Brian Laundrie's Mom Offered A Shovel To Bury Long Islander Gabby Petito: Report

SARASOTA, FL — An attorney for the family of Gabby Petito claims in a new court filing that the mother of her killer fiancé, Brian Laundrie, offered him a shovel to bury her body, according to a report.

Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt have filed a lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress. Attorneys for both parties are looking to settle a battle over evidence that will be used at trial, CBS 42 reported.

Attorney Patrick Reilly, who represents Petito and Schmidt, told Laundrie family attorney Matthew Luka in a letter he wants a note containing the shocking new allegation, the outlet reported.

“The request certainly would also include the note that Roberta Laundrie wrote to Brian Laundrie in which she offered to bring a shovel to help bury the body,” Reilly wrote in the letter filed in Sarasota County court.

Reilly previously told WFLA.com Roberta wrote a note to Brian containing the words "burn this." Laundrie attorney Steve Bertolino told CBS 42 the letter was released by the FBI into his custody.

In a statement to Patch, Bertolino said Reilly and his clients are "entitled to allege what they want in court filings but their allegations are not based on fact but on conjecture only."

"The letter in question was written prior to Brian and Gabby leaving Florida and has nothing to do with this case," he wrote. "Attorney Reilly is trying to further sensationalize this tragedy to bolster his case by taking unrelated comments out of context."

“I have the letter in question but its contents are personal between a mother and a son,” he told WFLA.com.

Patch has reached out to Reilly for comment. Riley told WFLA.com it's no surprise that Bertolino suggested the undated letter was written before Laundrie returned to Utah, adding, "It will be up to a jury to determine when it was actually penned."

Petito was found strangled to death in a Wyoming park in September 2021. Laundrie's remains were found about a month later in a Florida swamp. He wrote a confession in a notebook, saying he killed her because she was in so much pain after a bad fall, the FBI said.

Her family sued Laundrie's estate and was later awarded $3 million. Bertolino previously told Patch the Laundries could invoke their 5th Amendment right to remain silent during their depositions in the second lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

"Chris and Roberta will answer whatever questions they can and they will invoke all of the rights and privileges they are entitled to," Steven Bertolino previously told Patch in a statement.

Witnesses deposed as part of discovery in lawsuits are compelled to answer questions put before them.

Bertolino said he does not believe the Laundries could be held in contempt of court because "constitutional rights do not stop at the door of a civil proceeding."

The Laundries recently asked a judge to consider limiting their depositions to the timeframe between Aug. 27, 2021, the day Petito is believed to have been killed, and Sept. 19, 2021, the day her body was found, WFLA has previously reported.

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