SARASOTA, FL –
A Florida judge refused to throw out a lawsuit in which Gabby Petito’s parents claim Brian Landry told his parents he killed her before he drove home alone from their trip west.
Thursday’s ruling by Sarasota County Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll means the case against Christopher and Robert Laundry can proceed. Petito’s parents, Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, allege the Laundryes intentionally caused emotional distress in the case.
Petito’s disappearance during the couple’s road trip in a converted van and the subsequent discovery of her murdered body on Sept. 19 in a Wyoming national park became a national obsession, with attention later turning to the search for Laundry at a Florida nature preserve.
The FBI concluded that Laundry strangled Petito, 22 – with whom he had previous domestic disputes and violence – and that Laundry fatally shot himself in the Carleton Reservation swamp after returning home alone on Sept. 1.
The lawsuit alleges the Laundries hid their son’s confession to the killing from investigators and Petito’s parents while the search for Gabby Petito continued.
Carroll ruled that a statement released by the Laundries’ attorney on Sept. 14 expressing hope that Petito would be found may have been “intended to create false hope” when they knew she was already dead.
The Laundries deny the lawsuit’s allegations. The lawsuit seeks at least $30,000 in damages.
Petito was in regular contact with his parents and often posted on social media about their travels. The couple had a regular following before the murder mystery was revealed.
The FBI says Laundry sent text messages from Petito’s cell phone to her parents and others in an attempt to pretend she was still alive. He was also accused of illegally using one of her credit cards before his remains were found in a Florida wildlife preserve.
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