Brian Laundrie’s parents suffer massive blow in messy legal battle with Gabby Petito’s family with suit headed to trial
BRIAN Laundrie's parents have suffered a major legal blow as they fight a lawsuit brought against them by the family of Gabby Petito.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie's latest effort to dismiss the civil lawsuit brought against them by Gabby's parents was unsuccessful.
Petito's parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, are suing the Laundries for intentional infliction of emotional distress with accusations that they had withheld information about Gabby's disappearance.
It was revealed on Thursday that a judge denied motions by the Laundries to dismiss the civil case.
It will move forward with trial set to begin on May 13, 2024.
To bolster the case, the Petitos filed a motion to gain access to electronic communications between the Laundries and their son, who admitted to killing Gabby.
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The Petitos hope the messages will reveal more about how much, if anything, that the Laundries knew about their son's crime.
The Laundries have repeatedly tried to get the civil case dismissed before their motion was once again denied by the judge this week.
The judge indicated that the Petitos' motion filed earlier this year - which aims to release the texts and emails between Brian and his parents between August and September 2021 - would likely be passed soon, according to WFLA.
The case first gripped the nation when Gabby's parents alerted authorities that their daughter, who had been traveling cross-country with her boyfriend in a van, went missing.
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Gabby chronicled their journey in a blog, hiding her tumultuous relationship with Brian from their fans on social media.
Body cam footage soon surfaced showing an interaction with police in Utah after witnesses called saying they had seen Brian hitting Gabby in a domestic violence dispute.
After Gabby vanished, police named Brian as a person of interest and eventually as a suspect.
A weeks-long search ultimately led investigators to Gabby's remains in Wyoming on September 19.
An autopsy revealed that she died from strangulation and blunt force trauma weeks before her body was discovered.
An arrest warrant was issued about a week later for Brian, who had returned to his parents' home in north Florida without Gabby.
With Christopher Laundrie aiding in the search, Brian's body was discovered by police on October 20 in a nearby swamp, killed from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Brian left a suicide note admitting to Gabby's murder.
Cops also found a backpack full of belongings, including a letter from his mother that had the instructions "burn after reading" written on the envelope.
In the letter, Roberta offered to bring a shovel and help her son bury a body.
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Roberta has claimed that the letter had nothing to do with Gabby.
The note is among evidence that the bereaved parents hope will be permitted at trial.