Detective Tim Ferrell

He is a detective with El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. He has 10 years with department, 3 years as a detective. In January 2020 he was assigned to the special victims unit.

• On January 28th, he arrived to the Stauch home around 10PM; Harley was the only person on scene at the time. Laina had been taken for an interview.
• They had been called the day earlier for a runaway. Not a lot of information when they got to the scene; information was sporadic.
• They took photos of the entire scene; looked for anything out of the ordinary or a lead. The entire home was searched.
• No loose shell casings were found; no blood was seen in the home.
• Exhibits 240, 241, 242 - 245, 247, 248, 250, 251 are pictures of the home.
• E240-245, 247, 248, 251 show the laundry room with a pair of women’s Nike shoes on the washer.
• The shoes had a pink residue on the bottom of the soles; it looked like blood that had been washed but not come out all the way. The shoes also seemed out of place.
• There was pink residue in the indentations on the bottoms of the shoe and it had soaked into the foam of the sole of the shoe.
• Exhibit 246 and 249 is a swab from the bottom of the shoe.
• Exhibit 250 is a pink towel in the washer.
• Exhibit 252 - 258, 260, 261 are photos of the house and the trash cans at the back of the house.
• Exhibit 252 is a photo in the living room.
• A carpet has been cut out and the padding was melted down to the concrete. The couch liner had been melted and there was a waxy substance left on it.
• Exhibit 254 is a square of carpet that was cut out; a 2x2 square.
• There was no smell from a fire.
• Exhibit 255 is a photo of the trash cans in the back of the home.
• Exhibit 256 is a photo of a trash bag that was on top of a trash can.
• Inside is melted carpet and carpet padding.
• The backyard has a 6 foot privacy fence.
• Exhibit 257 is a picture of a piece of 2 foot by 2 foot carpet that was pulled from the trashcan; burned areas with wax substance on it.
• E258 is the same piece of carpet, closer up shot showing the hole that was burned and the red waxy substance.
• E259 is a piece of carpet.
• E260 is a photograph of a trash can with a candle on top of it.
• E261 is a closeup of the candle they pulled from the trashcan.
• You can see fiber on the candle, it did not match the carpet or candle.
• E262 is the candle in an envelope.
• The cloth in the candle might be a sock.
• Gannon’s bedroom was very clean. The inside handle of the bedroom door had a brown smear on it; there was no smell to him but Detective Vigil smelled something.
• Exhibits 263 - 270 are photos of Gannon’s bedroom.
• Exhibit 265 shows a discoloration on the top back left corner of the mattress; it was unknown at the time what it was.
• Investigators were told Gannon sometimes had bathroom accidents in bed.
• Gannon’s door was all the way open when detectives arrived.
• Detective Farrell closed his door and found the brown smudge on the doorknob.
• Exhibit 271 and 272 are photos of firearms from the master bedroom from under the bed and in the closet.
• Something seemed off at the scene so they photographed the firearms.
• There were two shotguns and an AR-style short barrel pistol found in the master bedroom closet; no handguns were found.
• On January 29th, 2020 Detective Farrell also saw the VW Tiguan, freshly washed and still wet.
• Exhibit 273 - 276 are photos of the Tiguan.
• The top of the vehicle was dry, with dirt and dust on top.
• It looked like the back of the car had been washed out but nothing was really found inside the car.
• Farrell was part of the surveillance team following Letecia, points her out as the defendant.
• Letecia’s actions and reactions concerned law enforcement, it made them suspicious.
• Letecia had been taken to the hospital for a SANE examination due to her claim for sexual assault.
• She left the hospital (it sounds like before they were done with her).
• Harley drove Letecia to Marshalls. Undercover plainclothes agents followed them into the store, trying to visually see where the cell phone they had a warrant for was located.
• Farrell was ordered to seize the vehicle and phone for evidence.
• Both Letecia and Harley were using the same phone while in Marshalls.
• Farrell witnesses Sergeant Ganstine chasing Letecia as she sprinted away from him and joined the pursuit. She was ignoring commands. Farrell was in khaki pants, a black polo with his name on it, and a badge on his back. He is the one who drew his firearm and she stopped almost immediately and began obeying commands.
• Letecia shouted to Harley “don’t tell them anything”.
• Farrell searched the home again on February 3rd, 2020.
• On February 1st, Letecia went to a Walmart in Trinidad, CO and went to the electronics department.

Cross examination

• Farrell took swabs of the Nike shoes with sterile Q-tip swabs.
• The lead detective on the case decides what evidence to test; on this case the lead detective was Detective Bethel who no longer works at the EPSO.
• Overseeing the case from the office was Lieutenant M.
• Farrell interviewed multiple people in the course of the investigation prior to going to the Stauch home.
• At the time, detectives were not issued body cams; he now wears one with his khakis and polo uniform.
• The search warrant was not valid until Harley and Letecia were already in the store or they would have pulled them over sooner.
• They swabbed the head rests and door handles and took soil samples from the floor of the car.
• On February 1st 2020 he did followup on the Nissan Frontier. Al drove it to the evidence facility and turned it in. Swabs were taken from the bed of the Frontier.
• Farrell took screenshots of the video from Walmart in March 2020.