PAYETTE, Idaho — Hours of recorded police interviews with the man accused of killing missing Fruitland boy Michael “Monkey” Vaughan were played in court Wednesday as the preliminary hearing for Stacey Wondra continued in Payette County.
WATCH: Hours of police interview video played in court during day 2 of Stacey Wondra hearing
Wondra is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and destruction or concealment of evidence in connection with the disappearance of the 5-year-old, who vanished from outside his family’s Fruitland home on July 27, 2021.
The purpose of the preliminary hearing is for prosecutors to present evidence to a judge showing there is probable cause for the case to move forward to trial.
WATCH: Neighbors, officers, K-9 handlers recall early days of Michael Vaughan investigation and excavation of Wondra property
Much of Wednesday’s proceedings focused on unedited video recorded in November 2022, when Fruitland police detectives interviewed Wondra while he was jailed on an unrelated charge. The recordings were played in full for the court.
Detectives questioned Wondra about his whereabouts the day Michael disappeared, referencing surveillance that appeared to place his vehicle near a Fruitland splash pad. Wondra acknowledged being in the area but said he was “just parked there.”
In the interviews, Wondra repeatedly suggested others in the household – including his wife, Sarah Wondra, and roommates Adrien Lucien and Brandon Shurtliff – were responsible for what happened while portraying himself as a bystander.
At one point in the video, Wondra told detectives he believed Michael had been duct-taped and transported in a duffel bag. “I just know that the duct tape had been used … and when I saw it, the duct tape was on his mouth,” Wondra said in the recording.
He also suggested a possible financial motive, telling detectives at another point in the interview, “She said they did it to make some money.”
When Wondra described hearing the boy crying for his mother, Michael’s parents, Brandi and Tyler Vaughan, became emotional and left the courtroom.
Fruitland Police Detective Juanita Kelleher, who has worked the case since the night Michael disappeared, testified investigators searched extensively for the child in the hours and days after he vanished, contacting hundreds of homes but finding no witnesses who reported seeing him.
During the interviews, detectives pressed Wondra repeatedly about the timeline of events and where Michael might be. At one point, Wondra told detectives, “I don’t have a problem trying to help find this little boy,” while also asking what kind of deal he might receive in exchange for information.
At another point in the recording, Wondra referenced a duffel bag investigators believe may have been used to move the child, saying, “I’ve talked about what I’ve seen with the duffel. That’s literally what I have.”
At one point, Wondra appeared physically ill and vomited during the recorded interview, briefly pausing questioning as the video continued playing in court.
As the interviews progressed, detectives challenged inconsistencies in Wondra’s statements about when Michael left the house and where he may have been taken. Wondra said he believed Sarah Wondra and Adrien Lucien left the home and later returned with Michael, and he claimed he was “scared” of his wife.
Wondra also described tension in the home and said the group had discussed ways to make money, including what he described as a potential Snapchat scheme.
Toward the end of the footage shown Wednesday, Wondra told detectives he believed Michael had been taken to a home in Kuna and left there overnight.
Stacey Wondra told detectives he believed Michael was taken to a home in Kuna and said he was later told the boy died from suffocation after what he described as an attempted plan to sell him. Wondra claimed his wife threatened him not to speak, and he later drew a map for investigators suggesting Michael may have been buried in his own backyard, where he said Sarah told him the child was buried in a garbage bag.
The preliminary hearing is expected to continue as prosecutors seek to show there is enough evidence for the case to move forward to trial.
