Laundries Try To Limit Depositions In Gabby Petito's Family's Lawsuit

SARASOTA, FL — An attorney for the parents of Gabby Petito's confessed killer fiancé, Brian Laundrie, has filed a motion to limit the scope of their upcoming depositions that are required as part of the legal process in a lawsuit filed by her parents, according to published reports.

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie are trying to avoid the revelation of “irrelevant matters” to protect them from “annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, undue burden, and expense,” WFLA reports.

In the motion, which was obtained by the outlet, their attorney writes: “This has been a truly heartbreaking experience for both families. The public who followed the case and the plaintiffs are likely curious about Brian Laundrie’s life, his last days, his interaction with his parents, and the thoughts and feelings experienced by his parents. But curiosity is not a reason to require the defendants to discuss such personal and heart-wrenching details. Rather, the discovery must be relevant to the cause of action at issue.”

The motion is trying to limit the depositions to between Aug. 27, 2021, which is the day Petito is believed to have been killed by Laundrie, and Sept. 19, 2021, the day she was found strangled to death, the outlet reported.

Attorney Steven Bertolino of West Islip told the outlet that he and his clients "are just looking to confine the questioning to matters and the time frame relevant to the claim that has been filed."

Patrick Reilly, Petito's family's attorney told WFLA.com that the "motion for a protective order filed by counsel on behalf of Christopher and Roberta Laundrie is premature, as there has not yet been any questions posed to them in a deposition.

“It seeks to limit any inquiry to a very limited time frame, that being a 23-day period of the lives of Christopher Laundrie, Roberta Laundrie, and Brian Laundrie, while at the same time the motion acknowledges that Florida’s rules of discovery are liberal," he added.

“The motion suggests that any inquiry outside that 23-day window would cause the Laundries annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. This is yet another example of the Laundrie family refusing to provide answers to the parents of Gabby Petito. We look forward to addressing this issue with the court," he said.

For more from WFLA.com, click here.

Petito disappeared in August 2021 while on a cross-country "Van Life" trip with Laundrie and was reported missing in September by her mother, Nichole Schmidt, in New York. When Laundrie returned to his parents' home in Florida, he refused to speak with police and ended up killing himself in a nearby swamp. A confession that he killed Petito was found in a notebook near his remains.

In Petito's family's lawsuit, they allege the Laundries knew the location of her remains when they left for vacation, according to a report in Newsday.

Florida attorney Patrick Reilly wrote: “They went on vacation knowing that Brian Laundrie had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is believed that they knew where her body was located, and further knew that Gabrielle Petito’s parents were attempting to locate her,” the outlet reported.

The lawsuit alleges the Laundries knew their son murdered Petito and the pair had plans to help him go on the run outside of the United States, WFLA.com reported.

It further alleges there was also evidence of blunt force injuries to her head and neck, the outlet reported.

It also claims Laundrie texted back and forth between his phone and Petito's after her death "in an effort to hide the fact that she was deceased," and mentions a text he is believed to have sent to Schmidt on Aug. 27 that refers to Petito's grandfather by his first name, Stan, WFLA.com reported.

Schmidt has stated in previous interviews that her daughter never would have called him by his first name and at the time, it concerned her.

The lawsuit also mentions a text believed to be sent by Laundrie to Schmidt as he pretended to be Petito, claiming there was no service in Yosemite "in an effort to deceive her," according to the outlet.

Petito's family has previously said there was no communication between them and the Laundries, and in their lawsuit, they highlight how the family would not answer questions from them or law enforcement about Petito's disappearance and how they went camping at Fort DeSoto Park "while Gabrielle Petito's family was suffering," WFLA.com reported.

The lawsuit also claims that Roberta Laundrie blocked Schmidt's phone number and blocked her from messaging on Facebook around the time her daughter was reported missing, according to the outlet.

The lawsuit accuses the Laundries of "malice or great indifference to the rights of" Petito's family, WFLA.com reported.

"Christopher and Roberta Laundrie exhibited extreme and outrageous conduct which constitutes behavior," that "goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community," according to the lawsuit obtained by the outlet.

The lawsuit seeks at least $100,000, and states that Petito and Schmidt suffered pain and mental anguish as a result of the "willfulness and maliciousness" of the Laundries, WFLA.com reported.

Bertolino has previously called the lawsuit "baseless and frivolous" and said the Laundries cannot be held liable for exercising their legal right to remain silent," Fox reported.

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