Brian Laundrie's Parents Hit Back at Gabby Petito's Parents as They Deny Accusations in Civil Lawsuit

Brian Laundrie's parents have fired back at the accusations thrown at them in the civil lawsuit filed by Gabby Petito's parents.

Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt have accused Christopher and Roberta Laundrie of keeping the information about their daughter's killing a secret.

But in the documents recently acquired by Radar Online, the elder Laundries refuted the allegations brought on by Petito's parents in the lawsuit they filed last March.

The documents were reportedly filed on July 15 at a court in Sarasota County, Florida in response to a judge's decision for the lawsuit of Petito's parents to move forward.

According to the documents, Laundrie's parents denied "every allegation" in the lawsuit and any liability. However, they admitted residing in Sarasota County, that Joseph and Nicole are Petito's father and mother, and that their son and Petito were "engaged to be married.

RadarOnline confirmed that the elder Laundries also admitted that their son "returned" to their home and they "went to Fort DeSoto Park" with their son, but denied that it was a vacation trip.

Laundrie's father maintained that there was no intent or malice, arguing that if any such conduct existed, it was "neither intentional nor willful" and short of "malicious intent."

Christopher also claimed that he followed all state and federal constitutions, laws, and regulations based on their knowledge "existing at the relevant times."

Gabby Petito Parents' Lawsuit to Proceed After Judge Denies Brian Laundrie Parents' Request to Dismiss It

In late June, a judge denied the motion of Brian Laundrie's parents to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed by Gabby Petito's parents.

Judge Hunter Carroll of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court has allowed the intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit to move forward because, at this stage, Petito's parents had a valid claim against the elder Laundries.

In their motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Laundrie's parents argued that they had fundamental constitutional rights to silence. They added that there were also no facts to support the claims of Petito's parents of "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

But in his order, Carroll wrote that Petito's parents mostly complained about the Laundries "failing to act," like not telling the family where Petito was or if she was dead.

Carroll noted that he would have ruled for Laundrie's parents if the case was about them remaining silent, and they had done so. However, they were not silent.

The elder Laundries released a statement through their lawyer, Steve Bertolino, on September 14 in response to the public's interest in Petito's disappearance.

"For purposes of the motion to dismiss," Carroll said the court "must assume the Laundries are responsible for authoring" the statement issued by their lawyer.

The camp of Laundrie's parents said the statement was merely a "plain statement" and "not outrageous as a matter of law."

But the camp of Petito's parents noted that the statement was "outrageous" since it was designed to create false hope. They added that the Laundries made the statement knowing Petito was already dead, where her body was located, and her parents were frantically looking for her.

"If this is true, then the Laundries' statement was particularly callous and cruel, and it is sufficiently outrageous to state claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress," Carroll noted.

The camp of Laundrie's also made additional arguments in their motion that denying their appeal to dismiss the case would result in an "avalanche of litigation" for people in similar situations.

But the judge noted that "there will be no avalanche of litigation" based on denying the Laundries' motion to dismiss.

Gabby Petito Parents' $100K Lawsuit Against Brian Laundrie's Mom and Dad

Gabby Petito's parents filed the civil lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents on March 10. The lawsuit claimed that the elder Laundries knew their son killed Petito and sought to help him flee the country.

It further noted that Laundrie's parents also knew of the mental suffering and anguish that the Petito family was experiencing but still refused to respond to them.

The Petito family is seeking damages of at least $100,000 for the "pain and mental anguish" they experienced as a result of the "willfulness and maliciousness" of Laundrie's parents. The elder Laundries filed their motion to dismiss the case on March 30.

Gabby Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19. A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

Brian Laundrie's skeletal remains were discovered at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida on October 20. His autopsy report showed that he died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was suicide.

Last January, the FBI revealed that Laundrie confessed to killing Petito in a message left in his notebook. In its final report on the case, the FBI noted that its investigation has concluded that Brian Laundrie was the only person responsible for Gabby Petito's "tragic death."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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