A NEW lawsuit filing has revealed that Brian Laundrie secured a legal team days before Gabby Petito was reported missing.
Brian lawyered up with a powerful firm using his parents' money, according to the Petito family's most recent complaint.
Gabby's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, have sued the Laundries, alleging that Brian's parents Chris and Roberta and their attorney Steve Bertolino knew Gabby was dead and were aware of the location of her remains.
Gabby, 22, was reported missing on September 11, 2021 after she and her 23-year-old fiancé, Brian, had embarked on a cross-country road trip.
Gabby was last seen alive in Jackson, Wyoming on August 27, 2021.
Days later, on August 29, 2021, Brian made a "frantic" phone call to his parents, Fox News reported, citing new court documents.
He said that "Gabby was 'gone' and he needed a lawyer," according to the filing that was made public on Thursday.
Brian's parents made Bertolino aware of the situation on September 2, 2021, and the same day "Bertolino entered into a fee agreement with Fleener Peterson LLC," on Brian's behalf, the documents said.
The Wyoming law firm was just six hours away from where Gabby's remains were found.
Tom Fleener, a partner in the firm, is an Army veteran and became a JAG lawyer. He was profiled in GQ after notably representing Guantanamo Bay detainee Ali al Bahlul, who was alleged to have assisted Osama Bin Laden.
Bertolino received a $25,000 retainer from the Laundries which was used to pay Fleener Petersen, according to the court docs.
He reportedly has not received any payment from the family for his services.
Bertolino also contacted other Wyoming firms, including a public defender in Teton County, the area where Gabby's remains were recovered on September 19, 2021.
The bombshell new information was unveiled in the latest amended complaint filed by the Petitos' lawyer, Pat Reilly, after he deposed the Laundries and Bertolino.
The Petitos claim that the Laundrie family gave them false hope that Gabby would be found alive in an attempt to protect their son Brian.
The case centers on a statement the Laundries made through their attorney on September 14, 2021, saying that they were hopeful Gabby would be found and reunited with her family.
Gabby's family has been adamant in their legal pursuit of what Brian told his parents and Bertolino after he murdered Gabby and before he died by suicide in October of 2021.
Brian wrote a letter admitting to the crime shortly before his suicide, but what exactly led up to Gabby's death remains a mystery to the public.
Bertolino has used attorney-client privilege as a way to protect that information.
"Clearly, Brian Laundrie had no such expectation of privacy in authorizing a confession and leaving it in his backpack to be found following his death," Reilly wrote in the motion shared by WFLA reporter JB Biunno.
Bertolino claimed he did what any attorney would do by reaching out to Fleener Peterson and telling his clients not to discuss the case.
"Brian was incoherent, beside himself, and couldn't communicate," Bertolino said.
He has also claimed Brian's parents were unaware of the murder because of the state Brian was in.
The Laundries have attempted to settle with Gabby's parents multiple times to no avail, and a civil trial is scheduled to go ahead in May 2024.
Bertolino is awaiting the court's decision on whether his attorney-client privilege will be forcefully waived.
