As the parents of slain Youtuber Gabby Petito continue their pursuit of justice, they have added Brian Laundrie’s family lawyer to their civil lawsuit.
On Tuesday, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt added attorney Steven Bertolino as a defendant to their lawsuit. They claim that Bertolino served as more than just a counsel to the family. He actually held the secrets regarding where Petito was during her family’s desperate efforts to bring her home.
The 22-year-old vanished during a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, last summer. Sadly, her body was found in September 2021 in Bridger–Teton National Forest in Wyoming. Laundrie died in October 2021 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida. He left a note near his body admitting to strangling Petitio.
During the high-profile case, Laundrie’s family and Bertolino maintained that they did not know the young woman’s whereabouts after Laundrie returned home from their road trip alone. When he disappeared in September 2021, they also denied knowing where he’d gone. However, Petito’s family is confident they were aware of what had transpired and even helped Laundrie attempt to flee the country.
During a September 14th, 2021 statement, Bertolino said he and the Laundrie family hoped that Petito would be reunited with her family. However, the slain woman’s family says it was “beyond outrageous” for him to give such a speech when he allegedly already knew the fate of Petito.
The Laundries previously agreed to a $3 million settlement in November to settle the wrongful death suit against Brian’s estate. The civil case remains ongoing.
