Expert explains why it's 'highly unlikely' Brian Laundrie's parents will face criminal charges amid release of Gabby Petito doc
Topics: Gabby Petito, Netflix, News, US News
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Gabby Petito, Netflix, News, US News
An attorney has spoken on the backlash Brian Laundrie’s parents have faced as a new Netflix documentary has brought Gabby Petito’s murder back into the spotlight.
Back in 2021, 22-year-old aspiring travel vlogger Petito was murdered by her fiancé Laundrie and the story gripped the US at the time.
The pair were traveling across the country when Petito's parents grew concerned as she stopped replying to their messages.
Police then launched an investigation into her disappearance and Laundrie eventually became a suspect before he also disappeared.
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He was later found dead by authorities and police also found a note in which he appeared to confess to the murder of Petito.
Netflix recently released documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito and combed through the details of the devastating tragedy.
This has reignited the conversation around the case and many viewers have taken issue with Laundrie's parents' apparent lack of cooperation with authorities.
Petito's parents have argued that Laundrie's parents knew she had been murdered and even the location of her body.
Both of Laundrie's parents, Roberta and Christopher, have denied this and denied any wrongdoing.
Attorney Ben Michael, of M & A Criminal Defense Attorneys, recently spoke to Dexerto and explained the legal situation regarding Laundrie's parents.
He said: “While there is a possibility that they could at some point face criminal charges, I think that’s highly unlikely.
“They were never charged to begin with because the evidence of their cause or involvement in the death of Petito was not strong enough.”
Michael also addressed the ‘burn after reading’ letter which Roberta had written to her son.
It read, in part: “If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.”
Commenting on the letter, Michael said: “With that letter, for example, where Roberta Laundrie wrote to her son statements like ‘if you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags’, the date in which that letter was written couldn’t be proven.
“Their lawyers stated it was written before Petito’s death and was unrelated, and there simply was not enough evidence to prove otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The Petito family eventually issued a civil lawsuit against Laundrie's parents, where they accused them of covering up their daughter's murder, which the Laundries denied.
The lawsuit further claimed that the two were 'making arrangements' to allow their son to 'leave the country', as well as accusing Roberta of blocking Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, on social media.
In February 2024, the families settled the lawsuit privately to 'avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict'.
The Laundries have issued a statement about the Netflix doc via their attorney, who told the US Sun: "One perspective depicted as the 'truth' as seen through their lens. Similar to Republicans and Democrats fighting it out lately.
"Each side believes their perspective is correct. Hard to see through the lens of the other with all the noise and distrust.
"To be clear though, there were no contradictions by my clients Chris and Roberta Laundrie. The documentary contained many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact - perhaps deliberate to capture their 'truth', perhaps due to simple error.
"We all know Brian took Gabby's life and Brian then took his own as well."