Gabby Petito’s parents want a laundry attorney at trial

Gabrielle Petito and Brian Laundrie.

Gabby Petitos The parents want to add another defendant to their ongoing emotional distress lawsuit against the mother and father of Brian laundry. It is Stephen Bertolinothe attorney for Christopher laundry and Roberta Laundry.

The plaintiffs previously argued that Brian Laundrie’s parents already knew the missing Gabby was dead when they issued a statement wishing that she be reunited with her parents.

“It is our understanding that a search for Miss Petito has been organized in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming,” the Laundrie family said in a statement released by Bertolino. “On behalf of the Laundrie family, we hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.”

Now Gabby’s father Joseph Petto and mother Nicholas Schmidt claim that Bertolino also knew she was dead. You are petitioning to have a second amended complaint with counsel named as a co-defendant.

“It is believed that at the time of the release of the statement dated September 14, 2021, the Laundries and Steven Bertolino knew that Gabby Petito had passed away and that, under the circumstances, the statement was insensitive, callous and outrageous,” the statement said from the plaintiffs. “Thus, after much deliberation, Gabby Petito’s parents this afternoon filed a motion for a leave of absence from the court and asked the court for permission to file a second amended complaint to include Steven Bertolino as a defendant in the lawsuit.”

From her submitted draft of the amended complaint attached to the application for admission:

29. That the Laundries and Steven Bertolino expressed their “hope” that Gabrielle Petito would be found and reunited with her family at a time when they knew she had been murdered by Brian Laundrie was beyond outrageous.

30. Steven Bertolino was aware at the time of making the September 14, 2021 statement that Joseph Petito resided in Florida and that the statement was intended to reach Joseph Petito.

31. The September 14, 2021 statement released by Attorney Bertolino was intended for national distribution and was broadcast on news reports in Florida and statewide and was distributed electronically in Florida.

Bertolino did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime.

Gabby Petito, 22, went missing in late August 2021 while on an overland trip with Laundrie, 23.

Authorities have determined that Laundrie strangled Petito and left her body in the Wyoming wilderness as he drove back to his parents’ Florida home. After briefly hiding at the residence, Laundrie escaped to a local park where he shot himself in the head. In his suicide note, he claimed he only killed Petito after she was badly injured when the two tried to return to the van on a freezing cold night.

“I ended her life. I thought it was gracious that she wanted it, but now I see all the mistakes I made,” Laundrie said in a handwritten suicide note.

At the time, Bertolino confirmed the authenticity of the documents to Law&Crime.

Aaron Keller contributed to this report.

[Screenshot via Gabby Petito’s YouTube page Nomadic Statik]

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