PAYETTE, Idaho (Court TV) — Grim details about the abduction of 5-year-old Michael Vaughan were revealed in court as Stacey Wondra’s police interview was played during his preliminary hearing.
Stacey Wondra is seen during a police interview played in court at his preliminary hearing. (Court TV)
Stacey Wondra faces multiple charges, including murder and kidnapping, in Michael’s death. Vaughan disappeared in July 2021; Stacey Wondra has said his wife, Sarah Wondra, was responsible for the child’s abduction and killing.
At a preliminary hearing spanning multiple days, prosecutors have laid out the evidence, including videos of Stacey Wondra speaking to police in November 2022, while in custody. The recording shows the defendant walking detectives through the day of Michael’s abduction.
Stacey Wondra told detectives that he was not involved in any way with taking Michael, but that his wife took him after seeing him outside. “It sickens me,” he told detectives, denying he had any part in the planning. When Sarah Wondra initially asked what to do with the child, her husband said, “I suggested that we should call the authorities.”
Rather than call the police, Stacey Wondra said he then went into the couple’s bedroom, leaving Sarah Wondra with their two roommates and the child. Stacey Wondra said the adults then duct-taped Michael. “I didn’t sit there and watch them wrap him up,” he said. But in the bedroom, he could still hear the tape being unrolled and the child screaming, “I want my mom, I want my mommy.”
Stacey Wondra said that when he asked his wife why he took the child, she blamed him for not earning money and said that their roommate would “get a hold of this person to see if he would buy a kid.” The last time Stacey Wondra said he saw Michael, the child had been placed in a duffel bag between layers of clothing.
At one point during the police interview, Stacey Wondra began to vomit, citing the stress of the situation and the story.
Michael’s body has never been found.
Scripps News Group of Boise contributed to this report.
