The mother of the man who killed Gabby Petito writes in the letter that she will help her son ‘dispose of the body’
CHEYENNE, Wyo. –
The mother of the man who killed Gabby Petito told her son in an undated letter that she would “dispose of the body” if necessary because she loved him so much, according to copies of the letter obtained by lawyers. shared publicly for the first time this week. to Petito’s parents.
Roberta Laundrie’s handwritten letter “burn after reading” on the envelope was released after a Florida judge ruled Wednesday that the letter could be used as evidence in a lawsuit. . The Petitos family sued Brian Laundrie’s parents, alleging they knew their son had murdered Gabby Petito and helped him cover up for nearly a month before her body was found in western Wyoming in September 2021, causing anguish, pain, and mental anguish.
The letter read: “We’ll love each other forever. If you’re in prison, I’ll bake a cake with files. If you need to dispose of the body, I’ll show up with a shovel and trash. bag.”
Whether the letter was written before or after Brian Laundrie strangled Petito is still controversial between the two parents.
Roberta Laundrie claimed in an affidavit in the Florida lawsuit that she gave it to her son shortly before he and Petito left on a cross-country truck trip in early June. 2021.
Roberta Laundrie and her son were experiencing difficulties in their relationship at the time, three months before Brian Laundrie, 23, killed Petito, 22, the court statement said.
“I tried to connect with Brian and repair our relationship when he was about to leave the house,” the statement said. “I was hoping this letter would remind him how much I love him.”
Petito’s family expressed doubt about the timing of Roberta Laundrie’s claim to have sent her letter, suggesting it was indeed written after Petito’s death.
A “reasonable inference” can be made from the letter that Roberta Laundrie knew about Petito’s death when Laundries released a statement on September 14, 2021 — five days before her body was discovered. found — saying they hope she will be reunited with her family , Petito’s family said in a statement Thursday.
“We look forward to having a jury determine when the letter was written,” the statement read.
The search for Brian Laundrie ended with his suicide and the discovery of his body in a Florida nature reserve in October 2021.
Matthew Luka, an attorney for Laundries, wrote in a petition in March trying to convince the judge not to allow the letter to be used in the case.
Along with claims of dumping the body and “a cake with a record in it,” Roberta Laundrie’s letter told her son she would “get goosebumps” if he told her he hated her and waited for her return. yours if you can. flew to the moon, Luka pointed out in an emailed statement on Friday.
The statements were written before the truck trip and were “obviously not meant to be taken seriously” because they were “not events that would happen in reality,” Luka said.
Roberta Laundrie added Friday in a statement through her attorney: “While I have chosen words that I think will have an impact on Brian because of our relationship, the letter does not at all regarding Gabby.”
Brian Laundrie and Petito are engaged and are traveling by truck across the United States in the summer of 2021, visiting scenic spots in Colorado and Utah before heading north. They recorded their trip details in real time on social media.
Police in Moab, Utah, stopped the truck after it was seen speeding and hitting the curb at the entrance to Arches National Park in August 2021. Petito told police she and Laundrie fought. Police separated the couple overnight and did not prosecute.
Searchers found Petito’s body on September 19, 2021, near a campsite on the edge of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. A coroner determined she had been strangled several weeks earlier.
