Comment On Brian Laundrie’s Instagram Raises Questions About An Alleged History Of Abuse Against Gabby Petito
Was this the only time?
Moab Police Department After the tragic announcement of Gabby Petito’s death being caused by strangulation, many who follow the story pointed fingers at Brian Laundrie.
His actions proceeding her death were seen as suspicious by many, and people started digging for any clues or signs of Laundrie’s maliciousness through his Instagram, on his Pinterest, bodycam footage, or people who knew him.
One comment on Brian Laundrie’s Instagram post raised questions about his history of abuse.
All of Laundrie’s social medias have gone dark, but that hasn’t stopped everyone from commenting under his posts and sharing their thoughts.
On his last post, which was made on August 13th, someone by the username @robbrady3 commented, saying that he knew Laundrie and that he had some sort of temper.
“I’ve texted your dad but I guess Christopher blocked me,” they said. “Everyone knows about your nasty temper. Tell them about the time you choked her out!!! Don’t worry Skeletor, we know!”
The comment is unconfirmed and looks to have been written recently after the manner of death announcement, but it certainly raises some eyebrows.
It really makes people wonder — has Laundrie done this before? Does he have a history of grabbing her by the neck during arguments?
Someone on Twitter replied to the post, saying “I truly believe this is how he did it, in a fit of rage when they were fighting. Grabbed her by the neck.”
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito reportedly had a rocky relationship.
Petito’s best friend, Rose Davis, has often spoken up about the inside of their relationship and how manipulative and jealous Laundrie was.
“Brian didn't want her to go out with me, so he took [her ID],” she recalled. “She was so hysterical. She told me she slapped him and said something about him pushing her.”
During this encounter, Davis said she could tell she was holding back her words. “I told her you need to tell me the deep of what happened and she just wouldn't,” she said.
The last time Laundrie and Petito were seen together was when Laundrie was allegedly fighting with wait staff at a Wyoming restaurant and Petito was trying desperately to leave the situation.
The domestic incident that occurred on August 12th, where someone reported that Laundrie had hit Petito in the face, shows her with cuts and bruises.
She claimed that he grabbed her jaw in an attempt to get her to stop arguing with him and that the bruises and scratches on her arms, neck, and face were from the altercation.
Body language expert, Patti Wood, said Petito was afraid of telling police what had happened to her — repeating what Laundrie did to her by putting her hands on her mouth.
Similar to that time with Davis, Petito could have been covering for Laundrie, and the reality of the altercation could have been much worse.
Strangulation is not uncommon among domestic abuse cases.
According to the Training Institute for Strangulation Prevention, “One in four women will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetimes, and of women at high risk, up to 68 percent will experience near-fatal strangulation by their partner.”
In Oklahoma alone, 80% of women who were victims of abuse by their partner from 2009 to 2013 reported having been strangled during the course of their relationship.
The most chilling of all, strangulation victims are 750% more likely to be killed than victims who have never been strangled.
Police failed to recognize these key signs of lethal domestic abuse and instead turned it on Petito by claiming that she had been the aggressor.
If Laundrie had a history of anger and abuse towards Petito, her death highlights the importance of offering help to abuse victims before it is too late.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.