Laundrie family lawyer Steven Bertolino told WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, the allegations in the suit ― that the Laundries knew their son had killed Petito on a road trip last year but kept quiet ― are “baseless” and “frivolous.”
“The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them,” Bertolino said in a statement. “This is not only common practice in our civilized society but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions.”
According to the suit, the Laundries did not contact Petito’s parents when their son arrived home in North Port, Florida, without his 22-year-old fiancée. Instead, the family immediately hired an attorney, and, according to the lawsuit, were planning to help their son flee the country.
Petito was found dead from strangulation in a national forest in Wyoming on Sept. 19, 2021. Her parents had reported her missing on Sept. 11. Her last post about the trip had been sent in late August.
“It is believed, and therefore averred, that on or about Aug. 28, Brian Laundrie advised his parents, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie, that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito,” the Petito lawsuit alleges. “On the same date, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie spoke with Attorney Steve Bertolino, and sent him a retainer on Sept. 2, 2021.”
The young couple had set off from New York on their trip on July 2, the same day they became engaged.
Brian Laundrie returned home alone on Sept. 1 before he himself went missing, sparking a manhunt that eventually led to his corpse in a Florida wilderness reserve in October. Laundrie took responsibility for Petito’s death in a notebook found near his remains.
Source: huffpost
