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“The documentary was what we expected. One perspective depicted as the ‘truth’ as seen through their lens,” Brian’s parents said of the documentary, which depicts Gabby’s disappearance and grisly murder.
The parents of Brian Laundrie, who killed his fiancée Gabby Petito on a cross-country van trip in 2021, are speaking out following the Netflix documentary about the case.
In a statement provided to PEOPLE by Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino, Chris and Roberta Laundrie slammed the new three-part documentary series, American Murder: Gabby Petito, calling it “one-sided.”
“The documentary was what we expected. One perspective depicted as the ‘truth’ as seen through their lens. Similar to Republicans and Democrats fighting it out lately. Hard to see through the lens of the other with all the noise and distrust,” the Laundrie’s statement reads.
“The documentary contained many inaccuracies, incorrect juxtapositions of timelines, and misstatements and omissions of fact — perhaps deliberate to capture their ‘truth,’ perhaps due to simple error,” the statement continued.
Netflix
Gabby Petito’s Parents Share What Happened to Her Van After Her Murder, and What They Kept
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The Laundries also acknowledged the reality of what their son did, adding, “We all know Brian took Gabby’s life and Brian then took his own as well. Let the parents of both Gabby and Brian mourn and remember them in peace.”
While the Laundries disapproved of the doc, the credits of the Netflix special note that they refused to participate in the series, and in a pre-release interview with Today, Julia Willoughby Nason, one of the film’s directors, confirmed, “[The Laundries] didn’t want to participate, and we respect that.”
As for Brian’s older sister, Cassie Laundrie, she claimed hasn’t been in contact with her parents in almost two years.
“If you’re new here. And just starting to attack me today. I’ve been non contact with my parents for almost two years. Have fun,” she wrote in a February 17 Instagram post.
Winona County Detention Center/Winona Police Department/Instagram
Minnesota Man Guilty of Killing Girlfriend He Allegedly Said Would ‘End Up Like’ Gabby Petito
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Gabby and Brian went missing in late summer 2021, with federal investigators concluding that Brian killed Gabby, whose cause of death was ruled a homicide caused by manual strangulation and blunt-force trauma to her head and neck.
Brian’s remains were discovered not long after in October, his death ruled a suicide from a gunshot wound to the head.
Following Brian’s death, Gabby’s family filed a wrongful death suit against Brian’s estate and were awarded $3 million in 2022.
Another suit was filed against his parents, who refused to cooperate with Gabby’s family and authorities following her disappearance, for intentional and reckless infliction of emotional distress. That suit was settled in February 2024.
For more on Gabby’s story, check out American Murder: Gabby Petito, currently streaming on Netflix.
