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Brian Laundrie's mom Roberta wrote letter offering to bake cake with shiv inside to help him escape prison

Brian's mother Roberta Laundrie claimed the letter has nothing to do with her son and Gabby Petito

MOAB, UTAH: According to a new filing in Sarasota County Circuit Court by Gabby Petitio's family attorney, Brian Laundrie’s mother apparently wrote a letter to her son which included an offer to bake a cake with a sharp object hidden inside to help him in case he was sent to prison for killing his girlfriend. 

Pat Reilly, who is representing Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt in a lawsuit against the Laundries, is arguing for the release of the “burn after reading” letter penned by Roberta Laundrie to Brian to prove that she allegedly knew about Petitio's murder in August 2021. 

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What does the letter state?

“The letter in question, written by Roberta Laundrie to Brian Laundrie references bringing a shovel to help bury a body, and baking a cake with a shiv in it should Brian Laundrie go to prison. A reasonable inference is that the letter was written at a time when Gabrielle Petito was as yet unburied, and Brian Laundrie could go to jail for the crime of murder," said the attorney according to WFLA. The FBI collected the letter as evidence, claimed Reilley and was released back to Laundries earlier this year. He says that he has seen the letter and has “burn after reading” written on the envelope.

Brian's mother wanted him to escape from prison

Reilley has said in previous interviews that Roberta Laundrie supposedly offered her son cake with "knife” or a “saw” inside to help him escape from prison. However, this is the first time such a claim is referenced in a court filing. 

Roberta confirmed the letter's existence

Roberta Laundrie wrote a motion to the court last in March where she confirmed the letter's existence but said at the same time that it had nothing to do with Petito's murder. She alleged that it was written months before her son and his slain girlfriend left on their cross-country road trip in the summer of 2021.

Why did Roberta write the letter?

“The purpose of the letter was to reach out to Brian while he and I were experiencing a difficult period in our relationship,” Roberta wrote in the court motion to protect the letter from release. “Brian and I always had a very open and communicative relationship and in the months prior to the trip our relationship had become strained. Brian and I shared a love of stories and some of the language in the letter was using similar phrases to describe the depth of a mother’s love.”

The Laundries and longtime attorney Steven Bertolino are sued by Petito and Schmidt for intentional infliction of emotional distress. They claimed that Brian's parents and the attorney were aware of Petito's murder but chose to do nothing except release a statement expressing hope Petito would be found.

In the court filing, Reilley has said that it is up to a jury to conclude when the letter was written and if it has anything to do with Petito's murder. “If the jury were to find that the letter was written after Gabrielle Petito’s murder, it is further proof that the Laundries and Bertolino were aware that she was deceased at the time the statements in question were issued. If it was not written at a time when Roberta Laundrie knew that her son had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is at best an odd letter for a mother to write a son, and Roberta Laundrie’s explanation for writing it is frankly unbelievable.”

Roberta admitted in March that her letter does contain some references which would make someone think that it is about Brian and Gabby, but there is “no connection” between her words and what happened in the aftermath. “While I used words that seem to have a connection with Brian’s actions and his taking of Gabby’s life, I never would have fathomed the events that unfolded months later between Brian and Gabby would reflect the words in my letter. The words in the letter could never have been a comment on that tragic situation as they were written so many months before. My words to Brian were meant to convey my love and support for my son through a light-hearted and quirky reminder that my love for him was not diminished and could not be shaken by the miles of separation we would soon be faced with.”

A hearing on May 24 has been scheduled by Judge Danielle Brewer to rule on whether the “burn after reading” letter should be granted to Petito and Schmidt in the discovery process. 

"She’s nothing but a liar"

Twitter users also reacted to this shocking revelation. One user tweeted, "There’s a really tiny part of my brain that still wonders if somehow,someway, he’s alive. I know." Another wrote, "Are you KIDDING me?! I knew they were involved." One tweeted, "Why no arrest people have been changed for murder when someone fired a shot during a Robbery not then different rules for the Laundries" while another wrote, "I will never understand how the police watching him let him leave the house and go off to off himself. Also, something really off and disturbing about Roberta." "She’s nothing but a liar", wrote one user. 

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