Laundrie’s Mom Offered To Bake Cake With Shiv For Son: Petito Lawyer

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Attorneys for Gabby Petito’s parents continue to push for a Sarasota County judge to order Brian Laundrie’s parents to turn over a letter written by Roberta Laundrie to her son.

The letter, which references “baking a cake with a shiv in it,” 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.

“The letter in question, written by Roberta Laundrie to Brian Laundrie, references bringing a shovel to help bury a body and baking a cake with a shiv in it should Brian Laundrie go to prison,” the Petito family attorney Patrick J. Reilly wrote in a May 5 court filing. “A reasonable inference is that the letter was written at a time when Gabrielle Petito was as yet unburied, and Brian Laundrie could go to jail for the crime of the murder.”

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The van-life couple lived with the Laundries in North Port, Florida, before embarking on their ill-fated trip in the summer of 2021.

After killing Petito in Wyoming, Brian Laundrie later took his own life, shooting himself in the head at a Sarasota County park. Her body was found in September of that year, while Laundrie’s remains were found in October.

Laundrie’s parents have pushed back against handing over the undated letter, which had the phrase “burn after reading” written on the envelope, filing for a protective order so they wouldn’t have to turn it over to a judge. Roberta Laundrie claimed the letter was an inside joke between her, her son and Gabby Petito and had nothing to do with his fiancée’s death.

Reilly said the letter could be a key part of the Petito family’s lawsuit against the Laundries.

“If the jury were to find that the letter was written after Gabrielle Petito’s murder, it is further proof that the Laundries and Bertolino were aware that she was deceased at the time the statements in question were issued,” the attorney wrote in his response to the Laundrie’s request for a protective order.

He continued, “If it was not written at a time when Roberta Laundrie knew that her son had murdered Gabrielle Petito, it is at best an odd letter for a mother to write to a son, and Roberta Laundrie’s explanation for writing it is frankly unbelievable. It is within the province of the jury to decide whether Roberta Laundrie is credible in her assertion as to when the letter was written, and to determine the relationship, if any, to Gabrielle Petito’s death.”