A copy of the letter Brian Laundrie’s mother allegedly instructed him to “burn after reading” has been given to the parents of his late fiancée, Gabby Petito, whom the FBI says Laundrie admitted to killing before his own death in 2021.
A Florida judge ruled the undated letter written by Roberta Laundrie can be included as evidence in the Petitos’ civil lawsuit against the Laundries and their lawyer, according to local news station WFLA, which obtained a copy.
“Nothing can make me stop loving you, nothing will or could ever divide us no matter what we do, or where we go or what we say — we will always love each other,” the letter reportedly reads. “If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.”
The letter was reportedly inside an envelope with “burn after reading” written on it. The Laundries’ lawyer claims the FBI already had the letter when authorities discovered Laundrie’s remains in a Florida park in October 2021. The Petitos’ lawyer contends the letter was found with his body.
Petito, who was from Long Island, disappeared during a 2021 cross-country road trip with Laundrie, who returned to Florida alone. She died of homicide by manual strangulation, according to a coroner, while Laundrie died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities say they recovered a notebook in which Laundrie allegedly confessed to killing Petito, whose body was found in September 2021 in a Wyoming national park.
Roberta Laundrie claimed in March the letter was not related to Petito’s death but rather an attempt to repair a strained relationship with her son. She claimed “burn after reading” referenced a book she and Brian read during his childhood.
“There were some other phrases that I used in the letter, which are not found in the books I shared with Brian as a child,” Roberta Laundrie said at the time. “However, these phrases are common enough in our circle of friends and family, to describe who you could turn to in the most troubling times of your life.”
On Wednesday, she reiterated the claim she wrote the letter before Petito and Laundrie’s road trip.
