Presumed girlfriend killer Brian Laundrie sent a text to a friend following Gabby Petito’s death, without making any reference to her, according to text messages obtained by The Messenger News.
Laundrie reportedly sent a message to a friend on September 4, the day he returned to Florida alone after taking a cross-country trip with Gabby to the West Coast. The message didn’t mention anything about Petito, although, by that time, she had passed away.
“We made a lot of content,” Laundrie told his friend, Ben “It was once in a lifetime.”
“Gab and I had fun. Tired now, gonna sleep for a week.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Petito was found deceased in Wyoming on September 19, 2021, at the Grand Teton National Park. Her case was labeled a homicide, with Laundrie being the sole suspect. Investigators believe that she died around August 28, with Laundrie returning home on September 1.
In late October 2021, Laundrie’s partial skull was discovered at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida. The following month, the medical examiner in Sarasota County determined he died from a single gunshot wound to the head, self-inflicted.
Laundrie reportedly confessed to killing Petito in a notebook found near his partial remains.
“I ended her life,” he wrote. “I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked, I was in shock.”
“From the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her.”
Following her death, Petito’s parents filed a lawsuit against Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, and Steven Bertolino, an attorney who represented Laundrie’s parents, for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit alleges that Laundrie’s parents knew their son murdered Petito, a Long Island native, but did virtually nothing except to express hope that she would be located.
The Petito family also sued the Moab, Utah, Police Department, accusing them of allowing Laundrie to leave after an argument with Petito.
Gabby Petito Family Files $50M Lawsuit Against Moab Police, Following Slain Vlogger’s 2021 Murder
A jury trial is scheduled for May 2024.
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[Feature Photo: Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie/Instagram]
