Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Documentary, Netflix, True Crime
Ilana Frost
The new Netflix documentary, American Murder: Gabby Petito, offers a glimpse into 22-year-old influencer Gabby Petito’s final months before she was tragically murdered by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. Gabby and Brian were on a “van life” road trip during the months leading up to her death, and she vlogged about their travels on social media. After her parents reported her missing in September 2021, Gabby’s remains were found a few weeks later, and Brian’s remains were found the following October. Officials determined that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and left behind a note claiming responsibility for Gabby’s death.
The three-part docuseries was released to the streaming platform on February 17 and features interviews with Gabby’s loved ones as well as text exchanges. While Gabby’s parents and step-parents were very involved in the project, Brian’s parents chose to not participate. However, Chris and Roberta Laundrie have now shared their reaction to the documentary via a statement from their attorney, Steven Bertolino, who claims that the doc contains “many inaccuracies.”
Here’s Brian Laundrie’s family’s full response to the new Gabby Petito Netflix documentary.
During a February 18 interview with The Sun, Chris and Roberta’s attorney, Steven, revealed the family’s reaction to American Murder: Gabby Petito. “One perspective depicted as the ‘truth’ as seen through their lens,” he said about the docuseries. He added, “Each side believes their perspective is correct. Hard to see through the lens of the other with all the noise and distrust.” However, the attorney did say that Brian’s parents do not have any specific “contradictions” to the details in the doc.
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Although Steven did not offer any specifics to the outlet, he claimed that the series contains “many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact.” He speculated that this could be “deliberate to capture their ‘truth'” or “perhaps due to simple error.”
“We all know Brian took Gabby’s life and Brian then took his own as well,” Steven acknowledged, concluding: “Let the parents of both Gabby and Brian mourn them in peace.”
Director and executive producer Julia Willoughby Nason confirmed to Today that she invited Chris and Roberta to be a part of the doc. “We reached out to them, they didn’t want to participate, and we respect that,” she shared. “This is a very difficult story.” Julia noted that there’s been “a lot of speculation, a lot of conspiracy” regarding what Brian’s parents may have known about the murder before their son died. She says she does not have a “definitive” answer about what they knew at that time.
Chris and Roberta have always maintained that they did not know Brian murdered Gabby until that was public knowledge. The director of the doc, Michael Gasparro, says he was left with “questions” about that claim. He wonders: “What did they know, and what did they talk about?”
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Watch American Murder: Gabby Petito on Netflix to learn more about this heartbreaking story.