'The Murder of Gabby Petito: What Really Happened': What happened to case between Petitos and Laundries?
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TAMPA, FLORIDA: Gabby Petito's death shocked everyone in 2021. The 22-year-old was confirmed to be killed by strangulation and the person held accountable for the death was her fiance Brian Laundrie.
Gabby and Brian were on a cross-country trip in a van. However, in September 2021, Gabby was reported to be missing. After Gabby's death, Brian returned home alone and didn't speak about her to anyone. A few days after his return, he went missing and was later found dead by the police. His death was ruled to be by suicide. Several months after Gabby's body was found and it was discovered that Brian went home after strangling her to death, Petito's parents filed a lawsuit against the Laundrie family claiming that they failed to act and provide information on where Gabby was or that she had died.
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What happened to the court case between Petitos and Laundries?
After discovering Gabby was, her father Joseph and mother Nichole Schmidt tried to get answers from Chris and Roberta Laundrie about her whereabouts. However, the Laundries stayed mum. Moreover, their lawyer, back then, claimed that the Laundries were not obligated to speak. Later, Petito's parents brought up a civil lawsuit against the Laundries claiming that they knew about the murder and preferred to keep it a secret rather than speak. According to ABC News, the Petitos claimed in the lawsuit that Brian told his parents that he had killed Gabby before he returned home alone to Florida.
Claiming the allegations to be false, Laundries filed a motion to dismiss Petitos' lawsuit. In a hearing on Zoom, Laundries' lawyer Matthew Luka claimed that Brian's parents had the first amendment right to not speak. Petitos' lawyer Patrick Riley argued saying that the first amendment right does not apply in this case. Petitos, as per the lawsuit, were seeking for $30,000 to compensate the mental anguish caused by Laundries by keeping the facts hidden. Judge Hunter Carroll held a hearing for the same, and as per the last report, the case was awaiting a response from representatives or the estate to move forward. The battle between the Petito and the Laundrie family is still ongoing
Furthermore, recently Gabby's parents filed a $50M wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab City police department, claiming that the authorities failed to protect Gabby from Brian. In the new filing, the Petito family claimed that the police were properly trained and taught about how to recognize signs of abuse. However, they failed to assess Gabby's case. When a domestic abuse call was made to Moab police by an unknown person, the police officers stopped Gabby and Brian's van and questioned them. When asked about the situation, Gabby took the blame instead, stating that she hit Brian first. In fact, bodycam footage showed the cops joking with Brian soon after.
ID is bringing up a detailed documentary, featuring some unseen footage, of Gabby's murder case. 'The Murder of Gabby Petito: What Really Happened' is scheduled to release on October 12 at 10/9c.