Gabby Petito’s parents offered ‘confidential’ new deal in bitter legal battle with Brian Laundrie’s family & lawyer
THE family of Gabby Petito's killer fiance has filed for a settlement in her parents' emotional distress lawsuit, court documents reveal.
The major legal victory came just over two years after Petito, 22, was strangled to death by Brian Laundrie, 23, during a cross-country road trip.
In July 2021, the young lovers launched a four-month-long trip exploring the mountain west with Gabby sharing videos of her travels along the way.
But on August 28, the trip came to a shocking end when Gabby disappeared and Brian returned to their Florida home alone.
On September 19, Gabby's remains were discovered in Wyoming's Teton National Forest days after Brian vanished and was unable to be found by police.
An autopsy found that she had been strangled to death with her body left to succumb to the brutal elements.
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A mad search was launched for Brian as police searched all across the country, but no trace of him could be found.
On October 20, his body was finally discovered in the swamps of a Florida park.
His journal was nearby which confirmed that he did kill Gabby. An autopsy determined he had died from a single gunshot.
In May 2022, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, Gabby's parents, filed a lawsuit against Brian's parents Christopher and Roberta for failing to notify police when their son came home alone.
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They alleged in the civil suit that they knew about the killing, but the parents
The suit came months before they won $3million from the Laundries estate after winning a wrongful death suit.
No criminal charges have been filed against the parents.
On September 1, the Laundries' lawyer Steve Bertolino filed a proposal for a settlement to finally put their legal woes to an end, documents seen by The U.S. Sun reveal.
But it's unclear whether a settlement can be reached at this time.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Bertolino for comment.
The Petito family's lawyer Pat Reilly said that the details of the settlement were "confidential."
"I can't discuss," he told local NBC affiliate WFLA.
During court proceedings, a judge ruled they could release a 'burn after reading' letter for Laundrie, written by his mother Roberta, in which she made references to a shovel and burying a body.
In the note, she also told her son "nothing" would ever make her stop loving him, explaining: "Nothing can separate us: not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not threats, not even sin, not the thinkable or unthinkable can get between us."
Laundrie's attorney claimed the letter had been taken out of context, saying the topics appear in a series of "fanciful descriptions of how much somebody will love somebody else."
As part of court proceedings, Petito's family was seeking all messages exchanged between Laundrie and his parents from August 27, 2021, through his death in November of that same year.
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Utah cops are also starting to lawyer up as they're being sued for a whopping $50million by Gabby's family for another wrongful death suit.
