‘Burn After Reading’ Letter Explained By Laundrie’s Mother: Court

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Brian Laundrie’s mother has broken her silence about a letter she wrote to her son that had the phrase “burn after reading” on the envelope.

According to court documents files March 1, Roberta Laundrie said the letter was written months before Gabby Petito’s death at the hands of her son in an effort to improve their relationship and wasn’t a reference to his fiancée’s death. (Read her full statement below.)

The letter is at the center of a civil lawsuit filed against Chris and Roberta Laundrie by Gabby Petito’s parents in Sarasota County.

They’re suing the Laundries, as well as their attorney, Steven Bertolino, for intentional infliction of emotional distress. They claim the three knew that Brian Laundrie killed Gabby near a Wyoming campsite in August 2021 while a national search for her was underway.

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The van-life couple lived with the Laundries in North Port, Florida, before embarking on their ill-fated trip. After killing Petito in Wyoming, Brian Laundrie later took his own life, shooting himself in the head at a Sarasota County park.

The Petito family attorney, Patrick Reilly, wants the Laundries to hand over the letter as evidence.

Reilly told a Sarasota County Circuit Court judge during a remote hearing Tuesday that he saw Roberta Laundrie’s letter, which expressed things like “including helping him get out of prison, getting a shovel and some other things,” at an FBI regional office, according to CNN.

His mother allegedly wrote “burn after reading” on the envelope containing the letter, Reilly added.

The letter was found in Brian Laundrie’s backpack alongside his remains and a written confession in October 2021, according to ABC Action News.

In a sworn affidavit, Roberta Laundrie wrote the letter to her son before he and Gabby left for their road trip.

“The purpose of the letter was to reach out to Brian while he and I were experiencing a difficult period in our relationship,” she said. “Brian and I always had a very open and communicative relationship, and in the months prior to the trip our relationship had become strained.”

Roberta Laundrie said she and her son shared a love of stories and reading, and the phrase “burn after reading” referenced a book.

“Gabby had given Brian a book called ‘Burn After Writing’ which contains printed questions to which the reader responds by writing their answers on the page,” his mother said. “The back of the book instructs the reader to create a secret book and then destroy by ‘burn after writing.’ The bottom of the back cover says: ‘Write. Burn. Repeat.’ Brian, Gabby and I often joked about this book and the importance of being able to express yourself. If you were embarrassed or simply did not want anyone to know your thoughts or feelings then the book offered the perfect solution by telling you to burn it. This is where my message to Brian came from and I wrote on the cover of the letter for Brian to ‘Burn After Reading.’”

Roberta Laundrie added, “In short, I was trying to connect with Brian and repair our relationship as he was planning to leave home — and I had hoped this letter would remind him how much I loved him.”

The letter was meant to be “a light-hearted and quirky reminder” of her love for her son, she said.

The mother said she had no idea “the events that unfolded months later between Brian and Gabby would reflect the words in my letter. The words in the letter could never have been a comment on that tragic situation as they were written so many months before.”

Parts of the letter that have been quoted by Reilly and others are taken out of context, she added. “All of the words taken together and in the context of the reason the letter was written show there is no connection.”

And though it’s been reported that the letter was found with his remains — “insinuating that I gave it to him as he left my home on September 12, 2021” — the FBI already had possession of the letter before his body and belongings were found on Oct. 20, 2021, Roberta Laundrie said.

Read Roberta Laundrie's full statement about the letter: