An attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie, who killed his girlfriend Gabby Petito before killing himself, asked a Florida court on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit from Petito’s parents and stepparents.
The civil suit, filed earlier this month, alleges that the Laundrie family was aware their son killed the travel vlogger as the two took a cross-country road trip, then aided Brian Laundrie’s flight from a multi-state police manhunt and caused "intentional infliction of emotional distress." They deny these claims.
“The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them,” attorney Steve Bertolino told Fox News. “This is not only common practice in our civilized society, but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions.”
The Independent has reached out to the families that brought the suit for comment.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Laundrie parents, Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, were aware of the location of Petito’s remains but withheld the information from the police and others.
"Despite the fact that Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt implored Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie to tell them if their daughter was alive, and if she was not, where her remains were located, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie refused to respond to either Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, or law enforcement," the complaint reads.
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie embarked on a cross-country road trip in July.
Petito was found bludgeoned and strangled to death in a campground north of Jackson, Wyoming, where the couple had stayed in August, after a nationwide search for her and Laundrie, the FBI’s sole suspect in the killing.
Laundrie arrived back in Florida alone on 1 September, driving Ford van owned by Petito, before taking a camping trip with his parents then fleeing.
He admitted to the killing in a notebook discovered near his body in a Florida swamp, according to the FBI. His remains were discovered in October in a nature preserve, and an autopsy ruled the death a suicide.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
