'More red flags than a communist rally': New lawsuit claims Brian Laundrie was an 'emotional threat' to Gabby Petito weeks before tragic murder
MOAB, UTAH: Attorneys for the family of murdered Gabby Petito claim to have found proof that her killer, Brian Laundrie, was an "emotional and mental threat to Gabby" in the weeks prior to her death. The family of Gabby has now filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Moab police department as a result of the officers' failure to make any arrests in connection with domestic abuse.
The information was discovered in a court filing on Wednesday, March 1 after Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt's attorneys disclosed transcripts of an interview between the Moab police officer who first approached the couple and the Price police captain who independently reviewed the incident. A domestic violence incident involving the couple occurred in Moab, Utah, about two weeks prior to Laundrie's alleged strangulation and the death of Gabby at a campsite in the Bridger-Teton National Forest north of Jackson, Wyoming. There, witnesses reportedly saw him hitting her in the public space. When police officers spotted the couple, they chose to not file any charges against the couple even though every domestic quarrel must result in an arrest or ticket under Utah law. Now, Gabby's family has filed a new complaint against the City of Moab, its police department, and various present and past department personnel. The new lawsuit can be viewed here.
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Captain Brandon Ratcliffe of the Price Police Department launched an external inquiry as a result of the lack of an arrest. In the end, he accused the responding officers, Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins, of making "unintentional mistakes" and offered a number of suggestions for discipline and training.
The new lawsuit, which also accuses Pratt of intentional wrongdoing, claims that a "lethality assessment protocol" that the city's police department reportedly put in place in 2018 to protect domestic violence victims from their abusers was not really applied.
Why did the police fail to make any arrests?
Petito, who was evidently uncomfortable throughout the entire conversation with the responding officers, had informed them that Laundrie had grabbed her face while pointing to her neck. The cops debated whether to make an arrest or impose a penalty but ultimately decided that Petito was the aggressor even though they originally appeared reluctant to take the distressed woman into prison. They didn't appear to think of Laundrie as a suspect, despite the fact that the 911 caller stated he was attacking her in public.
Ratcliffe, an experienced officer, allegedly did not truly think Petito had assaulted Laundrie, according to a transcript of Pratt's interview with Ratcliffe that was included in the new lawsuit. He said, "I took my 16 years of experience, and said I believed Gabby, based on the totality of circumstances and based on what she appears physically capable of and based off what I saw him doing and acting the way he was acting, I don't think she assaulted him."
Laundrie was purportedly described as "a weird, not healthy dude, and that was clear" by Pratt to Ratcliffe. He claimed Laundrie "looked unsavoury" and displayed "more red flags than a Chinese communist rally," according to the lawsuit. "I thought he was an emotional threat to her. I thought he was a mental threat to her," he allegedly said.
Finally, as part of a program for domestic abuse survivors, Pratt and Robbins split the couple up for the night, leaving Petito in charge of the modified camper van and driving Laundrie to a motel on Main Street. This decision of Pratt and Robbins was heavily questioned by Ratcliffe.
'Gabby would still be alive today'
Ratcliffe wrote, "Just because Gabby was determined to be the predominant aggressor as it related to this incident, doesn't mean she was the long-term predominant aggressor in this relationship." He added, however, that the cops at the time lacked concrete proof of such. But, the lawsuit claims that Pratt found "strangely consistent" versions of Laundrie putting his hands on Petito's face in the testimonies provided by the couple and the reporting party.
The parents of Gabby are suing for more than $50 million in damages. "Our daughter, Gabby, died as a result of intimate partner violence that could have and should have been identified by law enforcement using the lethality assessment. We believe that if the lethality assessment had been properly used in her situation, together with the recommended support and resources, Gabby would still be alive today," Gabby's mother, Nichole Schmidt, said.