By Marlene Lenthang - NBC News
Brian Laundrie's mother offered her son a shovel and trash bags in case he needed to dispose of a body, according to a letter found inside an envelope in which he wrote: "Burn after reading," as revealed Wednesday by the parents of Gabby Petito, who was killed in 2021 after a trip with her then-fiancé.
A Florida judge denied Laundrie's parents' request to keep the letter secret. Both families will face off in a trial next year, after the parents of the murdered young woman sued the parents of their alleged killer in March 2022 for emotional distress in connection with this femicide.
Brian Laundrie.@bizarre_design / via Instagram
Petito's body was found on September 19, 2021 in Wyoming, and her death was ruled a homicide after determining that she died at least three weeks earlier strangled.
Laundrie's body was found Oct. 20, 2021, in a nature preserve near his parents' home in Florida. The FBI said the young man left notes in which he "took responsibility" for the femicide. Laundrie died by suicide from a gunshot wound, according to a coroner.
"I will always love you and I know you will love me"
Petito's parents repeatedly requested the letter written by Roberta Laundrie, the boy's mother, according to court documents. Patrick Reilly, an attorney for the Petito family, shared with NBC News on Tuesday a copy of the letter written on an undated coffee card.
"I just want you to remember that I will always love you and I know that you will love me too. You are my child. Nothing can make me stop loving you, nothing can divide us no matter what we do, where we go or what we say. We will always love each other," he wrote.
Roberta Laundrie wrote "burn after reading" in the letter to her son. Via Patrick Reilly / NBC News
"If you're in jail, I'll bake you a cake with a dossier in it. If you need to get rid of a body, I'll arrive with a shovel and garbage bags. If you fly to the moon, I'll be looking up to the sky to watch you return. If you hate me to the core, I will seek new entrails," the letter continues, which included the verse Romans 8:38.
He concludes by saying that "Nothing can separate us: neither hatred, hunger, homelessness, threats, sin, the imaginable nor the unthinkable can interfere with us. Nor time. Not the miles and miles." The letter was inside an envelope that read "Brian Christopher Laundrie (burn after read)."
The letter "had nothing to do with Gabby," mother says
In March, an attorney for Laundrie's parents sought an order to keep the letter secret, claiming it was written months before Petito's death.
Roberta Laundrie said in an affidavit that she wrote it at a time when her relationship with her son was "difficult" and "weakened." And although he could not specify the exact date on which he did it, he assured that it was before he and Petito undertook their trip.
['The laws were not enforced': Gabby Petito's family sues Utah police for manslaughter]
"I was trying to connect with Brian and repair our relationship at a time when he was thinking about leaving home. I hoped this letter would remind him how much I loved him," she said, adding that they shared a love of stories and that Petito had given her son a book titled "Burn After Reading," which they used to joke about.
Gabby Petito's Family Sues Utah Police for Young Woman's Involuntary Manslaughter
Nov. 4, 202200:33
"That's how my message for Brian came up and why I wrote on the envelope of the letter the phrase 'Burn after reading,'" he explained.
"Although I used words that appear to be connected to Brian's actions and that he murdered Gabby, I would never have imagined that the events that occurred months later between Brian and Gabby could be reflected by the words in my letter," said the woman, who stressed that the letter was not among her son's belongings or in his backpack when he died. because the FBI already had it in their possession and had questioned them about it before discovering the remains of their son.
The FBI found the letter inside a closet box at the Laundries' home, said Reilly, the Petitos' attorney. In the box were also items from the van in which they traveled, he added.
[Gabby Petito's family demands letter claiming Brian Laundrie's mother offered to help her bury a body]
The Petito family said in a statement Wednesday that the judge "recognized the importance of the letter as a potential source of evidence that could be used in the trial against the Laundries."
"The letter is undated and although Roberta Laundrie has insisted that it was written before Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito went on a trip, a reasonable inference is that it was written after Gabby Petito was killed and is proof that the Laundries and attorney Bertolino were aware of Gabby Petito's death when they issued the statement released on September 14, 2021," according to the family. On the day and statement quoted the Laundrie said they hoped Petito would be found.
"We look forward to a jury at trial determining when the letter was written," the Petitos added.
The FBI closes the investigation of the death of Gabby Petito thanks to a confession written by her boyfriend
Jan. 22, 202200:26
Laundrie's parents reiterated that the letter was not related to Petito's death in a statement released by his attorney Matthew Luka.
"The letter to Brian was written before Gabby and Brian left my house for their trip," the mother insisted.
"I really loved my son and just wanted him to know how much I loved him and meant him to me. I'm sure people use phrases like that all the time to express affection to their loved ones and the dimension of their love. Although I chose words that I thought would impact Brian, because of our relationship, the letter was not related to Gabby."
The trial is scheduled to begin in May 2024.