Brian Laundrie’s mom ‘gave permission to hurt Gabby Petito’ in ‘burn after reading’ letter & drawing had eerie meaning
BRIAN Laundrie's mom appeared to give permission to hurt Gabby Petito in her shocking burn after reading letter, a handwriting expert has said.
Roberta Laundrie wrote disturbing messages to her son Brian, 23, who strangled Gabby, 22, to death in August 2021 during a cross-country road trip.
"This is a really sociopathic relationship between mother and son," master graphologist Paula A. Sassi exclusively told The U.S. Sun after viewing the letter.
"I've done this for years and I get an immediate gut-level feeling when I look at the writing. I just see cold and controlling."
Gabby disappeared while traveling across the country with her boyfriend Brian who lived with her in Florida.
The two shared romantic depictions of their travels in vlogs that hid the horrific realities of Brian's sick abuse.
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Gabby's trip made headlines when Brian returned to Florida without her, causing her horrified parents to file a missing persons report in August.
On September 19, Gabby's body was discovered and officials raced to take in Brian who had disappeared.
The hunt for Gabby's lover ended when his remains were discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound the next month.
Writings found at the scene revealed his confession to murdering Gabby and leaving her body in Teton National Forest in Wyoming.
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Also found in Brian's car was an intimate letter from his mother, which she says was a desperate attempt to save her relationship with her son.
In the note, Roberta stresses that she will always love Brian no matter what mistakes he makes, including ones that would put him behind bars.
"If you say you hate my guts, I'll get new guts," she writes after mentioning that she would bring a shovel to help Brian bury a body.
She ends the letter with a Bible verse that discusses how nothing could separate their love. It's unclear when exactly the letter was written.
Sassi, who has been studying handwriting for 43 years, says the text reveals eerie details on their apparently sick dynamic.
"What strikes me is the coldness of the writing and the need to control everything," Sassi said.
"When they fill the whole page from one margin to the next, it's a need to control their immediate environment.
"It's such cold writing. It lacks empathy. There's no curved connections or anything in the writing."
Sassi believes, based on her analysis, that Roberta could have been jealous of Gabby as she wanted to control every aspect of her son's life.
"This is not the content that a normal mother would write to their son," she said and pointed to a line where Roberta said she would bring a cake with a file in it if Brian's ever imprisoned.
RELIGION AND MENTAL HEALTH
Sassi went on to analyze the Bible verse that Roberta chose, saying that she likely studies the sacred text to cope with mental health issues.
"It's called religiosity, and it usually stems from feelings of anxiety and depression," she said.
The handwriting expert speculated that the way Roberta wrote could be traced back to alleged mental health problems, including one important moment where she crossed a word out in pen.
"I think she may also be paranoid by trying to cover the whole page," she said.
"And she crosses out one word, especially, when she's talking about bringing a shovel and a bag. It's the sicko side of religion."
EERIE DRAWING
Alongside her words, Roberta also included a creepy drawing of a sharp-taloned bird with the word remember.
Sassi speculates that this could have been an attempt to draw a sweet animal to soothe her son until her subconscious allegedly took over.
"Look at the beak and the claws on that bird," the handwriting expert said.
"The beak and claws are extremely sharp. She wants to keep her claws in her son. She's very controlling."
Citing years of studying handwriting, Sassi also pointed out that Robert's slash in her t's slant downward, which could also prove that she's a controlling person.
"If you're happy, your writing goes up, and if you're depressed, your writing goes down. It's very correlational," she said.
Roberta's letter was unearthed after a judge ruled that she could no longer keep it secret in the latest lawsuit filed by the Petito family.
Gabby's parents filed an emotional distress suit against the Laundries after they allegedly refused to call or text them back during the months-long saga.
They believe that Brian's parents took action to hide him from law enforcement after hearing what he did.
But the Laundries claim they did no such thing and argue that they had no obligation to keep in touch with the Petito family during the desperate search.
Both legal teams dispute when the letter was written with the Petito's claiming it was written after the killing and the Laundrie's saying Roberta gave it to Brian before he and Gabby went on their trip.
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The Laundries have recently filed a motion to throw out the lawsuit.
The judge said that she would rule on the motion to dismiss in the future.
