Gabby Petito’s parents are awarded $3million from Brian Laundrie’s estate in first of three lawsuits: Complaints against killer fiancé’s parents and Utah police ongoing
- Gabby Petito’s parents sued Brian Laundrie’s estate earlier this year
- Brian strangled Gabby, his fiancée, in Wyoming in August 2021
- The couple was on a cross-country campervan trip which they shared online
- Brian and Gabby were fighting behind the scenes before the fatal encounter
- They were separated by police for a night before Brian strangled Gabby in a rage
- He then drove to his parents’ Florida home, spent weeks there, before fleeing
- Brian killed himself, taking the secrets of his and Gabby’s final days to the grave
Gabby Petito’s parents have been awarded $3million in damages from the estate of her late boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, after suing his parents for how they handled their daughter’s disappearance and death last year.
Brian murdered Gabby, his 22-year-old fiancée, during a cross-country road trip in August 2021.
After strangling her in Wyoming, Brian drove their van back to his parents’ home in Florida and spent weeks with them before fleeing when suspicion over Gabby’s disappearance started to mount.
The young couple had been visiting America’s National Parks in a camper van and sharing their adventure on Instagram but behind the scenes were fighting incessantly to the point police had to separate them for one night during the trip.
For days, he and his parents ignored Gabby’s family’s pleas for information. He then fled the house, taking himself to a nearby marsh where he spent days on the run before killing himself.
Brian Laundrie murdered Gabby Petito (pictured together) in Wyoming in August 2021 during a cross-country road trip before returning to his parents home in Florida where he spent weeks before fleeing when suspicion over his fiancée disappearance began to mount
Gabby’s parents Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt (pictured together) sued Brian’s parents for malice, claiming they deliberately withheld information about their daughter’s whereabouts
Gabby’s parents sued the Laundrie family for malice and wrongful death, and the case was due to go to trial in December.
They also sued Christopher and Roberta Laundrie separately in a case that remains active.
They claimed in the May lawsuit that Christopher and Roberta Laundrie not only knew that Brian had murdered Gabby, but that they planned to help him flee the country.
An agreement has been reached between them, however, which brings an end to the case. It’s unclear if the Laundrie family has $3million to give them.
In a statement, Gabby’s parents’ attorney Patrick Reilly told DailyMail.com: ‘No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie.
‘Brian did not have $3 million; it’s an arbitrary number.
‘Whatever monies they do receive will help Gabby’s family in their endeavors with the Gabby Petito Foundation.’
Brian’s parents, Chris and Roberta, were criticized for not sharing more information with Gabby’s mother and father after Brian returned from their road trip without her in 2021