Apr. 5—Questions regarding sanity continue to swirl in the case of Letecia Stauch, who is accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch in January 2020, and on Wednesday her ex-husband gave a firm position on his beliefs regarding Letecia Stauch's sanity.

"I believe she is, and was, absolutely sane," Al Stauch, Gannon's father, said when asked by the prosecution if he believed Letecia Stauch was sane. "From the time I met her to even today."

The claim by Al Stauch regarding her sanity was contested by defense attorney Josh Tolini, who during a very tense cross-examination attempted to use statements made by Al Stauch in the past to undermine his claims regarding Letecia Stauch's sanity.

Tolini referred to statements Al Stauch had made to detectives in the past: allegedly describing his relationship with Letecia Stauch as a "roller coaster," how he had previously called her "crazy" and how she allegedly referred to herself as "Taylor" despite that not being her first or middle name.

Tolini also alleged that Letecia Stauch was seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Ronda Niderhauser, to treat a mental illness, specifically anxiety. Al Stauch said he was unaware of why Letecia Stauch was seeing Dr. Niderhauser, who is expected to testify later in the trial.

Defense attorney Will Cook explained during opening statements that the defense's expert, psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Lewis, found Letecia Stauch insane, and diagnosed her with dissociative identity disorder.

During redirect, Al Stauch attempted to explain some of the statements Tolini referred to, saying the "roller coaster" description was just "the normal ebb and flow of many relationships" and not a comment on the mental health of Letecia Stauch.

Al Stauch also said Letecia Stauch didn't commonly refer to herself as "Taylor" but rather that she just wished her middle name was Taylor and used it as her middle name on certain social media sites.

At the end of redirect, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen had Al Stauch reaffirm that he did not believe Letecia Stauch had ever suffered from any severe mental illnesses at any point in their relationship.

During the prosecution's opening statement Allen referenced that a psychiatrist with the state hospital in Pueblo found Letecia Stauch sane, contradicting the findings of the defense's expert.

Wednesday opened with Al Stauch retaking the witness stand, and the prosecution playing several phone conversations between Letecia and Al Stauch, all of which were recorded by the FBI in the morning and afternoon of Feb. 14, 2020.

The calls were similar to the two-hour phone conversation between Al and Letecia Stauch that jurors heard on Tuesday afternoon, where Letecia Stauch claimed that a Mexican man had entered their home, that she hit her head on a table and "blacked out," that she was raped, and that the alleged intruder took Gannon and left.

FBI agents coached Al Stauch through all the recorded phone calls played in court.

In all five phone conversations that jurors heard on Wednesday morning, Letecia Stauch continued to vehemently deny having anything to do with Gannon's disappearance and continued to change her story about what happened the day Gannon was reported missing, Jan. 27, 2020.

In the first phone conversation, Letecia Stauch could be heard sobbing hysterically and begging for Al Stauch to advocate for her to get immunity to tell the rest of the story.

"I'm not a criminal. I don't kill people," Letecia Stauch can be heard yelling.

In the next three phone conversations, Al Stauch became more aggressive in his line of questioning and accused Letecia Stauch of lying to him.

"You know where Gannon is. You're (expletive) lying to me," Al Stauch yells at his then-wife at one point. "Who the (expletive) has my boy?"

During one call, Letecia Stauch said Quincy Brown had taken Gannon, a story Al Stauch immediately called out as a lie.

Brown was wanted in El Paso County at the time of the recorded phone conversations.

"This is (expletive)," Al Stauch said almost immediately in response. "There is no (expletive) Quincy guy. ... Five years of lies and now my son is gone."

Each phone call between the two grew progressively more heated, leading up to the fourth call where Al Stauch asked Letecia Stauch repeatedly: "Where's my son?"

At no point in the call did Letecia Stauch back down from her claim that Brown was the perpetrator, saying she was "scared for her life," and that Al Stauch needed to "grow some balls and find him (Brown)."

"You're trying to put me six feet under. That's what you're trying to do," Letecia Stauch yells during the fourth call.

In the fifth and final call, Letecia Stauch finally admitted that some of her story was a lie, but she didn't back down from her claim that Brown was involved in Gannon's disappearance.

"I'm sorry for all the stories. I didn't know what to do," Letecia Stauch said through tears. "He fell (off) it (a bike) and he got hurt, bad."

Letecia Stauch also claimed that she bought a bike from Brown, and that while testing the bike Gannon fell off and was "bleeding from his head." She said Brown offered to drive Gannon to the hospital, but didn't return.

When Al Stauch asked Letecia Stauch why she didn't follow Brown and Gannon to the hospital, she hung up.

Al Stauch testified after the final phone conversation was played that he didn't believe Letecia Stauch's version of events, despite saying he did believe her during the final phone call.

Macon Ponder, a bridge inspector from Florida, testified that while performing a bridge inspection on March 14, 2020, for a bridge running over the Escambia River near Pensacola, Fla., he and his partner noticed a suitcase under the bridge near the marsh below. Ponder testified that if the suitcase had been just slightly deeper in the marsh he may not have noticed it at all.

When Ponder and his partner went to inspect the suitcase, which he said they only did out of "pure curiosity," he opened it and immediately realized there was something dead inside due to the "overwhelming" smell.

"First thing I remember seeing was two little feet with football socks on them," Ponder said.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Yoder responded to the 911 call. After discovering the body, investigators quickly linked the remains to Gannon after finding his wanted poster in the national missing person's database. Yoder testified that only a few days later the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office had confirmed the body discovered by Ponder was Gannon.

The 18-person jury also heard from two prosecution witnesses from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office prior to the end of the day, one who discussed evidence collection at the Stauch home, and another who was one of the first responders to the Stauch home after Gannon was reported missing.

Letecia Stauch's trial will resume on Friday morning. She faces 12 charges, and if convicted of first-degree murder she would be sentenced to life in prison, per Colorado law.