Global Courant 2023-05-25 22:03:04
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito
The parents of an American blogger who authorities say was strangled by her boyfriend have released a letter from the alleged killer’s mother, in which she talks about burying a body.
Gabby Petito’s family is suing the parents of her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, for emotional distress.
A judge ruled on Wednesday that the Petitos can include Roberta Laundrie’s letter to her son in their civil suit.
The death of 22-year-old Petito two years ago drew national attention.
Laundrie shot himself after his girlfriend was found strangled at a Wyoming campground.
His parents – who have not been charged with any crime related to Petito’s death – had asked the judge to keep the letter out of the case.
In the note, Ms Laundrie reportedly writes to her son: “If you’re in jail, I’ll bake a cake and put a file in it.
“If you have to clean up a body. I’ll come with a shovel and garbage bags.’
She wrote “burn after reading” on the envelope containing the letter.
In a previously filed court document, Ms Laundrie said the letter contained only “quirky” references to her son’s favorite childhood books.
She also said she wrote the letter before her son left on his cross-country skiing trip with Petito.
But the Petito family said in a statement Thursday that “a reasonable conclusion is that it was written after Gabby Petito was killed.”
Wednesday in court That reports CNN that the Petito family’s attorney, Patrick Reilly, said of the letter, “By the way, those are criminal acts that Roberta Laundrie has said she would commit.”
Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Danielle Brewer declined to issue an injunction blocking the use of the letter in the case.
Last year, the Petito and Laundrie families reached a $3 million (£2.4 million) settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Petito’s parents.
The couple documented their cross-country road trip on social media following their engagement before Laundrie returned alone to his childhood home in North Port, Florida in September 2021, without her.
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Her body was discovered later that month near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Laundrie’s body was found a month later in a Florida wildlife sanctuary near his parents’ home, the FBI said.
The letter was discovered by detectives.
Petito’s disappearance and the aftermath of the investigation caught the attention of American internet sleuths.
