Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Young Boy Left Home Alone With His Evil Stepmom

Episode Date: February 14, 2026

Eleven-year-old Gannon Stauch was left at home with his stepmom when his dad left for deployment in the National Guard. Days later, Al Stauch received traumatic news that his son had vanished. Find out what happened to Gannon on this episode of “Prime Crime with Jesse Weber.” If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/PrimeCrime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On prime crime. He was going to go to play with his friend, and he didn't come back. The disappearance of an 11-year-old boy. The whole community came out in full force. Everyone wanted to find this boy. Turns into a devastating tale full of lies and betrayal. The guy was in there. He had one of the guns.

I was terrified. So terrified. The investigators started to see that something didn't quite fit here. something was off. Hey there everybody, I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to Prime Crime, where we break down some of the most compelling and memorable true crime cases. In our next story about the disappearance of a young Colorado boy, you need to hang on because this story goes in all different kinds of confusing and chilling directions.

I'm at 1stown 8-1-1. My son was at 6 o'clock and he was almost 7. He's only 11. Okay. What's his name? Gannon. It's January 27th, 2020, Colorado Springs, Colorado. 36-year-old Letitia Stouk, who's married to husband Albert Stouk, is calling to report

that her stepson, 11-year-old Gannon, has gone missing. When was he laughing? Maybe around, like 3.30, maybe. Has this ever happened before? No. No. 11-year-old children don't just disappear off the face of the earth. That automatically put everybody on edge.

So we went to the neighbor's house. My daughter just went to see Ray Park, and he's not there. And who's the last for Smithy him? Uh, I guess me. Our assignment desk gets the notification. A 11-year-old boy is missing in this nice little community called Lorson Ranch. There was a lot of fear. There was a lot of concern of where he could be.

Hey, can we come in? Hours later, police arrived at the Stouk's home to talk to Letitia, her daughter Harley, and Gannon's sister, Lena, while Albert, Gannon's biological father, is out of town for work. He was supposed to be here at 6 o'clock because we were going to eat dinner. And his dad never told him he could believe with his friend. And he didn't come back at 6. So we drive to the neighbor's house and they're like, uh, no, he's not here.

It didn't seem like there was enough urgency in her voice. It seemed like she was not scattering in terms of her thoughts of what's going on. My stepson is missing. It was more like she was trying to piece it together. You have talked to all of his friends' parents. My husband did? He's been on the phone with a bunch of them. He's in Oklahoma.

No, he said he's talked to everyone that he knows of. We had heard he went to a friend's house, but all of the community couldn't find him anywhere. At first, we had heard rumors this boy could have been a runaway. The next morning, Albert arrives back home from a training session with the National Guard. He and Letitia meet with detectives at a coffee shop to gain some insight on where Gannon could have gone. He told her he was going to play, which they do all the time. Maybe he's 10 minutes late, but you know, nothing like things. The big deal here is he's a home body.

He would rather be at home playing as little Nintendo or watching cartoons. So he's not one just to walk out. We're talking about January and the Colorado Rockies. It's cold. In fact, there was a pretty heavy snowstorm that occurred in the days following Gannon's disappearance. The likelihood that an 11-year-old child

without substantial help from somebody outside the home could survive during that period of time greatly diminished the chances that we were going to find him alive and return him to his family. family. Well, almost the last time he talked to his mom, his biological mother. He talks a rate. They talk almost, I'd say five times a week.

Not to add any confusion to it, but like the mom's married to a guy that's got a lot of trouble of the law. That was one of my first instincts. It's worth putting down, but I mean, I don't know if it's anything legit. There'd be so many tips coming into the sheriff's office. They had to have a separate line. So many people thinking they'd seen him turning out not to have seen him. This boy's disappearance was gaining not only statewide attention, but quickly worldwide, nationwide,

online, social media, and there was just so much mystery, so much curiosity, so much concern. Then the day after Ganon disappeared, Letitia tells an investigator she has something to share. So initially you didn't tell me some things because Albert was there. And Letitia, saying she wasn't able to speak freely while Al was around, comes in a little. the police station to talk once more. But this time, she says she wants to tell officials what really happened. Take me through Sunday into Monday and be as detailed as possible. Sunday, Gannon had started a candle. The fire thing went off. It started saying fire, fire, fire, fire. So then I see smoke coming up from the downstairs. So then I ran back downstairs to get Gannon. There's this story.

that kept being brought up about a candle. What we heard was that he was maybe playing with his Nintendo Switch by a candle and maybe he shouldn't have been on his switch and that his stepmother came downstairs and he got scared and knocked this candle over. The fire was on the floor over here, then on the surface.

There was covers everywhere. I take a whole bunch of them and I go and like basically smash down on the sofa and the fire to put it out. Yamava Resort End at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage

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Honestly, we were gonna fix the carpet and try to like not think thing. Albert freaks out about every little thing. So that's where Sunday kind of like stopped and everybody went to bed. But as Letitia gets to the day of Gannon's disappearance, her story couldn't be more different than what she originally told police, as now she says someone else was involved. And I know there's two things I got to fix. Number one, I need to fix the carpet, and number two, I need to figure out, does Gannon need to go get like some burn tree or whatever?

Larson Ranch is a bunch of new builds, like construction. So I pulled up and I was like, hey, do you know where you can get the carpet that? It's in the Lurston Ranch model home. So we got the carpet from the guy in the construction area. Well, I didn't get it then. He said he was going to bring it to me. So I gave him the address and this is where I messed up. I gave him our code to get in because he was going to go fix it.

And me and Gannon left. We went some places around town. Initially, we had heard he had left to go. He had left to go to a friend's house and didn't come back. Then after days and no one finding any trace of that ever happening, there was new stories that someone came in the house. We started to head home. As we got inside, I heard something.

And I just started walking downstairs, open the storage closet. And he was standing in there. He had him gloves. He had one of the guns. And I was terrified. So terrified. And then he just. He just knocked me down and he was hitting all me.

It was trying to rape me. It's all my fault because I gave him our code to fix the carpet. Okay. And I shouldn't have. This is where we hear the story of her being attacked, that someone broke into the home, attacked her, and attacked Gannon, and then took Gannon. And here's another layer to a different story

that she's now providing investigators. I swear God, I don't know what happened from there. I really don't know. I kind of like blacked out just a little bit. out just a little bit. Investigators begin looking into what Letitia's telling them, but in order to do that, they need to examine Letitia herself for evidence,

something that appears to get her agitated. We had talked earlier about whether or not it would be able to take action at this point as far as gathering evidence, whether it had been too long and I told you that it wasn't. Is that something that you're willing to do? Yes. I would do anything for you to figure out who, Eduardo is. We'd like to get you over to the hospital for that.

No, I would say I would totally do that, but I really am. I just want to get some food and take a minute and I can drive myself to the hospital. The investigators started to see that something didn't quite fit here. Something was off. Okay, you said I was free to go. Are you wanting to leave right now? I'm really hungry. I'm thirsty. Look at my lips. So chat. Can you give me just a few minutes? She said that I would be able to go. And I'm not saying that you can't. I'm asking if you can give me a few minutes. I can't, if you can just call me or I have to maintain my mental, my mental health in this whole situation. Investigators need to work quickly to find Gannon. But now they aren't sure what to believe.

Coming up, the search for Gannon Stouk intensifies. Gannon goes in to like jump on him. Ganna was aware that someone was trying to harm me. me. That was when he had the gun to Gannon, everything from then is a blur. Hey, everybody, we're going to get back to the Stalk episode of Prime Prime in a minute, but I wanted to highlight our partner and sponsor of this video, Morgan and Morgan, because as a lawyer, I know one of the most unsettling things in life is if you get hurt, right? You don't know what to do. You don't know where to turn. Well, Morgan and Morgan is actually

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let's get back now to the Letitia Stalk case. The whole community came out in full force. We're just trying to find any clues as to where this boy is if he's okay, if he's in our state, if he's in the country, if he's alive. It's January 2020. 11-year-old Gannon Stalk has been reported missing from his El Paso County Colorado home. Gannon's stepmother, Letitia Stouk, initially reported the boy went to play at a friend's house and never came home for dinner. But a day later, she meets with investigators

and changes the story, saying he had actually been kidnapped and that she had been sexually assaulted by a construction worker from a new home being built nearby. Then when I get downstairs, he has the gun and he has Gannon. And then he was like on top of me again. And then I kind of light out again because he's hid my head. But towards the end of the interview, Letitia starts getting combative when being asked to submit for a sexual assault examination.

It would be better to get the forensic examiner. I'm not going over there like before you make shower. Not like cleaned. I'm not doing that. That's disgusting. I'm not doing that. But I will go. But you realize that's how we gather evidence.

right? So if you go take a shower right now and I understand that you're like uncomfortable, I would like to get you over to the hospital to get the exam done. Okay, well, then I'm driving myself there. She was transported to the hospital so that a sexual assault examination can be conducted, but at the hospital refuses to undergo that sexual assault examination. She's really trying to set up this idea and yet she's not willing to give up any evidence that would help us find that person. sit down on the couch. Sir, I can't breathe. I'm just asking you to open the door.

She portrays undergoing a very severe anxiety attack to try to get out of the interview. Now we're going to happen to call you an ambulance because he said you got chest pains. I just told you I have chest pains. It's claustrophobic. Okay, so we're going to call you an ambulance. Yeah, well, you're not phosphobic until...

No, I... Excuse me. I take larasopram every day, and if I don't take it, I could have a panic attack. That requires them to bring in paramedics, and they find that she's perfectly normal. She knows that the investigation is starting to zero in on her. Letitia has now told authorities multiple versions of what happened to Gannon, and rumors about what occurred begins circling the neighborhood.

You were the last person to see him. Is that right? Correct. Leticia agrees to speak with a local reporter, saying she wants to clear everything up. But it seems it only comes. complicates things further. What did you see when you last song? 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. There was just some weird things that kind of stood out based on her demeanor and all of that. You're speaking with someone that is in the center of the most. heartbreaking situation you could imagine that might have known some answers and couldn't tell the public to try to help. 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.

They have all these theories on how 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. She would always say that she really loved Gannon and that Gannon was the favorite stepchild. of hers, but it's very clear from the way that she would treat the kids that in fact he was the least favorite child in the house. Gannon was by all accounts a mama's boy, and that caused Letitia to be jealous of that relationship that Gannon had with his biological mother.

Any message for Gannon? 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. We love you, we miss you. And we know that you come home soon. In the middle of that interview, she's talking about Gannon as if he's going to come home. And then she switches and starts talking about him in the past tense. He was always so helpful with the dogs around the house.

He was always like a person I could say, Gannon, can you go do this? And he would do it right away. He was so sweet and such a kind heart. That was a big clue for us. And it did sort of put the investigation on a different track. Detectives still aren't totally clear on what happened the day Gannon disappeared, yet they suspect Letitia might know more than she's letting on. At this point, even Al Stouk, Latisha's husband and Gannon's biological father,

tries to get answers out of Letitia. I'm trying to do what I can outside of the law enforcement because you don't freaking trust them anyways. Do you trust them? Not based on what I've seen. So that's why I'm going straight to the last person that saw. him. If I would be the last person that saw him, then I would be the person that has him. Al expresses concerns that Letitia is holding back information, so he agrees to allow investigators

to record their phone calls. If you know, that's an accident, are you going to stand by me? Yes, absolutely. I'm sorry for all the stories. I just didn't know what to do. So we were going to get your... Look at him to get your... get your bike. I was letting you to ride. She was really big, so the guy was helping.

She comes up with a story about looking for a bike to buy for Al and how she and Gannon had gone up there to look at the bike. She describes in very elaborate detail, Gannon test riding the bike, crashing, hitting his head. He was bleeding. Where was he bleeding from? There was a piece of wood with blood on it, found in a remote area, a ways away from the house. That was a huge part of the case. When we found the board up in Southern Douglas County, she had to explain why Gannon's DNA would be found on that board.

And what we learned throughout those phone calls is, one, the level of lying that she was willing to undergo to deflect the investigation away from being pointed at her. But also, she was giving us little clues throughout where she would actually include small snippets of truth, but she would do it in a way that would explain a way why that truth existed and why somebody else was responsible for that truth.

So the guy took him to take him to 911, to Craigslist guy, Quincy Brown or whatever. There were several names. We heard Eduardo and Uncle Mike, a Quincy Brown. This was someone with a criminal record. What I'm trying to work out with you here is just the freaking truth. Okay, well who is he? Who tied you up?

Who did this? You didn't do it. Who did it? Who hurt Gannon? Who has Gannon? Al, they're gonna kill me. Who is they? These are the questions I need to know.

They first told me as they was in quarter. There was really no connection though. Al got the same stories and there was never really full context to these stories. So Quincy Brown is the one who has him. Quincy Brown is the one holding Gannon for all the money, and you didn't tell me. So three weeks now, you've known who has my son. The dynamics between her and Al were, I think,

at the very heart of what this case was about. Prior to Gannon going missing, the relationship between her and Al was deteriorating rapidly. In those phone calls, she's constantly talking about and trying to talk Al into supporting her through this entire thing. She felt like Gannon was the key

to draw Alian closer to her and to keep that relationship going. Did you talk to an attorney and saw her divorce? I have not filed anything yet. I'll give you the straight of honest truth. Where at the same point now, unfortunately, three weeks later, I was not getting the whole truth.

Even yesterday we were talking wasn't adding up and it still isn't. There's three or four different versions. Neither Al nor investigators are fully believing Letitia's accounts of what happened to Gannon. But coming up next, new information comes to light that may be the key to solving this whole case.

He calls me back and says, you're going to want to come back down here. I found the video. And that is what we believe is the last sighting of him. You know where an 11-year-old is, and I am here telling you we could go find him. And you are not giving us his location. Alive, we're dead. I did not hurt my traveling. It's mid-February 2020. Officials in Colorado have been searching for weeks for a young boy,

11-year-old Gannon Stouk. While initially reported to police by Gannon's stepmother, Letitia Stouk, she's been providing several versions of what happened, and they don't seem to be adding up. At one point, when speaking to Al, Gannon's biological father who's working with authorities, Letitia brings up another possible player in the case. Someone was following us. There was this pregnant lady. So I agreed to help the pregnant lady. I realized she's not pregnant once she gets me a car.

I just was supposed to walk in Petcoe, look around, be normal, go drop this lady off somewhere. She told you to walk into Petco? She forced me. It's just being called up in the wrong place at the wrong time. with people who are money laundering wanting me to deliver paper to these Mexican restaurants and you're supposed to get packages back from them. And I wouldn't do it.

You want me to believe you, but I feel like you're just telling me something to make me feel better about getting and missing. Kind of like the Quincy Brown thing. I mean, now it's a pregnant lady with Cashner Belly. I'm innocent. It took a lot of strength on Al's part to go through those recorded phone calls. he had to keep his cool and not let her know that the noose was tightening, that she was quickly becoming the focal point of the investigation.

What is wrong with you? What's wrong is my son's missing and you keep lying to me, okay? That's what's wrong. Okay, fine. Give me my son back. Tell me my son back. I don't have him. Where's he at then?

You're ridiculous. Who has him? You haven't answered not one of my questions. You're not doing nothing but lying to me and sending me in a different direction than what you know is the truth. But then, detectives learn new information that changes the course of the whole investigation. One of the first days I covered this little missing boy, the neighbors were doing whatever they could. And I got to speaking with Roderick Drayton.

He said, you know what? I live just a few doors down and my camera faces their house. He calls me back and says, you're going to want to come back down here. I found the video. I found him in the car with a house. in the car with Letitia. He was lethargic early on the morning of the 27th. The way he walks out to the truck

clearly showed that he was under the influence of some sort of drug. And one more thing points to Letitia Stouk. Evidence is found at the Stouk's home, suggesting Gannon was possibly killed there. When Letitia calls 911, the police actually go out to the scene and walk through the house. And there's nothing immediately apparent that would suggest something bad had happened.

It really goes to the idea that she did an extensive job of cleaning up the crime scene. And then when we go into Gannon's bedroom, you can see very fine blood staining on the walls so small that it was hard to see with the naked eye. The investigators, they find blood and DNA all over the home. And the most chilling part of where they find the blood in his bedroom is it's underneath his mattress,

underneath the carpet, underneath the carpet pad, pad and soaked into the concrete below. And that tells you how much blood came from this young child. Through the blood, through the forensics, through the ability to track her movements in the timeframe of when Gannon was supposedly lost, they are able to piece together that she had a lot more in connection to this case than she initially told law enforcement. Do you know why you're here? Did they inform you why you're under arrest?

I'm under arrest? Yes. Just over a month after Letitia reported Gannon missing, she's arrested while visiting family in South Carolina. I'm getting charged with what now? We found enough, you call it probable cause, for a warrant to the issue. Okay, I warrant for what, though? It was for the murder. What murder?

What murder? There's a lot of stories out there. So if someone truly took Gannon, though, we need to know the real story because you put out quite a few different stories. The FBI agent tells her, we heard you telling multiple stories on the phone with Al. And she says, oh, I knew you guys were already recording. She says she was hurt. He wasn't trying to work with her. So she purposely gave him multiple different stories.

I don't think you intended to do that. think you intended to first Gannon at home. Something bad happened in his room. No. If you didn't do it, and it helps me find Gannon... I didn't do it. Okay, well then help me find out who did. Who did what? That to Gannon in his room.

Don't want to... Don't want to... There's a pool of blood in the corner. Okay. That's Gannon's blood. Where do you think had any involvement with Gannon and where did he go? You're the last adult with him. You told a lot of lies. He would lead her down a path, and right at the point where she's going to make a statement that would potentially incriminate herself, she's conscious enough to know that this is occurring, and then she would then pull back. If you can point me to a different person, then I can help you.

If you trusted me to talk to me, you would tell me where Gannon is right now. I don't know if you do. If you would have told police the very first night that he was taken forcibly, everything would have been doing. The agent then confronts Letitia on something that raised red flags earlier in the investigation. Here I even have what you entered in your phone. The stuff that you've entered and deleted, like blood is spurting from an arterial bleed, direct pressure, not controlling. Do what? I didn't look this up. Somebody did from your phone.

I don't like my stepson. No. I don't like my stepson. Should I get a divorce? How to get blood out of sheets. Out of sheets? Mm-hmm. Her Google searches were massive in this case.

How long does it take a body to decompose, face transplants, find people who want to go to jail? If you did something bad to Gannon, could you ever admit? Right now you're the last person with Gannon. I don't do bad things to people. I don't. I don't think you do bad things to anyone. I don't do anything bad to Gannon.

didn't do anything bad again. Why would I hurt our child at everything in the world? Why? I have no motive, none. But investigators come across a recording from the night when Stouk says Gannon accidentally caused a fire from a candle that sheds a chilling light on their relationship. I promise this is the last time I'm going to ask you. I'm just straight out, okay? Are you sure you didn't do it on purpose? He didn't. Okay, you promise.

On purpose. On purpose. Pinky promise. Pinky. There was one video where she was manipulating him on that Sunday night. We're going to have 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. and kick aside the house. Okay? You got it? You got it?

I'm just worried about my friend. Okay, shh, listen, listen, listen. You hear this little boy's voice and the fear in his voice, and she recorded him. You hear that recording, and it's this little boy, I promised I didn't mean to do it, and just his voice shaking and he's crying. While authorities may know who's responsible for Genn's disappearance,

There's still one major missing piece. Gannon is still nowhere to be found. That's when a case-changing discovery is made hundreds of miles away. We're here at the bridge next to the scammy-kinney line and reference the suitcase. It was a heartbreaking day. We got the news that 1,300 miles away, bridge inspectors in Pensacola, Florida, find this suitcase. and everyone's heart sunk.

We were expecting the bridge, found that suitcase down there, decided we'd open it to see if anything was in it. Body rolled out along with what appears to be a comforter. Investigators discover Letitia rented a van and drove 1,300 miles to Florida with her daughter just days after Gannon's disappearance. They were tracking her. There was trackers in the rental car

and the way she was going, where she was going. If your kids missing out of a town in Colorado Springs, why are you leaving? We later found out why. Hotel records right near that bridge from February 4th, that gave us answers. Authorities believe Letitia tossed this suitcase with Gannon dead inside over a bridge in the middle of the night,

while her daughter Harley slept in a nearby hotel room. Gannon's body was just discarded as if it was trash. He suffered from not only stab wounds, but also a gunshot injury. The bullet that was recovered from Gannon was able to be connected to a gun that was found in Latisha's bedroom. The handgun that was used actually belonged to Al Stout. What was really eerie about the way that it was found is that as it was sitting on the dresser, it was actually pointing. at a photograph of Gannon. It looks like he was trying to defend himself and fighting back,

but it was a brutal, brutal attack. He was stabbed 17 times. He was hit over the head four times, and then the final injury that he sustained was a gunshot wound to his jaw. He was also given hydrocodone, so he was poisoned by a very strong drug. It really speaks to the horrific hours

of Gannon's last hours here on Earth alive. Letitia is accused of the murder of 11-year-old Gannon Stouk, but the twists in this story aren't quite over with yet when we return a roadblock in the case. She felt like she could manipulate the court system. She was trying to feign incompetence. I'm not a monster. It hurt me to ask it, because you're my wife.

I'm begging you. I want to have a rubble for it. Okay. It's March 2020, and investigators have Letitia Stalk in custody in South Carolina. They believe she stabbed and shot her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon to death, two months earlier in January out in Colorado. Letitia and authorities arrive back in Colorado where she's set to stand trial. However, now, there's even more delays. There was always something on her end to delay.

There was letters to the judge wanting to represent herself, changing her plea. She went through at least two competency hearings and even a third closer to that trial date. Competencies and a person's ability to participate in their defense and to be tried. After more than three years in April, 2023, Letitia Stouk goes on trial for first-degree murder, tampering with the deceased human body and tampering with evidence. As for Stouk's defense, she entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. January 27, 2020, Gannon's home turned into the stuff of nightmares. The one place a little boy like Gannon should have felt the safest is in fact where he was brutally murdered.

Evidence in this case will show that she could distinguish between right and wrong. I felt very confident going into the trial, but there's that unknown. You're bringing strangers into the courtroom that have to sit and listen to evidence. That's very difficult to listen to. Having to get over the hurdle of proving that she was sane is an added element. There was an overwhelming amount of evidence, the timelines, the locations of the GPS, even the recordings. It did come up during the trial. during the trial that Letitia may suffer from having multiple personalities and from

an insanity defense standpoint if your client has any kind of mental disease or defect you throw that all against the wall and see what sticks it was an awful awful thing that's done to Gant in the court of public opinion and the media he's guilty this is going to come down to insanity the issue for that both for the defense and ultimately the jury in making the decision is whether or not she had that multiple personality disorder. The stout was dealing trauma and abuse that had been going on since she was a toddler.

The troubled childhood, that's where the fragmentation personality comes in. The big thing that stuck out to me was Letitia's demeanor in the courtroom. All eyes were on her. When they're giving the defense's opening statements, That was the only time I saw any reaction, and it was her putting a tissue to her face when they were talking about alleged abuse she went through as a child. Nothing about Gannon. It's insane. I go from teacher, loving stepmother, loving mother, being a killer of a 11-year-old boy.

There was some major, brycotic crack. Much of the state's case focused on just that, Letitia's mental state at the time of the crime, even calling her daughter to the stand. Had you ever seen your mom change personalities into someone she isn't? No. Had she ever been treated for any mental illness in your lifetime? No. If there was one person that knew the defendant best, it was Harley Hunt, her own daughter.

And having her come in and talk to the jury and the manipulation that she suffered at the defendant's hands went a long ways to show that she was a very sound mind, that she knew exactly what she had done. Did you ever ask your mom, what are we doing? Why are we leaving? No, I didn't really question her a lot. I would be told that I'm being disrespectful or like talking back. And what would happen if you were being disrespectful or talking back to your mom? Sometimes she would like backhand me. the conscious decision to drive Gannon's body all the way down to Florida. How many times Letitia must have been able to think through her actions and maybe

had the opportunity to change course, but she didn't. I'm still in shock. I defended her for years and I just feel like manipulated and led to. You could see how hurt the family was that this was even an argument brought up that she was insane. They knew her for years and years and she was totally fine. They trusted her to take care of their kids, and now it's just suddenly a switched argument. Oh, she's insane. Did Ms. Stouck ever give you any self-diagnosis

of potential mental illnesses that she felt she had? She talked a lot about being manic, slipping in and out of reality. Did she ever bring up anything about having another personality or multiple person She did not. She was reading books and was picking up things that she could do or say that would support an insanity defense. And she did those things during different evaluations.

She was clearly trying to manipulate that process. Did you or Dr. Gray ever consider the fact that she could just be making this all up? Yes. And then comes Maria, a different personality of Letitias. She talks about going into protection mode. and she often references Maria as the protector. Someone who has this associative identity disorder, are they going to be able to recall what happens as a different person?

I would think that if Ms. Stouk had dissociated into Maria, there would be a lack of awareness or understanding or memory. The biggest hurdle, I think, was really the gravity of the injuries that Gannon suffered. It gave us some concerns that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for a juror to say, the only reason that somebody would carry out an attack on an 11-year-old like that is if they were crazy, that they had gone insane. That's exactly what the defense argued, not that Leticia didn't commit the killing, but that she was insane at the time and not criminally responsible.

When I was interviewing her over a period of time, suddenly it seemed to me that she was speaking Russian. So she was in the home, we don't understand. Someone was in the home. It looked as though she had switched into a different entity. Did she describe any alters to you or other personas? She referred to somebody named Maria. Maria apparently was a physically abusive entity.

And when I first saw that, I thought, have I just met the aspect of her personality that killed Gannon. You don't understand I have to protect the people that were in the house, okay? Because if someone was in the home, they were gonna rape someone, they're gonna bless them, they're gonna kill them, I have to protect it. All I did, okay?

And I fired the gun. I did not know, didn't have a safety, I trained to kill me. That's what I do, kill her living. I took the gun, I fired the gun and someone. They had a capeone. They go out of the interest man. K-the-man.

K-the-man. They never had a supposed to do, but she didn't. I killed the grave. When she was speaking in that Maria voice, that gave me goosebumps. Because that was the first time I think I heard anything of any admission, really, of guilt,

but it's in this other voice. Their job is to put doubt in the jurors' minds, right? And those videos were certainly compelling. The Kempeling. The case is then delivered to the jury as Letitia's future is placed in their hands to decide. When you turn a case over to a jury for deliberations, you sit there and you think about, well, could we have done this differently? Did the jury pick up on the things that were important for the case or did they miss something? Were they paying attention? You just never know until you get that verdict.

There was that feeling of fear what could happen. But there was just that hope. It would be a result soon. would be justice served. After nearly eight hours of deliberations, the jury comes back with their decision. We the jury find the defendant, Letitia Stouk, guilty. The jury found that Latisha Stalk was guilty of all crimes straight across the board. It was not surprising to me after all of those lies and all those calculations and miscalculations that the jury thought, you weren't insane, you knew what you were doing and this is murder in the worst possible way. You have shown no remorse throughout this process. Instead, you've made a choice to build a web

of lies because you didn't want to face the consequences. Your conduct in this case deserves the maximum punishment. I remand you to the custody of Colorado Department of Corrections for the remainder of your life with no possibility of parole. I remember, Gannon's mom telling me after the verdict, and it hurt to hear that she and her heart knows that Gannon loved this woman in his final breaths. It was just incomprehensible how someone could hate a little boy who loves you. The idea that a little boy could suffer this sort of horrific attack at the hands of somebody that was supposed to be caring for them is unimaginable.

It's something that will always be on my mind. But most importantly, I'll never forget the smile that Gannon had, the stories of how happy he was and how much of a fighter he was, and just the love that he had for his entire family. This is a tough one. It really, really is thinking about what happened to Gannon at the hands of a woman who was supposed to protect him. And based on what we saw with Letitia Stouk,

I wouldn't be so hopeful that we'll ever be. get the straight story of what happened. Now at the time of this recording, we've actually reached the four-year anniversary of this young boy's death. And to imagine where his life could have been and what he would be doing today, that to me is the saddest part. Thanks for joining us here on Prime Crime. I'm Jesse Weber, and as always, stay safe.