Diary entries and drawings made by Brian Laundrie before the murder of Gabby Petito have shed more light on the case.
Laundrie left behind chilling writings and drawings that provide a glimpse into his troubled mind, according to new FBI files obtained by the New York Post.
Petito and Laundrie had been travelling around the US in a van before she was reported missing in August 2021, and was tragically found dead several weeks later, with Laundrie taking his own life to avoid arrest.
Now, new documents, recovered during a search of the Laundrie family home after Gabby Petito's body was found in September 2021, reveal Laundrie's notes about his "mania" and doodles of skulls with the words "Trust no one" and "Kill."
"In retrospect, it tells us that Brian dealt with mental health issues and was clearly a narcissist and manipulator capable of violence," said Brian Stewart, the Petito family's lawyer, expressing shock at the 23-year-old's scrawlings.
"That's just scary," he added when shown the skull graphic and other writings.
The FBI's search also uncovered notebooks belonging to Petito, as well as hundreds of bullets, gun magazines, handbooks for pistols, a compound bow with a rifle scope, brass knuckles, a wad of cash, and copies of The Watchtower - a Jehovah's Witnesses publication.
Laundrie also possessed Chuck Palahniuk's novel Choke, about a scam artist who fakes choking to earn sympathy checks.
Diary entries were found, some written months before Laundrie and Petito began dating, according to their Instagram accounts.
Two years later, the couple embarked on a cross-country van tour, documenting their adventures on social media.
However, the trip took a tragic turn when Laundrie returned home alone, and Petito was reported missing. Her strangled body was eventually discovered in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, with authorities confirming she was killed around August 28.
An undated diary entry by Laundrie describes a nightmare that seemed to be about Petito leaving him: "The ocean pours out of her blue eyes and the fire is out. With one word the pain is gone. 'Brian?'.
"Oh how sweet she is to say we should get together, but you know when you walk out that door she'll be gone forever again...The pain burns fresh because you know it's just tonight. You wake up and your [sic] both free."
Nichole Schmidt, Petito's mother, also delivered a powerful message to her daughter's killer during her appearance at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville on Friday (May 31).
Petito's disappearance in the summer of 2021 made international headlines after the 22-year-old travel blogger went missing while on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Laundrie.
"I speak for myself here when I say Brian, I forgive you," Schmidt said, as cited by CNN. "I needed to release myself from the chains of anger and bitterness, that I refuse to let your despicable act define the rest of my life."
However, Schmidt did not hold back in her condemnation of Laundrie's actions and his parents' alleged involvement.
"Your atrocious decision to take a life, my daughter's life, has ignited a fire within me, a fierce determination to protect the innocent from falling victim to monsters like you," she continued.
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