The mother of Gabby Petito claimed Brian Laundrie lied in the notebook confession that was discovered on his remains about why he killed her daughter.
Nichole Schmidt referred to Laundrie’s alleged confession that he killed Petito as a mercy killing after she grievously hurt herself as a “absolute” falsehood when speaking on the Today show.
‘That’s ridiculous. We know how she died’ she said, calling Laundrie’s claims ‘100% untrue.’
She said the confession story he wrote in his notebook was merely a part of the ‘good guy’ character he always masqueraded as.
‘That was his character, even in his last moments he wanted to make sure he looked like the good guy.’
In the past, Schmidt posted a picture to Twitter with the caption “Narcissists create history,” along with the hashtags “the truth will be exposed,” “selfish,” and “justice for Gabby.”
Following Petito’s disappearance in August while traveling with Laundrie for a vlogging road trip, her remains were discovered in Grand Teton National Park in September. She had been dead for three to four weeks when investigators concluded she had been killed by manual strangulation. Homicide was declared in her death.
Laundrie’s skeletal remains were discovered in October on a Florida nature preserve close to his parents’ home in North Port after a large-scale manhunt. He shot himself in the head and died as a result.
Speaking through emotions as the anniversary of Petito’s passing approaches, Schmidt also disclosed a $100,000 gift from the Gabby Petito Foundation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
‘Our story begins because of domestic violence and we don’t want it to happen to anybody else,’ she said.
Petito’s family set up the foundation in the wake of their daughters death, with the aim of providing aid to missing persons location efforts.
‘It’s hard. We’re trying, we’re trying to do good for Gabby, and for everybody else.’
The NDVH said the Petito Foundation’s donation will allow them to hire much needed staff support.
In his notebook confession, Laundry claimed Petito was in extreme pain after slipping and falling in a creek.
‘Rushing back to our car, trying to cross the steam of spread creek before it got too dark to see, too cold. I hear a splash and a scream. I could barely see, I couldn’t finder her for a moment, shouted her name,’ Laundrie scrawled in the notebook.
‘I found her breathing barely, gasping, she was freezing cold, we had just come from the blazing hot national parks in Utah.’
‘The temperature had dropped to freezing and she was soaking wet. I carried her as far as I could down the stream towards the car, stumbling, exhausted in shock, when I knew I couldn’t safely carry her.’
Laundrie said he made the decision to try to camp for the night because Gabby was in too much pain to transport to help.
‘When I pulled Gabby out of the water she couldn’t tell me what hurt. She had a small bump on her forehead that eventually got larger. Her feet hurt, her wrist hurt, but she was freezing, shaking violently, while carrying her she continually made sounds of pain.’
‘Laying next to her she said little, lapsing between violent shakes, gasping in pain, begging for an end to her pain. She would fall asleep and I would shake her awake fearing she shouldn’t close her eyes if she had a concussion.’
‘She would wake in pain, start her whole painful cycle again, furious that I was the one waking her. She wouldn’t let me try to cross the creek, thought like me that the fire would go out in her sleep.’
‘I don’t know the extent of Gabby’s injuries, only that she was in extreme pain.
‘I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistake that I made. I panicked. I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain.’
‘I knew I couldn’t go on without her.
‘I rushed home to spend any time I had left with my family.
‘I’m ending my life not because of fear of punishment, but rather because I can’t stand to live another day without her.
‘I’ve lost our whole entire future together, every moment we could have cherished. I’m sorry for everyone’s loss. Ple
ase don’t make life hard for my family, they lost a son and a daughter. The most wonderful girl in the world I’m sorry.’
Laundrie began the notebook with a personal message to Gabby, writing: ‘I wish I could be at your side, I wish I could be talking to you right now. I’d be going through every memory getting even more for the future. But we’ve lost our future.’
‘I can’t be without you. I’ve lost every day we [indistinct] spent together… I’ll never get to play with [indistinct] again. I can’t bear to look at our photos, to recall great times because it is why I cannot go on.’
‘When I close my eyes I will think of laughing on the roof of the van, falling asleep to the sight of a [indistinct] at the crystal geyser. I will always love you.’
Laundrie concluded his confession with a plea that anyone who find him clean up his possessions because ‘Gabby hated people who litter,’ and added a dying wish for his bodily remains.
‘I have killed myself by this creek in the hope that animals may tear me apart.’