ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Gabby Petito’s parents claim in a new Florida lawsuit that Brian Laundrie told his parents he killed her when he returned home alone from their ill-fated tour of the West Coast. a convertible truck.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Sarasota County Court alleges that Laundrie told his parents on August 28 that he killed Petito, 22, his fiancée of about a year at the time. .
Petito’s disappearance during the trip and later the discovery of her body killed September 19 in a Wyoming national park have become a national obsession, compounded by the search for Laundrie then on a nature reserve in Florida.
The FBI concluded that Laundrie strangled Petito – with whom he had had previous quarrels and domestic violence – and that Laundrie shot himself dead in the marshes of the Carlton Reserve after returning home alone. on September 1st.
The lawsuit alleges that Christopher and Roberta Laundrie concealed that their son had confessed to the murders to investigators and Petito’s parents while the search for Gabby Petito was ongoing.
“In doing so, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or absolute indifference to the rights of (Gabby parents) Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt,” the lawsuit states, adding that the conduct This vigil is “shocking, brutal and completely intolerable in a civilized community. ”
The suit adds that the Laundry Room “arranged for him (Brian) to leave the country.” No evidence has been included to support this claim.
The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $30,000. Steven Bertolino, an attorney for Laundromat, said in a text message Friday that his client has every right not to speak. He also denied the claims of the lawsuit in general.
“This lawsuit does not change the fact that Laundries is under no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third parties including the Petito family,” Bertolino said. “This basic legal principle renders Petitos’ claims groundless under the law.”
Petito and Laundrie are both from Blue Point, New York, but moved into his parents’ Gulf Coast home in North Port, Florida, in 2019. It was Petito’s truck that the couple made the trip with. Their trip from Florida, intended to end on Halloween. on the Pacific coast.
The lawsuit says that until that trip and her disappearance, the two families “had a close relationship.”
“Gabrielle Petito hopes to become a travel influencer, a “van rider” and chronicles her cross-country travels on various social media sites, the lawsuit claims. know.
Petito is in regular contact with his parents and regularly posts on social media about their travels, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. The pair watched regularly before the murder mystery was revealed.
The FBI said Laundrie sent text messages from Petito’s cell phone to her parents and others to pretend she was still alive. He was also charged with illegally using one of her credit cards before his remains were discovered in a Florida nature reserve.
