Brian Laundrie fled his home in wake of Gabby Petito’s murder after ‘fearing his mom was going to be arrested’
BRIAN Laundrie was torn between fleeing the US, covering up Gabby Petito's death, turning himself in or suicide before he disappeared into the swamp, a source close to the family said.
He was found dead on October 20 - about a month after he left his parents' Florida house - with a single gunshot wound to the head. His death was ruled a suicide.
Guilt, the media frenzy, protestors and the threat of his mother getting arrested pushed him over the edge, a family source told The Sun in an exclusive interview.
"I'm sure he was contemplating everything," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
"I'm sure he told his parents would turn himself in and fight the case," the source said. "But that whole day was awful."
The source close to the Laundrie family was referring to September 13, when Brian told his parents that he was going for a hike in the Carlton Reserve behind his parents' North Port, Florida home.
GABBY PETITO AND BRIAN LAUNDRIE STORIES
That was the last time he was seen alive.
"The police were talking to Steven (Bertolino, the Laundries' lawyer), and all the media frenzy stuff started. Brian found out that they might arrest his mom. That's when he left," the source said.
"His dad tried to stop him since he was leaving upset, but Brian said he needed to get fresh air and clear his head, which wasn't unusual for him."
After a futile, multi-agency search that spanned weeks, Brian's dad found his son's remains in the gator-infested swamp next to a notebook with a suicide note.
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In the note, he claimed responsibility for killing Gabby, the FBI said.
"And his parents are falling apart. It kills me because it's not their fault. They didn't cause this and they don't deserve this. I get such an awful knot in my stomach knowing they're suffering so much.
"The bottom line is the Petitos filed this lawsuit knowing that if his mom did do anything that she could be blaming herself and is living with the consequences."
Bertolino said there are inaccuracies with the report and said the source claiming to be close to the Laundrie family is not. "I don't know what her motives are."
PETITO FAMILY SUES THE LAUNDRIES
The Petito family alleged in the recently filed civil lawsuit that Brian's parents knew he killed Gabby and planned to help him flee the country.
"While Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt were desperately searching for information concerning their daughter, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret, and it is believed were making arrangements for him to leave the country," the lawsuit said.
Bertolino slammed the lawsuit as "baseless" and said that they "had no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third-party including the Petito family," during the investigation.
The case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 30 in Sarasota County, Florida, where the legal action was filed.
"I think Gabby's family is using a frivolous lawsuit to torment Brian's parents while avoiding the public scrutiny of doing it," the source said.
"I know for a fact that they thought it would come out in a public record request from the media that Roberta did this. When the record request was denied and the media wouldn't publish an allegation like that without proof, they filed.
"I also know for a fact that her family wanted to use the court of public opinion knowing it will be dismissed before Brian's family can ever tell their side. Filing the lawsuit is the only other way to get it out publicly.
"They knew that, if Roberta did anything like this, she would be living with the guilt of wondering if Brian killed himself because he thought they were going to arrest her.
"I believe that they wanted to put the information out that she did this without the public ever knowing that Roberta is already suffering."
HOW IT GOT TO THIS POINT
The Gabby Petito-Brian Laundrie saga gripped the nation last summer as their cross country trip quickly spiraled and ended with the deaths of two people in their early 20s.
The case attracted internet sleuths, Dog the Bounty Hunter, arm-chair detectives and conspiracy theorists.
The trip fell off the rails during a physical altercation in Moab, Utah.
Police captured the interviews with Gabby and Brian on their body cameras about a month before Gabby's body was found in a Wyoming State National Park.
An independent investigation was launched into the stop carried out by Moab police after formal complaints were made about the August 12 interaction with the young couple.
The report, which was released in January, concluded that there was cause to arrest Gabby over her dispute with Brian and that it was a violation of state code she was not cited.
It also highlighted inconsistencies and flaws with both the actions of the officers on the scene, their follow-up on the case and the reports later filed.
It was also found that the officers failed to issue the right domestic violence guidance to the couple despite them claiming to have noticed "red flags" that Brian was a "weird not healthy dude."
Instead, the police separated them for the night and let them go.
On September 19, 2021, Gabby's body was found, and a medical examiner ruled that her cause of death was manual strangulation.
Throughout the ordeal, the Laundrie family has remained silent, despite national media attention and camera crews parked outside their home for weeks.
Petito's family has a done a few interviews and used their unwanted attention to shine a light on hundreds of missing persons cases throughout the country and domestic violence.
WHAT'S NEXT?
There are still dozens of unanswered questions that might come out as the civil case makes its way through the legal system.
Criminal defense attorney told The Sun in an previous exclusive interview that more could come out about his final days.
"Civil cases aren't as tight-lipped as criminal investigations, so I imagine as this litigation heats up we'll all learn many more details surrounding the murder," Ritter said.
"Predicting an outcome at this early stage would be about as easy as reading tea leaves.
"Though I will say this — if the Laundries believe that they may expose themselves to even the suspicion of conspiring with their son to destroy evidence or harboring a fugitive, you can expect that discussion of a settlement will happen quickly.
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"Litigation is never cheap. Much of the cost depends on how long the lawsuit drags on.
"Also, it might be that the Petitos' lawyers took this on a contingency basis with the expectation of a large payoff, or for the media exposure that can result from such a high profile case."
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