Petito Family in Court For Pre-Trial against Chris & Roberta Laundrie
On Wednesday, June 22, 2022, the Petito family and the Schmidt family walked hand in hand to the Venice, Florida courthouse in Sarasota County.
This appearance marks the first pre-trial in the civil case that Gabby Petitos’s parents, Nicole Schmidt and Joseph Petito, have filed against Chris and Roberta Laundrie.
Gabby’s parents have brought forth two lawsuits in the Florida court system:
- Wrongful Death against the estate of Brian Laundrie.
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against Chris and Roberta Laundrie.
Today’s pre-trial is centered around a Motion to Dismiss filed by the Laundrie’s Attorney, Stephen Bertolino, and Matt Luca.
While both Nicole Schmidt and Joseph Petito were present, the Laundries’ waived their appearance through counsel.
I’m not going to recap what happened that led to this point-to this trial- we all know the story by now. The story of a young girl brutally murdered and left in the Grand Tetons while her fiance drove her truck back to his parent's house in Florida.
We know.
We know that there was a manhunt that lasted (way too long) for weeks.
We also know the ending.
The Wrongful Death suit is particularly against the estate of Brian Laundrie, while the Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress suit is specifically against Brian’s parents, Chris and Roberta.
Nicole Schmidt and Joseph Petito claim that Chris and Roberta intentionally withheld important information regarding their daughter, and where she was.
The Motion being reviewed today is a Motion to Dismiss that was filed by Attorney Luka on behalf of the Laundries’.
