Brian Laundrie called parents Roberta and Christopher 20 times in two days after killing Gabby Petito, telling them she was 'gone' and that he needed a lawyer, new deposition details reveal

New details obtained by DailyMail.com from Christopher and Roberta Laundrie's depositions reveal Brian made a revelatory 55-minute call on August 29, 2021  The call took place two days after Gabby was last seen alive and was followed by another call at 9:20pm that lasted 22 minutes, according to phone recordsFrom there followed a 'flurry' of up to 20 calls that day and on August 30, with most of them between the killer and his mother 

Panicking killer Brian Laundrie spoke with his parents in a ‘flurry’ of up to 20 phone calls in just two days when he admitted murdered fiancé Gabby Petito had ‘gone’ and he needed a lawyer,  DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

The 23-year-old broke the news to his parents by saying Gabby was ‘gone’ and that he needed a lawyer, two days after she was last seen alive.

The number of calls in such a short time frame was an unusual change of pace for Brian who prior to that had only called dad Christopher and mom Roberta five times in the two months before, during the young couple’s doomed road trip from Florida to Utah and Wyoming in summer 2021.

Brief details of the ‘gone’ call were revealed in a November 2023 court filing following depositions by both Laundrie parents in October in the ongoing civil case in Sarasota, Florida, brought by Gabby’s mom Nichole Schmidt and her father Joseph Petito.

But DailyMail.com can now reveal further information from inside the depositions – for which transcripts have not been released – including the simmering tension, emotions, and continual heartbreak of the parents of ‘van life girl’ Gabby, 22.

Brian Laundrie placed a 'flurry' of phone calls to his parents in the days after murdering girlfriend Gabby Petito during the couple's cross-country road trip

Brian Laundrie placed a ‘flurry’ of phone calls to his parents in the days after murdering girlfriend Gabby Petito during the couple’s cross-country road trip

Gabby's parents are suing Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, claiming the couple had known their son murdered their daughter and refused to tell them the location of her remains

Gabby’s parents are suing Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, claiming the couple had known their son murdered their daughter and refused to tell them the location of her remains

Nichole Schmidt, mother of Gabby Petito, is seen speaking alongside Gabby's father, Joseph Petito (second from left) her stepmom Tara Petito (far left) and her stepfather Jim Schmidt (far right) during a news conference in September 2021

Nichole Schmidt, mother of Gabby Petito, is seen speaking alongside Gabby’s father, Joseph Petito (second from left) her stepmom Tara Petito (far left) and her stepfather Jim Schmidt (far right) during a news conference in September 2021

The revelatory first call took place on Sunday, August 29 at 4pm and lasted 55 minutes – days after Gabby’s last known contact with mom Nichole. There was another call at 9:20pm that lasted 22 minutes, according to phone records.

From there followed a ‘flurry’ of up to 20 calls that day and the following on Monday August 30, with most of them between the killer and Roberta, Petito family attorney Pat Reilly revealed to DailyMail.com.

Brian disclosed the ‘gone’ news to his father, but on his mother’s phone.

Amid the barrage during those two days, calls were made from Laundrie’s parents to their family lawyer Steve Bertolino in Long Island, New York – who was retained on September 2 and instructed the pair to say nothing.

Nearly three weeks later, on September 19, Gabby’s remains were discovered in an undeveloped camping area in Grand Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

It would later be revealed that Laundrie had strangled her before driving back to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida, on September 1 in her 2012 white Ford Transit van.

He then vanished when police began investigating his fiancé’s disappearance – before killing himself with a gunshot to the head in an alligator-infested swamp near his home.

Gabby had moved in with the Laundries from her native Long Island following her engagement to 23-year-old Brian.

It was from there that the young couple set off in the van on their journey in June 2021.

Reilly grilled Christopher and Roberta over the ‘gone’ call in the depositions.

Gabby's remains were discovered in an undeveloped camping area in Grand Teton National Forest in Wyoming on September 19 2021

Gabby’s remains were discovered in an undeveloped camping area in Grand Teton National Forest in Wyoming on September 19 2021

Gabby, who had been documenting the couple's 'van life' journey after embarking on a cross-country trip in June 2021, was reported missing after Brian returned to his parents' home alone on September 1

Gabby, who had been documenting the couple’s ‘van life’ journey after embarking on a cross-country trip in June 2021, was reported missing after Brian returned to his parents’ home alone on September 1

Amid the barrage during those two days, calls were made from Laundrie's parents to their family lawyer Steve Bertolino in Long Island who was retained on September 2 and instructed the pair to say nothing

Amid the barrage during those two days, calls were made from Laundrie’s parents to their family lawyer Steve Bertolino in Long Island who was retained on September 2 and instructed the pair to say nothing

‘Brian told Christopher, “Gabby’s gone, I need a lawyer.” And he was frantic in Christopher’s words,’ the attorney told DailyMail.com.

‘They refused to acknowledge that that meant Gabby was dead, which flies in the face of logic. If your son calls and he’s frantic and he says she’s gone, I need a lawyer. What other explanation of “gone” could there be?’

Reilly revealed Christopher dismissed the meaning of ‘gone’ in his deposition as dead by saying ‘something to the effect of, well, there were times that Gabby would leave and go away for a couple days to meet with her friends or she’d just leave for a couple hours when she was living with us.

‘That was his explanation for why he couldn’t admit that “gone” meant she was dead. It was a flurry of calls on those two days. The calls between Brian and his parents prior to that were very sporadic, around five.’

Joseph Petito was in court to listen to the depositions. When the moment the ‘gone’ call was revealed the heartbroken dad ‘just put his head in his hands,’ said Reilly.

Gabby’s parents are suing the Laundries for pain and emotional distress, claiming the couple intentionally withheld information about Gabby’s death.

Attorney Bertolino is also being sued for the same reason in the action set for trial in May.

The case is focused on a statement he put out on September 14 2021 for the Laundries, which said: ‘On behalf of the family it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family.’

Reilly said: ‘The key is that they knew Gabby was dead at the time of the statement.’

Gabby's parents, mom Nichole Schmidt and dad Joseph Petito, were seen sitting together during testimony in the civil case against the two families in October

Gabby’s parents, mom Nichole Schmidt and dad Joseph Petito, were seen sitting together during testimony in the civil case against the two families in October

At one point during the hearing, Schmidt was seen breaking down in tears. They claim Brian Laundrie's parents acted maliciously by not telling them where their daughter was and if she was alive

At one point during the hearing, Schmidt was seen breaking down in tears. They claim Brian Laundrie’s parents acted maliciously by not telling them where their daughter was and if she was alive

Nichole Schmidt holds up a photo of her daughter, Gabby Petito during a press conference held days before her remains were found

Nichole Schmidt holds up a photo of her daughter, Gabby Petito during a press conference held days before her remains were found

The Laundries revealed different characteristics when giving their depositions, the attorney revealed. Roberta, 57, ‘didn’t show any emotion’, he said, adding: ‘Roberta is cold, a very cold woman. She’s unemotional, defensive.

‘Christopher is a different personality, he’s more unassertive, polite and matter of fact. He wasn’t as stoic as Roberta, and I don’t mean that in a positive way.’

Reilly slammed them both, saying: ‘They were parents themselves and Gabby was going to be their daughter-in-law. How could they stay quiet when they know she’s no longer living?

‘They know Gabby’s parents are frantically searching, they know they can bring some sense of relief to their suffering by letting them know where her body is.

‘And instead they allowed the body to remain out there in the wilderness to be attacked by animals or whatever else was out there.

‘It’s just unconscionable.’

Despite their continued personal anguish, Gabby’s parents have ‘sympathy and empathy’ for the Laundries because they also lost a child, Reilly added.

‘But that is something they don’t see they are getting from Roberta and Christopher.

Reilly is also scathing about the infamous ‘burn after reading’ letter Roberta wrote to her son, which was eventually allowed into evidence after Bertolino fought to have it excluded.

Undated, it says: ‘I just want you to know I will always love you and you will always love me. You are my boy. Nothing can make me stop loving you, nothing will or ever divide us no matter what we do, or where we go or what we say – we will always love each other.

In November, Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino - who is also set to provide testimony in the case -  pushed back against a motion to reveal his private conversations with the killer

In November, Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino – who is also set to provide testimony in the case –  pushed back against a motion to reveal his private conversations with the killer

A letter penned by Roberta to her son when he was at large was made public in May 2023 and showed she had offered to help him dispose of a corpse as evidence of her love for him

A letter penned by Roberta to her son when he was at large was made public in May 2023 and showed she had offered to help him dispose of a corpse as evidence of her love for him

She also said she would bake her son a cake with a file in it if he was sent to prison

She also said she would bake her son a cake with a file in it if he was sent to prison

She instructed Brian to burn the letter after reading it on the envelope

She instructed Brian to burn the letter after reading it on the envelope

‘If you’re in jail I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.’

The letter, which does not mention Gabby, was in an envelope titled: Brian Christopher Laundrie (burn after reading).

‘What kind of parent writes a letter to that to anybody, much less their child?’ asked Reilly. ‘But it’s up to the jury to decide when it was written. I don’t know when it was exactly.

‘Roberta says it was written before, but it’s not dated. So it’s awful coincidental that she would discuss burying a body and him going to prison in a letter if it was before Gabby was actually murdered.’

Reilly also ridiculed Brian’s handwritten confession to Gabby’s murder, which was found with his body on October 20, 2021, in the vast and swampy Carlton Reserve six weeks after he vanished.

The murderer claimed he ended her life in a ‘mercy’ killing because she was in ‘extreme’ pain after an accident when she fell into a creek.

The self-pitying sentences written in smudged blue pen included: ‘I ended her life, I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistake that I made. I panicked. I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain.’ 

A selfie shared by the family's attorneys shows Gabby's beaten and bruised face moments before Utah traffic stop

A selfie shared by the family’s attorneys shows Gabby’s beaten and bruised face moments before Utah traffic stop

At the time of the investigation it was revealed cops had pulled the couple over in Utah on a domestic violence call after Gabby and Brian had a physical altercation

At the time of the investigation it was revealed cops had pulled the couple over in Utah on a domestic violence call after Gabby and Brian had a physical altercation

Reilly said simply: ‘A mercy killing? That’s just ridiculous.’

To those asking why Gabby’s parents are putting themselves through more anguish with this case, Reilly replies: ‘They want to know what Christopher and Roberta know, what they knew, what they held back.

‘And this sounds simplistic, they want justice. They want the Laundries to pay for what they’ve done.’

Gabby’s father Joe, who lives in Vero Beach, Florida with Gabby’s stepmom Tara, and Nichole, who lives on Long Island with husband Jim Schmidt, still reel with ongoing emotions.

‘They’ve been strong since this case was filed in 2022. But there have been moments when they’ve cried and there have been moments when they’ve been angry,’ said Reilly.

‘They’ve gone through everything by reliving what happened. But their resolve is to keep moving forward.’

Gabby’s parents agreed a $3million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of Brian Laundrie in November 2022.

The killer’s assets are believed to have been in the five figures.

Any award if they win the latest case will also be destined for the Gabby Petito Foundation, set up to support locating missing people and help organizations aiding domestic violence survivors.

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