The attorney for Roberta and Chris Laundrie denies that he knew Gabby Petito had died while on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, and denies that Brian’s parents had “full knowledge” that their son murdered Gabby.
On December 8, Bertolino filed a response with the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court in Sarasota, Florida, after Gabby’s parents, Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, claimed Bertolino knew that Gabby died and failed to inform them. Instead, according to the lawsuit, Bertolino gave them false hope that Gabby may still be alive.
Bertolino denied those allegations as well, despite issuing a statement shortly after Gabby’s death, that said it was his and the Laundrie family’s hope that “the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.”
The response is in connection with an emotional distress lawsuit filed by Gabby’s parents, following her death. Brian Laundrie, who later took his own life, is alleged to have murdered Gabby before leaving her body in Wyoming and fleeing in her van to Florida.
Amended Complaint
Petito/ Laundrie Amended Co… by Leigh Egan
Bertolino acknowledged that the Laundrie couple contacted him on August 21, 2021, and sought legal representation in connection with Brian, who allegedly contacted his parents in August 2021 and said “Gabby was ‘gone’ and he needed a lawyer.”
Bertolino acknowledged that he then contacted law firms in Wyoming, following the phone call. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Bertolino is accused of reaching out to various other firms within the state, including a public defender in Teton County, where Petito’s remains were discovered.
However, Bertolino is “unable to admit or deny” contacting the public defender’s office.
Read the full response below.
Bertolino Amended Response by Leigh Egan
Gabby Petito vanished in August 2021 while on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie. Her remains were found at a campsite in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming on September 19, 2021. Authorities concluded that she died by manual strangulation.
After murdering Petito, Laundrie is believed to have driven the van the couple was traveling in back to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida, where he arrived on September 1 alone.
Laundrie later drove to a nearby nature reserve in Florida about 10 minutes from his parents’ home, where he committed suicide. Investigators recovered what appeared to be a written confession by Laundrie that he murdered Petito.
Members of the Laundrie and Petito families have been questioned in depositions over the past several months as part of the civil case filed against the Laundrie couple in 2022.
In a separate wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Petito’s family, Brian Laundrie’s estate agreed to pay a $3 million settlement last year.
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[Feature Photo: FILE – In this image taken from police body camera video provided by the Moab Police Department, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito talks to a police officer after police pulled over the van she was traveling in with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, near the entrance to Arches National Park on Aug. 12, 2021. A letter written by Roberta Laundrie to her late son Brian Laundrie can be used by the attorney for Petito’s parents in preparation for their negligence lawsuit filed against Laundrie’s parents and their New York-based attorney in their high-profile case involving Petito’s death. (Moab Police Department via AP, File)]
