SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Attorneys for Steve Bertolino, the former Laundrie family attorney, have sent a list of questions to the family of Gabby Petito.
Gabby’s family is suing the Laundries for emotional distress in relation to Gabby Petito’s death during a 2021 road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.
Gabby Petito’s remains were found in a national forest in Wyoming, and her death was ruled by a homicide. The FBI says before taking his own life, Brian Laundrie wrote in a notebook he was responsible for his fiancée’s death.
The questions are seeking clarity and include questions for the plaintiffs, including admission that they were never in an attorney-client relationship with either plaintiff and if Petito’s parents knew that he was the attorney for the Laundries at the time of the disappearance. The questions are limited to the scope of Sept. 14 and Sept. 19, 2021.
Bertolino was added to the civil suit in January 2023. Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt say Steven Bertolino’s statements on behalf of the Laundries caused them “mental suffering and anguish” at the time they were desperately searching for their daughter. In September 2021, Bertolino issued a statement hoping Gabby Petito would be found alive.
“It is believed that at the time the … statement was issued, the Laundries and Steven Bertolino knew that Gabby Petito was dead and that under those circumstances, the statement was insensitive, cold-hearted, and outrageous,” Patrick Reilly, the attorney for Petito and Schmidt, said when the suit was filed.
The Petitos have already been awarded $3 million in a wrongful death suit in November of last year.
The next hearing in the case is set for May 24, 2023. The plaintiffs have 30 days to respond.
You can read the documents below.
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