TETON COUNTY, WYOMING: The lawyer for Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito's killer, has requested a judge to reject Petito's parents’ plea that he disclose discussions he had with the killer prior to his suicide.
The request has been made by Petito's bereaved parents as part of a civil case in which it is alleged that Laundrie's parents deliberately inflicted emotional pain on her family and knew their son had killed Gabby while attempting to assist him in avoiding justice.
A motion to compel Steve Bertolino to provide information regarding his conversations was brought by Pat Reilly, the legal representative for Joseph Petito, and Nichole Schmidt, Gabby Petito's parents.
Bertolino maintains that the ‘attorney-client privilege’ would be seriously jeopardized if his discussions with his client were made public.
What is the reasoning behind this lawsuit for Petito’s lawyers?
Bertolino contends that it would be "catastrophic to the theory of the law which provides the basis for complete candor when clients communicate with their attorneys" if the judge forces him to respond to inquiries regarding his interactions with his client.
This latest suit centers on a statement Bertolino made on September 14, on behalf of the Laundries, in which he expressed "hope" that Petito would be located and returned to her family.
The lawsuit claims that since the Laundries knew she had been killed, the statement is "outrageous."
"I know of no precedent to support this request," Bertolino stated to Fox News.
Pat Reilly claims that since Laundrie confessed to killing Petito, the communications are no longer protected.
In September 2021, the FBI discovered a handwritten confession in a dry bag close to Laundrie's lifeless body in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, in Florida.
What is the timeline of the Gabby Petito murder case?
In June 2021, Petito, then 22 years old, disappeared while traveling across the United States with her boyfriend.
She was murdered on August 28th, 2021 by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, then 23.
On September 1, Brian returned to his parents' Florida home without Petito, and her family reported her missing on September 11.
Police identified Laundrie as a person of interest in Petito's disappearance, and on September 19, 2021, her strangled corpse was discovered in Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming.
Laundrie was found dead in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park before he could be taken into custody.
He admitted to killing Gabby and that he did it to relieve her suffering after she fell, according to a notebook that was discovered nearby.
"I took her life," Laundrie penned. "I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked, I was in shock."
Laundrie's mother pledged in a letter to her son that she would assist him in burying a body and breaking out of jail before Laundrie took his own life.
According to Petito's parents, it is proof that she collaborated with her son on a scheme to conceal their daughter's horrific demise.
They are being sued on the grounds that they were aware of her murder.
An undated letter that Roberta instructed her son to “destroy after reading” disclosed that she had promised to bake her son a cake containing a file in the event that he was imprisoned.
As another sign of her devotion to her son, Roberta promised to assist him in getting rid of a corpse.
Roberta wrote 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.”
The civil lawsuit, in which Bertolino is also named as a defendant, alleges that they knew about Gabby's murder but opted to keep quiet, causing her parents great emotional distress.
The case's jury trial is scheduled for May 2024, with depositions having begun in August per the DailyMail.
