The family of Gabby Petito has made an update to their lawsuit against Brian Laundrie’s parents!
As you may know, her parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, initially filed a civil lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, alleging that their son had told them that “he had murdered” their daughter but kept that information to themselves. The pair believed the Laundries could have prevented the unimaginable pain they were put through as they searched for Gabby for weeks if they had revealed what they allegedly knew from the start.
According to NBC News, though, a Florida district court judge told Joseph and Nicole there was a “procedural deficiency” in their complaint against the Laundries that needed to be amended in order to proceed with the case. Now, they have finally filed those revisions on Friday. In the amended suit, the two added that Chris and Roberta went on a vacation to Fort De Soto Park in Florida with their son while knowing the location of the 22-year-old vlogger’s body – but still did nothing. The filing states:
“While Gabrielle Petito’s family was suffering, the Laundrie family went on vacation to Fort DeSoto Park on September 6-7, 2021. They went on vacation knowing that Laundrie had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed that they knew where her body was located, and further knew that Gabrielle Petito’s parents were attempting to locate her.”
Related: Gabby Petito’s Mother Posts Cryptic Quote About ‘Evil Hearts’ Amid Laundrie Family Lawsuit
This was only one amendment made in the lawsuit, though. As reported by WFLA, Joseph and Nicole also accused the parents of blocking all access to their cell phones and Facebook pages during this time. They also noted it was “beyond outrageous” that the Laundries expressed “hope” that law enforcement would find Gabby’s body while knowing Brain killed her. The filing continued:
“Christopher Laundrie and [Roberta] Laundrie knew of the mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt in not knowing the well-being or location of their daughter, and further knew that such mental suffering and anguish increased each day that Gabrielle Petito was missing. Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie further knew that they could prevent such additional mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt by disclosing what they knew about the well-being and location of the remains of Gabrielle Petito, yet they repeatedly refused to do so. In doing so, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or great indifference to the rights of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt.”
The Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino responded to the new suit in a statement to The Sun, saying:
“I know the Petitos filed an amended complaint but I haven’t reviewed it, but we will respond accordingly in court papers.”
Unsurprisingly, the Laundries have been pushing back on this legal matter. A motion to dismiss the lawsuit has already been filed, with Bertolino even calling the allegations “baseless”:
“The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them. This is not only common practice in our civilized society but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions. The Laundries’ rights are inalienable and the Laundries can never be liable for exercising their legal rights in a permissible way.”
If the lawsuit doesn’t get dismissed, it will be a while before the case heads to court. A jury trial has been set to start on August 14, 2023, in Venice, Florida. So we’ll have to wait and see what happens next with this legal battle.
What are your thoughts on this lawsuit, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
[Image via 60 Minutes Australia/YouTube, Gabby Petito/Instagram, WPTV News/YouTube]
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