Pages from Brian Laundrie's notebook in which he confessed to murdering girlfriend Gabby Petito have been released.
As reported by CNN, the incriminating notebook was found close to Laundrie's body back in October, around the time that authorities discovered the wanted man's remains.
In January, the FBI's Denver Field Office said in a statement: "A review of the notebook revealed written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito's death."
Now, via images of the notebook's pages shared by Fox News, it has come to light that Laundrie revealed that he murdered Petito in order to "take away" her pain.
Laundrie, 23, was the subject of a nationwide manhunt after the remains of his fiancée, 22-year-old blogger Petito, were found in Grand Teton National Park on September 19, 2021. Coroners ruled that she had died by strangulation.
The pair had been on a road trip when they first went missing. After several weeks of searching for the suspected killer, authorities discovered Laundrie's remains on October 21 2021.
His death was ruled by suicide in November 2021.
In the notebook pages, he writes: "This occurred as an unexpected tragedy."
Laundrie then recalls an incident on their road trip in which he heard a "splash and a scream", saying that Petito had injured herself in a creek.
"I could barely see, I couldn’t find her for a moment, shouted her name," he wrote. "I found her breathing heavily gasping my name, she was freezing cold [...] I carried her as far as I could down the stream towards the car, stumbling exhausted in shock, when my knees buckled and knew I couldn’t safely carry her."
Further in the notebook, Laundrie writes: "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 the whole painful cycle again while furious that I was the one waking her."
Laundrie then confesses to Petito's death, writing: "I don’t know the extent of Gabby’s injurys (sic). 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 mistakes 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."
Elsewhere in the notebook's pages, he explains that he rushed home to spend "any time I had left with my family."
The 23-year-old says that he had opted to end his life, "not because of a fear of punishment", but rather: "Because I cant stand to live another day without her. I’ve lost out whole future together, every moment we could have cherished."
He also asked people not to make life harder for his parents, who he says lost both a son and a daughter.
Laundrie ended the note by writing: "Please pick up all of my things. Gabby hated people who litter."
Per The Independent, Gabby's parents - Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt - have filed a lawsuit against Chris and Roberta Laundrie alleging that they knew their daughter was dead, as well as knowing the location of her body and releasing a misleading statement during the search for her remains.
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