Of their lawsuit, Petito’s dad and mom alleged the Laundries knew that their son killed Petito and had been working to assist him flee the nation. Their lawsuit alleges Laundrie advised his dad and mom about killing Petito round August 28 and that the Laundries refused to reply to Petito’s household or legislation enforcement after they inquired whether or not the 22-year-old lady was alive.
“Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie knew of the psychological struggling and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and knew that they might alleviate, a minimum of partially, such psychological struggling and anguish by disclosing what they knew in regards to the well-being and the placement of the stays of Gabrielle Petito, but they repeatedly refused to take action,” the lawsuit says.
The movement to dismiss filed this week says the Laundries had “elementary constitutional rights to silence,” including that the household had a “normal constitutional proper to not converse on any subject and a extra particular constitutional proper to not converse within the face of a prison investigation.”
In an announcement despatched to CNN, Laundrie household lawyer Steven Bertolino referred to as the Petitos’ lawsuit “baseless and frivolous.”
“The Laundries have exercised their constitutional proper to chorus from talking and have relied on counsel to talk for them. This isn’t solely frequent follow in our civilized neighborhood however it embodies the train of elementary rights below the USA and Florida Constitutions,” Bertolino stated, including he was assured the swimsuit will probably be dismissed.
CNN has reached out to an lawyer for Petito’s household for remark.
Laundrie returned to the couple’s Florida residence, the place his dad and mom additionally lived, by himself in early September, left once more roughly two weeks later and disappeared. Days into the seek for Laundrie in a Florida reserve, authorities in Teton County, Wyoming, found Petito’s stays. A coroner later dominated she died by strangulation.
In late October, Laundrie’s stays had been discovered within the space of the Florida reserve. A medical expert dominated he died by suicide. Close by, authorities discovered a pocket book by which they stated Laundrie claimed duty for Petito’s loss of life.
