Gabby Petito case: Brian Laundrie’s mother offered him ‘a shovel and garbage bags’ in ‘burn after reading’ letter
Brian Laundrie’s mother offered him “a shovel and garbage bags” if he needed to dispose of a body, according to a “burn after reading” letter, court documents show.
The parents of Laundrie’s fiancee Gabby Petito have been given the letter after a Florida judge denied a request from his parents to withhold it.
The Petitos are suing the Laundries for emotional distress following their daughter’s death while Brian and Gabby were travelling together.
The letter was released after arguments by lawyers as to whether it is relevant to the lawsuit, which is set to be heard in May next year.
Gabby’s body was found at Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest in September 2021 and her death was ruled a homicide by manual strangulation.
Laundrie took his own life the following month, but the FBI said that he had written in a notebook that he was responsible for her death.
The “burn after reading” letter was found in his backpack.
The Petito family’s lawyer shared a copy of the letter, written by Roberta Laundrie, with NBC News.
Police footage shows Brian Laundrie talking to an officer after the van he was traveling in with Gabby was pulled over in Utah. Pic: AP
‘If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up’
She had said in the letter: “I just want you to remember I will always love you, and I know you will always love me.
“You are my boy.
“Nothing can make me stop loving you, nothing will or could ever divide us no matter what we do, or where we go or what we say – we will always love each other.
“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.
“If you fly to the moon, I will be watching the skies for your re-entry.
“If you say you hate my guts, I’ll get new guts.”
‘Nothing can separate us… not even sin’
Roberta Laundrie included a Bible verse from the book of Romans in the letter and ended it by saying: “(Nothing can separate us: not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not threats, not even sin, not the thinkable or unthinkable can get between us.) ~ Not time. Not miles and miles and miles.”
In an affidavit, Mrs Laundrie said that she had written the letter to her son at a time when their relationship was “strained”, giving it to him before he and Gabby left for their travels.
“I was trying to connect with Brian and repair our relationship as he was planning to leave home – and I had hoped this letter would remind him how much I loved him,” she wrote.
“While I used words that seem to have a connection with Brian’s actions and his taking of Gabby’s life, I never would have fathomed the events that unfolded months later between Brian and Gabby would reflect the words in my letter.”
Letter ‘in no way related to Gabby’
Police bodycam footage showed Gabby upset while speaking to officers.
In a statement through her family’s lawyer, Mrs Laundrie added: “The letter to Brian was written prior to Gabby and Brian leaving my home for their trip.
“I truly loved my son, and simply wanted to convey to him how much he meant to me and how much I loved him. I am sure people use phrases all the time to express to their loved ones the depths of their love.
“Although I chose words that I thought would be impactful with Brian given our relationship, the letter was in no way related to Gabby.”
A police officer has been injured after a night of violent protests outside an asylum hotel in Dublin – with six arrests made.
Bricks were thrown and fireworks were discharged outside the Citywest Hotel – with glass bottles used as missiles and a police van set on fire.
A Garda helicopter was also targeted with lasers, and the police service says some of those on the streets were seen carrying garden forks.
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Commissioner Justin Kelly added: “This was obviously not a peaceful protest. The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence.
“We will now begin the process of identifying those who committed crimes and we will bring those involved in this violence to justice.”
It is the second night of demonstrations after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back – and water cannon was deployed at the scene.
A line of officers was preventing the protesters from approaching the hotel.
Police officers block protesters outside the hotel. Pic: PA
‘Those involved will be brought to justice’
Ireland’s premier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, paid tribute to the officers who were on the frontline of the protests.
“There can be no justification for the vile abuse against them, or the attempted assaults and attacks on members of the force that will shock all right-thinking people,” he said.
Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said those involved in the violence will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
‘No excuse’ for violence
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.”
He said attacks on officers would “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed.”
The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
A police van has been set on fire and missiles have been thrown at officers as protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.
It is the second night of demonstrations outside the Citywest Hotel after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
A large crowd has gathered in the area and members of the Garda’s public order unit have been deployed.
Footage from the scene showed a Garda vehicle on fire as well as several protesters displaying Irish flags.
Many protesters carried Republic of Ireland flags
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back.
A Garda helicopter hovered overhead and a water cannon was deployed on the scene.
Ireland’s justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said those involved will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.
He said attacks on gardai will “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”
It was the second night of protest outside the hotel, which is being used as state accommodation for people seeking international protection. The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
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There are no plans for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in person in the near future, according to a White House official.
The presidents last week agreed to meet in Budapest after a phone call Mr Trump called “extremely frank and trustful”.
The US leader suggested it was possible it could happen within a fortnight, though no date was set.
However, it appears that’s now off the table – and there are fears the meeting could be shelved altogether due to Russia‘s rigid stance on the Ukraine war.
The White House official, speaking to Sky’s US partner network NBC, said secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Tuesday.
The call was described as “productive” but the official added there was no plan for the presidents to meet “in the immediate future”.
The last Trump-Putin meeting was in Alaska in August, but it ended without any meaningful progress towards a ceasefire.
The Budapest plan was announced shortly before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington last Friday to try to get approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
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Why Tomahawks are off the table
Mr Zelenskyy accused the Russian leader of acting out of fear Ukraine could get the green light and the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia.
In his nightly address on Tuesday, he said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” after it became clear Mr Trump had backed away from any decision on the Tomahawks.
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Professor Michael Clarke answers your questions on the Ukraine war.
Two US officials told Reuters that plans for the Budapest meeting had stalled over Russia’s insistence any peace deal must give it control of all of the Donbas region.
Those terms are said to have been reiterated over the weekend in a private communique known as a “no paper”.
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The Kremlin’s refusal to budge effectively rejects Mr Trump’s latest assessment that the frontlines should be frozen as they are.
The president shifted position last week after previously telling the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back all the land it has lost.
Read more:
Putin’s ‘not so secret weapon’ | Ukraine war Q&A
UK ‘ready to spend over £100m’ on possibly sending troops to Ukraine
Ukraine and European nations issued a joint statement on Tuesday insisting “international borders must not be changed by force” and accusing Russia of “stalling tactics”.
But, in an apparent effort to keep the US leader onside, it added: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
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Trump: ‘We can end this war quickly’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the impression his country was in no rush to arrange another Trump-Putin meeting, saying on Tuesday “preparation is needed, serious preparation”.
Such talk is likely to increase concerns Russia does not want to stop fighting and is “playing” President Trump – all while continuing to launch drone barrages at Ukrainian cities.
Russia currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine after its invasion in February in 2022. It also annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte is travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump on Wednesday.
He will “discuss various aspects related to NATO’s support to Ukraine and to the US-led efforts towards lasting peace”, an official for the alliance said.
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