VENICE, Fla. (WFLA) — Roberta Laundrie is speaking out for the first time about a letter she wrote to her son, Brian Laundrie, that she claims has nothing to do with Gabby Petito, but rather is a “quirky” letter she wrote to help repair their relationship.
Roberta Laundrie’s attorneys filed a motion for a protective order in Sarasota County Circuit Court on Monday seeking to block the attempts by Petito’s parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, to make the “burn after reading” letter written to Brian Laundrie admissible as evidence in the upcoming civil trial between the two families. The attorney for Petito and Schmidt claims the letter makes references to a shovel, burying a body, and helping Brian get out of prison.
In support of the motion against the letter becoming public, Laundrie wrote a letter to the court claiming the “burn after reading” letter was written months before Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie left on their cross-country road trip in the summer of 2021.
“Although I do not know the exact date I wrote the letter, I do know that I wrote it and gave it to Brian before Brian and Gabby left Florida for New York which was on June 2, 2021,” said Roberta Laundrie.
She says she and her son shared a love for books such as “The Runaway Bunny” and “Little Bear.” She claims one such book, “Burn After Writing,” was often the subject of a joke between her, her son and Gabby Petito and is the reason she wrote “burn after reading” on the envelope that contained the letter to her son.
“In short, I was trying to connect with Brian and repair our relationship as he was planning to leave home, and I had hoped this letter would remind him how much I loved him,” she said.
Steven Bertolino, the longtime family attorney for the Laundries who is seeking to be removed as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, has previously said the “burn after reading” letter Laundrie wrote to her son was “personal” between a mother and her son.
Laundrie, in her letter to the court, said the note to her son was an attempt to repair their “strained” relationship.
“The purpose of the letter was to reach out to Brian while he and I were experiencing a difficult period in our relationship,” Laundrie wrote. “Brian and I always had a very open and communicative relationship and in the months prior to the trip our relationship had become strained. Brian and I shared a love of stories and some of the language in the letter was using similar phrases to describe the depth of a mother’s love.”
Laundrie admits that her letter does contain references that some would think are about her son and Petito, however, she claims there is “no connection” between her words and what happened to the couple.
“While I used words that seem to have a connection with Brian’s actions and his taking of Gabby’s life, I never would have fathomed the events that unfolded months later between Brian and Gabby would reflect the words in my letter,” she said. “The words in the letter could never have been a comment on that tragic situation as they were written so many months before. My words to Brian were meant to convey my love and support for my son through a light-hearted and quirky reminder that my love for him was not diminished and could not be shaken by the miles of separation we would soon be faced with.”
Laundrie said the claim made by Pat Reilly, the attorney for Petito’s parents, that the letter was received by her son and found in his backpack by the FBI near his remains at the Carlton Reserve is false. Laundrie said the FBI gathered the letter as evidence before her son’s remains were found and investigators had questioned her and her husband, Chris Laundrie, about it before October 20, 2021.
In December 2022, Reilly filed court documents seeking the letter in the discovery process ahead of trial. Reilly said the letter, which had “burn after reading” written on the envelope, included an offer to “bring a shovel to help bury the body.”
Both sides have confirmed Roberta Laundrie’s letter doesn’t have a date on it, and the Laundries have maintained it has nothing to do with Gabby Petito.
“The FBI gave it to me and I still have it,” Bertolino said of the letter in a message to WFLA in December. “Don’t get caught up in the hype. Context is everything.”
Reilly has filed for the letter to be part of the discovery process in the lawsuit Petito’s parents have filed against the Laundries and Bertolino. A court hearing specifically on whether the letter will be admissible as evidence has not yet been scheduled.
Roberta Laundrie’s letter, as filed in Sarasota County Circuit Court, is below.
I, Roberta Laundrie, am a defendant in the above-styled cause and I do hereby swear or affirm that: I fully understand the meaning of all of the terms of this affidavit. I wrote the letter requested by Plaintiffs’ Second Request for Production. I wrote the letter to my son, Brian Laundrie, on or about the end of May 2021. Although I do not know the exact date I wrote the letter, I do know that I wrote it and gave it to Brian before Brian and Gabby left Florida for New York which was on June 2, 2021. (Brian and Gabby went from Florida to New York before they went out West.)
The purpose of the letter was to reach out to Brian while he and I were experiencing a difficult period in our relationship. Brian and I always had a very open and communicative relationship and in the months prior to the trip our relationship had become strained. Brian and I shared a love of stories and some of the language in the letter was using similar phrases to describe the depth of a mother’s love. The two books that come to mind are The Runaway Bunny and Little Bear. In addition, Gabby had given Brian a book called Burn After Writing which contains printed questions to which the reader responds by writing their answers on the page. The back of the book instructs the reader to create a secret book and then destroy by “burn after writing.” The bottom of the back cover says: “Write. Burn. Repeat.” Brian, Gabby and I often joked about this book and the importance of being able to express yourself. If you were embarrassed or simply did not want anyone to know your thoughts or feelings then the book offered the perfect solution by telling you to burn it. This is where my message to Brian came from and I wrote on the cover of the letter for Brian to “Burn After Reading.” In short, I was trying to connect with Brian and repair our relationship as he was planning to leave home – and I had hoped this letter would remind him how much I loved him.
There were some other phrases that I used in the letter which are not found in the books I shared with Brian as a child. However, these phrases were common enough in our circle of friends and family to describe who you could turn to in the most troubling times of your life. While I used words that seem to have a connection with Brian’s actions and his taking of Gabby’s life, I never would have fathomed the events that unfolded months later between Brian and Gabby would reflect the words in my letter. The words in the letter could never have been a comment on that tragic situation as they were written so many months before. My words to Brian were meant to convey my love and support for my son through a light-hearted and quirky reminder that my love for him was not diminished and could not be shaken by the miles of separation we would soon be faced with.
Although a few of the words in the letter are being quoted by others as having a connection to this case, all of the words taken together and in the context of the reason the letter was written show that there is no connection. In addition, there has been some speculation that this letter was in Brian’s possession or in his backpack when he died – insinuating that I gave it to him as he left my home on September 13, 2021 – but that is not true because the FBI had the letter in their possession and questioned members of my family about it prior to October 20, 2021 when my husband and I found Brian’s remains in the reserve.
I repeat that the letter I wrote to Brian before he left with Gabby for their fateful trip was nothing more than a private communication between myself and my son and I never expected anyone else would read it. In some way, I did not want anyone else to read it as I know it is not the type of letter a mother writes to her adult son and I did not want to embarrass Brian. That is why I wrote “Burn After Reading” on the envelope and I knewthat Brian would know what that meant. I am now appreciative that he actually kept it.
[Signed] Roberta Laundrie