Laundrie Lawyer Can Be Added To Petito Lawsuit, FL Judge Says: Report

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — A Sarasota County judge approved a request by the parents of Gabby Petito to add attorney Steven Bertolino as a co-defendant in their civil lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, according to multiple reports.

Their daughter, Gabby Petito, was killed at the hands of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in August 2021. He strangled her to death and left her body at a Wyoming campsite while they were on a cross-country trip.

He later took his own life, shooting himself in the head in a Sarasota County park in September of that year. His remains and a handwritten confession to killing Petito were found in October 2021.

Her parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, sued the Laundries for intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming they knew that their daughter was dead and where her body was during a national search for her. The case will go before a jury next summer.

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In December, they amended their complaint to add Bertolino to the lawsuit and claimed that he also knew that Gabby Petito was dead during the public search for her in 2021. During this search, Bertolino frequently spoke as a representative of the Laundries.

Laundrie’s parents and Bertolino “knew of the mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt in not knowing the well-being or location of their daughter, and further knew that such mental suffering and anguish increased each day that Gabrielle Petito was missing,” Patrick J. Reilly, the attorney for Petito’s parents, wrote in their amended complaint.

“Christopher Laundrie, Roberta Laundrie and Steven Bertolino further knew that they could prevent such additional mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt by disclosing what they knew about the well-being and location of the remains of Gabrielle Petito, yet they repeatedly refused to do," the court document said. "In doing so, Christopher Laundrie, Roberta Laundrie and Steven Bertolino acted with malice or great indifference to the rights of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt.”

Judge Danielle Brewer approved the Petito family’s request to add Bertolino to the lawsuit on Tuesday, reports said.

"The decision was not unexpected," Bertolino told Fox News Digital after the hearing. "This incident, like all others, will work out in the end. One way or the other."

Petito’s family was pleased with the judge’s decision, according to WFLA.

“[Gabby’s parents] are happy,” said Pat Reilly, the attorney for Petito and Schmidt. “They’ve been through a lot. They’ve had to listen to a lot of statements made by Mr. Bertolino on behalf of the family, statements that were sometimes hurtful to them.”

Schmidt added, “Gabby was there with us. I could feel her.”