Gabby Petito's mom has speculated over the death of the man who killed her daughter, as she claims a third party could have killed Brian Laundrie.
After more than two years together, Gabby and Brian set off on a cross-country trip of a lifetime in July 2021, living out of a Ford Transit van they converted into a camper.
But their Instagram-perfect relationship was a far cry from reality, as the pair went from being young and in love to the center of a criminal investigation.
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An autopsy later found that Gabby was killed by 'blunt-force injuries' to her head and neck and 'manual strangulation' believed to be on either August 27 or 28, 2021.
Just under a month later, Laundrie died by way of suicide believed to be on September 21. The following month, his remains were discovered, with medical examiners concluding that he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Now, Nichole Schmidt, Gabby's mom, has opened up about her daughter's death while appearing as a guest on the The Squeeze podcast of Twilight star Taylor Lautner and his wife, Taylor Dome.
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Nichole claimed: "I will say straightforward, I don't think he killed himself. I think either his father or [his mother] did. That's just my opinion, it's not a fact, it's an opinion."
The late 22-year-old's mom broke down her theory to her hosts.
She said: "I don't understand how the parents were able to come and all of a sudden he was found, I know it's weird, it's definitely weird, and I do have questions about certain things like the bag being found so easily and stuff.
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"But I've let it go because I'm like he's gone, I need to move forward. I don't need to worry about stuff like that but yeah it was definitely strange - strange situation that happened.
"The whole thing has been strange from day one and it's all around those parents, it's all around his parents."
When Lautner asked Nichole why she thought Laundrie's parents would kill him, she explained her theory was that she thought they would have believed it was better for him to die than go to jail.
"That's the only thing I could come up with in my mind, the way if, you know, read her 'burn after reading' letter and just the weirdness that they are.
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"I don't find it implausible, I think that it's very possible that they did something."
Lautner then quizzed Nichole on whether her theory could be based on Laundrie being unable to follow through with the act himself.
She replied: "Well you know if you read the the stuff he wrote in his notebook, he kind of made up excuses, he didn't want to take responsibility for it. So, why then would he take his own life, you know? He was a coward so, it's just a gut feeling that I have.
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"And I mean I just I can't even believe that they're just walking around like nothing happened - she [Laundrie's mom] didn't even cry during the depositions talking about her son, calling my daughter Gabrielle saying that they they did love her and stuff - like no that's not love.
"So yeah a lot of anger, a lot of anger still towards them but I try not to think about them because I have so much good work to do."
LADbible Group approached Steven Bertolino, the legal representative for the Laundries, but he declined to comment.
Topics: Gabby Petito, True crime, Podcast, Crime
Joe Yates