Gabby Petito‘s parents continue to speak out through their lawyer, and offering up a cryptic and serious warning about the potential evidence they may have against Brian Laundrie‘s family.
As we’ve been reporting, Brian’s parents Chris and Roberta Laundrie filed a motion in court on Wednesday of this week to dismiss a lawsuit from Petito’s parents that alleges the couple had prior knowledge that their son had killed Gabby. But now, according to the Petito family lawyer, that request for a dismissal may have been a bad move, because the Laundries apparently don’t know what the Petito fam knows about the ongoing tragedy.
Related: Brian Laundrie Supposedly Fled The Police In Order To Save His Mom?!
Petito family attorney Pat Reilly issued an ominous warning to Chris and Roberta via the media this week after the Laundries filed their dismissal request motion. Slamming the dismissal argument as “baseless and frivolous,” Reilly criticized the couple, as well as their lawyer Steve Bertolino, in his media missive.
Angered at the dismissal attempt, Reilly spoke to WFLA about the issue, doubling down on his argument that the Laundries had knowledge of Brian’s activities regarding Gabby, and saying (below):
“They’ll have to wait and see. If we didn’t believe it was true, we wouldn’t have put them in the complaint.”
Wow!
Strong words, for sure. And of course, the lawsuit — which was first filed back on March 10 on behalf of Petito’s parents Joe Petito and Nicole Schmidt — is very direct in its accusations claiming the Laundries allegedly knew their son had killed Gabby. At one point in the filing, the Petito family’s legal team lays out their accusations, writing (below):
“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.”
Furthermore, as part of the lawsuit, Reilly’s court docs state that they discovered Laundrie’s parents had retained Bertolino’s legal services on September 2, 2021 — the same date that the couple allegedly learned their son had killed Petito.
Related: Gabby’s Father Reveals What’s Helping The Family Cope With This Terrible Tragedy
Since then, Bertolino has been working overtime to dismiss the case outright, and as we noted this week, plainly asked a judge to scrap the suit in his latest filing representing the Laundries:
“A motion to dismiss the baseless and frivolous lawsuit commenced by Gabby Petito‘s parents was filed in court. 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.”
Here is more on the latest in this legal back-and-forth in this tense case, including Bertolino’s earlier “baseless” accusation about the lawsuit, from WFLA (below):
Obviously, there is still a long way to go with all this legal maneuvering.
Such a terrible situation all around.
[Image via WFLA News Channel 8/YouTube/Gabby Petito/Instagram]
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