American Murder: 5 most disturbing details you didn’t know about Gabby Petito case

Netflix true crime documentary series American Murder is back with another chapter, this time focusing on the tragic case of Gabby Petito, the van life vlogger who was murdered by fiancé Brian Laundrie. 

The first season of the anthology series centered on the Chris Watts case, while the second turned focus to Laci Peterson, another woman who was killed by her partner. 

This new three-part installment dives deep into the details of Gabby’s life, her relationship with Laundrie, and the shocking events that led to her untimely death in August 2021. There are still numerous unknowns, as Laundrie died by suicide two months after killing Gabby. 

However, American Murder: Gabby Petito unpacks the case with fresh perspectives from family and friends, painting a clearer picture of what happened. Warning: some may find this content distressing. 

There was tension long before Gabby’s murder

When Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito started dating, they claimed it was love at first sight. However, Laundrie’s controlling behavior quickly became apparent to family and friends. But Gabby didn’t only get this from her partner. 

Text messages shown in the new docuseries reveal that when Gabby moved to Florida with Laundrie so he could be near his own family, she quickly got iced out. 

The move itself was rushed, with Gabby’s mom Nichole Schmidt explaining that they announced they were going to Florida on the same day Gabby admitted to being in a relationship with Brian – and the next day they were gone. 

A mutual friend of the couple says that Brian wanted to be in Florida to be near his parents Christopher and Roberta, and his sister Cassie. They moved in with his mother and father, which Gabby enjoyed at first. 

However, Nicole says that Roberta “got comfortable and started not treating her as nicely.” Apparently, Roberta started to get jealous of how much time her son was spending with Gabby. 

“Her jealousy was definitely very odd,” says Nicole. “Gabby told me that one night at the dinner table, Brian’s mom was freaking out that nobody was focusing on her pie. I think she got mad and wasn’t even talking to them. I thought that was really strange.”

American Murder then presents a series of text messages between Gabby and Brian at that time. In the first, Gabby wrote, “Your mom’s not in a good mood so idk what’s for dinner.”

Brian replied saying it was like that when they grew up and it usually “blows over,” telling Gabby to say goodbye to his mom before going grocery shopping.

“I know, I’m just nervous to walk out of the room, I feel like I did something,” she wrote, to which Brian responded, “SMH. I’m ashamed. Say goodbye.”

“Gabby started to feel very awkward and was not comfortable there,” says Nicole. 

Shortly after, Nicole recalls receiving a letter from the post office saying that Gabby’s mailing address had changed back to their home. 

When she asked whether this meant she was coming home, Gabby explained that she didn’t change it – and she suspected it was Roberta. 

Rose says Brian stole Gabby’s ID

During her time in Florida, Gabby became friends with Rose Davis, with the pair quickly forming a close bond. 

Rose appears in American Murder: Gabby Petito to share her experiences of Gabby and Brian’s relationship, describing one telling incident where he stole her ID to stop her from going out. 

The first time she met Brian, Rose says there was “something off” about him. Even though he was polite, he kept himself at a distance while Rose and Gabby hung out. 

Rose says that when they were together, they were a happy couple, but when it was just her and Gabby, “he seemed very manipulative.”

One night, Rose waited an hour and a half so she and Gabby could go line dancing. She checked in to make sure everything was okay, and Gabby apologized, explaining that she got right near her house to find she didn’t have her ID on her. 

When Gabby went back to get it, she discovered Brian had stolen her wallet. “Brian admitted that he stole it because he didn’t want her to go out,” says Rose.

“Brian would give her a bunch of things. She’d get so upset with the way he would treat her but then he’d do this amazing, sweet thing and she’s like, ‘No, I’m lucky. I don’t deserve him.’”

The following year, when Gabby and Brian set off for a road trip in their van, his behavior continued to descend, culminating in the now-infamous police body cam footage of the couple in Moab, Utah.

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A passerby had reported seeing Brian slapping Gabby, and so police performed a welfare check. The pair were separated for the night, and later Brian went home momentarily to clear out a storage unit, leaving Gabby alone in a hotel. 

During that period, she contacted her ex-boyfriend Jackson and they caught up on life. 

“I got the vibe that she still might have needed someone to talk to after we hung up, so I was like, ‘Hey, if you do need to talk again, let me know. It’s OK. I’m OK with that,’” he says in the Netflix doc. 

What you might not know is that Gabby was already planning to escape from Brian. As Jackson recalls, “She was like, ‘I have a plan. I think I want to leave him. I’m gonna do it. I have to figure out when to do it.’

“And that’s when I was kind of like, ‘What are you talking about? What do you mean you have a plan?’ From the sound of her voice and the way she was saying it, I think that she, like, wasn’t sure what he would do or what he could do. 

“I think she was wanting to get away, but just didn’t know how to do it.” Jackson told her to be careful and last heard from her on August 27, 2021 – the day she disappeared.

Police predicted what happened

When Gaby’s disappearance hit the news, the case went viral, with netizens from across the globe unpacking every detail. Things reached new heights when the Moab video was released to the public, with millions of people tuning in to watch the footage. 

However, American Murder: Gabby Petito shows an extended version of the tape, including the moment one of the officers predicted what happened to her. 

Both Gabby and Brian had injuries from the argument, but Gabby was in visible distress, trying to downplay what happened and blaming herself. Meanwhile, Brian appears calm and jovial. 

After speaking with both Gabby and Brian, two of the cops have a private conversation in their truck as they try to determine how to proceed. 

The officer behind the body cam says, “The reason why they don’t give us discretion on these things is because too many times, women who are at risk want to go back to their abuser, and then they end up getting worse and worse treatment and then end up getting killed.

“In no way, shape, or form that I can perceive that this is going to digress into the situation where he’s going to be a battered man. But then again I don’t have a crystal ball.” Just a couple of weeks later, Brian murdered Gabby. 

The Burn After Reading letter

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The Netflix docuseries highlights the suspicious actions of Brian’s parents following Gabby’s murder, including that they lawyered up immediately.

But perhaps the most suspicious of all was a letter written by Roberta. It was discovered by the FBI during a house search after Brian went on the run.

Among his belongings, they uncovered the letter, which was addressed to Brian and said “burn after reading” on the front. It states, “I just want you to remember I will always love you, and I know you will always love me. 

“You are my boy. Nothing can make me stop loving you, nothing will or could ever divide us no matter what we do, or where we go or what we say – we will always love each other.

“If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags. If you fly to the moon, I will be watching the skies for your re-entry. If you say you hate my guts, I’ll get new guts.”

She went on to quote a Bible verse from Romans 8:38, writing, “Remember that love is a verb, not a noun. It’s not a thing, it’s not words, it is actions. Watch people’s actions to know if they love you – not their words.

“Therefore I am certain that neither death nor life, nor angels nor the ruling spirits, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers from above, nor powers from below, nothing in the entire created world can separate our love. Neither hostile powers nor messengers of heaven nor monarchs of earth.”

Roberta finished the letter by saying, “Nothing can separate us: not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not threats, not even sin, not the thinkable or unthinkable can get between us. Not time. Not miles and miles and miles.”

In American Murder: Gabby Petito, we see the family and friends’ raw reactions to the letter for the first time. 

As Rose says, “I think the burn after reading letter from Roberta is disgusting. I personally love my mother, but I’d be very concerned if she sent me a letter like that.”

Gabby’s stepmother, Tara Petito, adds, “The first time we [Tara and Gabby’s father, Joe Petito] saw that letter, we were just so in shock and angry, how could she write this letter? It’s just disgusting.” For Nicole, it made her sick to her stomach. 

Laundrie family beat huge rescue team in search for Brian 

After Brian disappeared in mid-September 2021, police and the FBI collected all of the evidence to show he had murdered Gabby, at which point he went from a missing person to a federal fugitive, and an arrest warrant was issued. 

FBI agents Kyle and Loretta Bush appear in the true crime documentary to describe the extensive search operation that was launched to hunt down Brian. 

Even though they narrowed it down to an area in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, Florida, Loretta explains that it was “not an easy search.”

With more than 20,000 acres of land to check, the FBI collaborated with state and local partners and volunteer agencies; there were drones, horses, and sniffer dogs trying to find any activity. 

At the time, the park had been closed to the public because of flooding, but when it opened back up, the FBI were informed that the Laundrie family were going to go and check the park themselves to try and find Brian. 

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Law enforcement also went out there to keep an eye on the situation. Christopher and Roberta headed out at around 7am, and around an hour into their search they found Brian’s waterproof bag. 

Around 45 minutes after that, Brian’s remains were found. He was only a mile from where his car had been parked. 

The fact they found him so quickly raised suspicion among many, with Rose saying, “His parents found his remains. That blew my mind. I didn’t even believe it. I thought it was fake news. 

“I was like, ‘What do you mean? This makes no sense.’”

At the end of American Murder: Gabby Petito, text across the screen reads, “To date, no criminal charges have been filed against the Laundries. 

“In 2022, the Petito-Schmidt family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Robert and Christopher Laundrie. This ended in settlement in 2024. The Laundrie family, through their lawyer, declined to provide a comment.”

For more true crime news, read about whether Jon and Carie Hallford went to jail, where Mary Day is now, and Hulu’s upcoming Ruby Franke documentary.