TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A portion of the notebook Brian Laundrie left behind as a confession to his murder of Gabby Petito was revealed Friday as attorneys for the families met with the FBI in Tampa to take possession of personal items.
“I ended her life,” a line from the notebook reads. “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.”
The notebook has become a focal point of the public’s fascination with the case, as well as potential evidence in the civil lawsuit filed by Petito’s parents against Laundrie’s parents.
In the message, Laundrie claimed Petito’s death “occurred as an unexpected tragedy.” Laundrie wrote he and Gabby were on hike back to their van in Utah when night fell.
“I hear a splash and a scream, I could barely see,” Laundrie wrote. “I couldn’t find her for a moment, shouted her name. I found her breathing heavily, gasping and [unclear] was freezing cold.”
Laundrie wrote that he pulled Gabby out of the water, but claimed she couldn’t tell him where she was hurt. He added Gabby had a “small bump on her forehead that eventually got larger,” and had pain in her feet and wrists.
