Gabby Petito was strangled to death, a US coroner has announced, following a post-mortem examination of her body.
Teton County Coroner Dr Brent Blue told a news conference: “In the manner of death in Gabrielle Venora Petito, we find the cause of death the cause is by strangulation and the manner is homicide.”
Ms Petito, 22, who vanished while on a road trip with her boyfriend, was found dead in Wyoming on 19 September – a week after her parents reported her missing – and the case has made headlines across America.
Dr Blue said the level of decomposition of the body suggested she died three to four weeks before her body was discovered.
Image: Brian Laundrie is the prime suspect in Gabby Petito’s death
Ms Petito’s family were notified of the results of the medical examination ahead of the news briefing.
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There is a huge effort to track down her travelling partner Brian Laundrie who is considered a person of interest in her disappearance and remains unaccounted for. He has been missing for nearly a month.
Dr Blue said he could not comment on who committed the murder, as this was “up to law enforcement”. It is not yet clear if the new cause of death might lead to additional charges against Mr Laundrie.
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The post-mortem took more than three weeks to complete and included specialists and an analysis of toxicology test results, the doctor said.
DNA evidence was taken from Ms Petito’s body but the coroner did not clarify who it belonged to. Dr Blue declined to comment further on the post-mortem, citing Wyoming law that limits what coroners can release.
The couple were visiting national parks in the western US in a Ford transit van and documenting the trip on social media.
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Gabby Petito: ‘He grabbed me with his nail’
Police bodycam showed them being pulled over in Utah in August after they got in an altercation, with the officer separating the couple.
No charges were filed, but police ordered the two to stay in separate lodgings for the night.
Ms Petito’s body was eventually found in an undeveloped camping area surrounded by woodlands and brush, about 30 miles (48km) northeast of Jackson, Wyoming.
TV personalities including Duane Chapman – known as Dog the Bounty Hunter – and America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh have started their own searches for Mr Laundrie.
Earlier this month, police released new bodycam video in which Ms Petito tells officers that, while her boyfriend had hit her, she had hit him first.
Image: The couple were travelling in a white transit van. Pic: North Port Police
The case has led to renewed calls for people to pay greater attention to cases involving missing Indigenous women and other people of colour, with some commentators describing the intense coverage of her disappearance as “missing white woman syndrome.”
Federal officials in Wyoming last month charged Laundrie with unauthorized use of a debit card, claiming he used a Capital One bank card and someone’s personal identification number to make unauthorized withdrawals or charges worth more than $1,000 during the period in which Petito went missing
The former president asked Justice Juan Merchan to delay the sentencing for his conviction over hush money paid to a porn star to give him a chance to argue he should have been immune from prosecution.
Prosecutors said Trump’s argument was “without merit”, but agreed to the delay to give Trump time to make his case.
He will face an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction overturned, since much of the conduct in the case predates his time in office.
The delay will push the sentencing beyond the Republic National Convention on 15 July, when Trump is due to be named the party nominee for the presidential election on 5 November.
The sentencing, originally set for 11 July, has now been scheduled for 18 September.
Trump lawyers see ruling as a game-changer – this is the first test
It’s the end of the law as they know it.
The specifics of change will be tested first, and fastest, in the New York court where Trump was convicted.
His lawyers clearly see the Supreme Court ruling as a game-changer and an opportunity to have the conviction thrown out.
New York’s prosecutors beg to differ, insisting the Trump argument is “without merit”.
Their agreement to a delay in sentencing is a nod to inevitable Trump appeals and the importance of setting out a judge’s reasoning to help resist challenge.
Trump’s lawyers believe evidence presented to the jury during his trial falls under new immunity protections, including public statements, tweets and paperwork.
The hush money trial spanned periods when Trump was president and there will be questions around what falls within the parameter of “official acts”.
It is an early test of the new immunity law and a measure of a president’s empowerment.
For critics of the Supreme Court ruling, it’s a calibration of risk to democracy and the rule of law.
The delay in Trump’s sentencing will push it beyond the Republic National Convention on 15 July, when he’s due to be anointed as the party nominee.
Trump’s sentencing had loomed large over the political set-piece – no more.
Trump was found guilty on 30 May of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The offer was made to keep her quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter until after the 2016 election, when Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
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Trump denies ever having sex with Ms Daniels and has said he will appeal against the conviction after his sentencing.
Prosecutors said the payment was part of an illicit scheme to influence the election.
In their letter to Justice Merchan, Trump’s team argued prosecutors had used evidence involving his official acts as president, including conversations while in the White House.
Under the Supreme Court’s ruling, prosecutors cannot use evidence related to official actions to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions.
Joe Biden has said the historic ruling that former presidents have immunity violates the principle “that there are no kings in America” – and means they can now “ignore the law”.
“Each, each of us is equal before the law. No one is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” Mr Biden said on Monday evening.
The ruling is a victory for Donald Trump, who is accused of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.
“I know I will respect the limits of presidential power as I have for the three-and-a-half years,” Mr Biden said.
“But any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law.”
The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of Trump’s case, but referred it back to a lower court to decide how to apply the ruling.
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It must now decide whether Trump was acting officially or privately in relation to the charges.
Image: The decision is a big win for Trump’s legal case over the 2020 election. Pic: Reuters
President Biden said Monday’s ruling also means the ex-president is now “highly unlikely” to go on trial before US voters have their say again in four months’ time.
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“It’s a terrible disservice to the people in this nation,” he said.
If Trump becomes president again in November, he may be able to use his powers to dismiss the charges against him.
He earlier celebrated the ruling, posting online: “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
The three liberal justices all dissented with the majority opinion – with Sonia Sotomayor warning it was a dangerous step for democracy.
She said it made a “mockery” of the principle that “no man is above the law”.
“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” she wrote.
The chief justice, John Roberts, insisted that wasn’t true but said they have “at least presumptive immunity from prosecution” for official acts.
The decision passed with the help of the three conservative judges Trump appointed when he was president.
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The 81-year’s remarks were his first from the White House since then, and he put in a far more assured and coherent performance – even sporting a glowing tan.
However, Mr Biden was reading from an autocue – something he did not have the benefit of during his stumbling face off with Trump.
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Democrat insiders spoke of panic after the TV debacle, but any effort to force him to withdraw against his will is extremely unlikely – with the only realistic route being if he stepped down himself.
The US Supreme Court has sent Donald Trump’s claim he is immune from prosecution for his actions while president back to a lower court.
Trump faces prosecution over his role in the deadly January 6 riots in 2021 at the Capitol in Washington DC, after he encouraged his supporters to gather at Congress to oppose the approval of Joe Biden’s 2020 election win; and alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election result.
The former president had been charged with conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiring against the right of Americans to vote and corruptly obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to do so.
In a historic 6-3 ruling, the justices said for the first time that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts, but no immunity for unofficial acts.
But instead of deciding for themselves, the justices ordered lower courts to work out precisely how to apply their decision to Trump’s case.
The lower court must now decide whether he was acting officially or privately.
Trump’s legal team had argued he was immune from prosecution as he was serving as president when he took the actions leading to the charges.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges in August last year, has opposed presidential immunity from prosecution based on the principle no one is above the law.
A trial had been scheduled to start on 4 March, before the delays over the immunity issue.
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The Supreme Court’s decision adds further delays. If Trump becomes president again in November, in reality he may be able to use his powers to dismiss the charges against him.
The court’s slow handling of the case has already helped Trump by making it unlikely any trial on these charges could be completed before the election on 5 November.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has said this case and three others are politically motivated attempts to keep him from returning to the White House.
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