searches in El Paso and Douglas counties for Gannon’s remains – culminated in Stauch’s arrest on March 2, 2020, in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
She was returned to Colorado and remains behind bars in El Paso County, where she is being held without bail on 13 felony counts:
- First-degree murder after deliberation.
- First-degree murder of a person under 12 by someone in a position of trust.
- Child abuse resulting in death.
- Tampering with a deceased human body.
- Tampering with physical evidence.
- Seven counts of a crime of violence for using a weapon (the weapons listed in the complaint include a firearm, blunt object and sharp object).
- One count of crime of violence – causing severe bodily injury or death
On March 20, 2020, El Paso County sheriff’s officials announced that remains found in Florida had been tentatively identified as Gannon’s.
Gannon’s father, Al Stauch, was out of town on duty with the National Guard when the boy vanished.
9Wants to Know reporter Kevin Vaughan contributed to this report.
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