Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #62

[soylattesandsleuthing]

The photo of him with his nephews, I zoomed in trying to see any injuries but it’s too blurry.

I so hope she clawed his face he had to hide and heal.

I saw a bruise on his arm…but yeah, too blurry to really tell.

 

[Sunset]

Well, there's always a chance BL could claim erotic asphyxiation as opposed to manual strangulation (throttling) in his defence and claim it was sexual misadventure or an accident.....

I don't know if I would be able to control my fury if I were GP's family.
But I won't be surprised if BL had that defense.

 

[OceanElix]

Most sources say the body must be dead for 24-72 hours before it leaves a detectable trace but there are studies that say some dogs can alert on samples that were left only 2-3 hours after death. Dogs are not machines so I guess training, ability and conditions play a big part. The only thing that is clear is that a body could be transported or stored in a van for some period of hours after death without leaving a trace detectable by cadaver dogs.
This leaves open the possibility that Gabby was murdered in the van or even at some location outside the park (i.e., in Wyoming jurisdiction and not federal) and transported in the van to the spot near where she was found. (I keep thinking of the one witness who saw BL park in the spot when he was alone in the cab of the van.)

Thank you! that's really interesting



Ebm typo

 

[mmeynstyn]

I hope she got some skin under her fingernails.

 

[SouthAussie]

He used his hands.

I am not sure that is entirely correct?

I think that manual strangulation can be performed by any part of the body. Like if someone kneels on your neck and suffocates you. Or if someone has you in a rear choke hold and their forearm strangles you. Or if they manually tighten a ligature around your neck.

"He would not confirm if an item was used to kill her."
Gabby Petito: US blogger was strangled to death - coroner

I think it just means that a person wasn't hung and strangled that way, or in any accidental way.

 

[scorpius]

This is the part of the video that made me speculate he likely eventually strangled her.

So the painted trees imo must be just to quickly identify the 'area' where the victim was found. Though it does look like there are numbers carved into the tree perhaps some type of marking for forestry, trails, random human stuff, who knows. I don't see blood anywhere in photos i've seen.

Van is really near so assuming the video of the van was right around the dates of death and last seen? So before/during/after that video at some point victim is getting killed. Could BL premeditated it?, is there a possibility that she, he or both were into 'asphyxiation' type sex, perhaps they took it to the edge once too many times? Did they camp there or was this just a walk? Any signs of struggle or fight or for that matter attempt to resuscitate?

All back again to evidence, now what places BL 100% there? Could someone else have been involved? Still so many unknowns until more information is released. Assuming BL did and it was accidental i don't see why he'd run no matter the story. If he got angry and it was spur of the moment, did he lure her out there to him or take her there? Was the anger something that happened during an intended hike to a camp spot or premeditated. For that matter, the van appears to be backed into the lot and right near that little makeshift bridge. Doesn't seem like a spot one would select to park if camping overnight, perhaps she was already dead so that make it a little easier. Any drag marks? But then if premeditated it must have been AFTER returning from Florida, otherwise he'd have had plenty of time to make a plan. Sell off / pawn all the stuff from storage, maximize cash and availability to it, when done burn the van (if used to transport victim during/after crime) to destroy any evidence then just disappear.

 

[Jmoose]

How is strangulation not premeditated? Premeditation only has to be a few seconds. It takes minutes to strangle someone.

If you have to walk 5 feet to get to her, that’s premeditation right there, isn’t it?

 

[Newsjunkiejen]

For the legal eagles in here..

Is it at all feasible that BL has already been charged with murder, but we in the public domain don't know about it because it's 'under seal' to prevent jeopardising any future trial?

Under seal - Wikipedia

 

[swanniee11]

I really hope not. I tend not to think so, they surely would not allow such a monster to be around their grandchildren!!?

I really think BL must have spun his parents a sob story about Gabby dumping him, poor Brian, Gabby is horrible, Brian doesn't want to to talk about it.... 'cry, sad face, heartbroken bri'

There's no evidence otherwise as yet and it's too horrid to believe they knew the real story IMO Especially then letting him tag along to a family afternoon with Cassie and kids.

I respectfully have to disagree, the Laundrie Family lawyer'ed up from the get-go. They knew something was wrong. If they thought it was a breakup I would think they would have talked to her family when they were calling etc and told them that. IMO

 

[meatandcookies]

He does have a twitter…….

I don’t know what his Twitter looked like before today, and we can’t sleuth here, but suffice to say there is next to nothing posted on his practice’s Twitter account (@sbertolinolaw) besides a halfhearted ad for his law office and promoted tweets.
MOO

Edited to clarify it’s his business account, not a personal account.

 

[nocommoncents]

He couldn't stop. She had to die because otherwise, GP could have charged him. Not sure if it would have been classed as attempted murder but Imo, basically that's what it would have been even if BL had stopped himself.

Assuming she'd pressed charges. A lot of DV victims don't.

 

[dacjess]

IMO the topic of erotic asphyxiation is way off-base. We have access to the Moab video. We heard Gabby say that BL put his hand on her neck and face. That was NOT a sexual act. There were 911 calls about them fighting which again prove this was NOT a sexual act. It just feels very creepy to me to even go there when we have Gabby on video sobbing and anxious about BL grabbing her face. There is nothing erotic about that and I haven’t seen, read or heard anything that remotely points to any type of sex act. JMO.

 

[Aglaia]

Just had a random thought, might have been touched on sorry
If she was found near a camp site, evidence of tent, fire etc, and assuming it was theirs then, he can’t really claim to have left, come back, freaked out and ran away out of fear that he would be accused
He packed every thing back in the van, dismantled the tent
Could he have carried everything in one go? Or did he make a couple of trips back and forth?
I hope LE have the tent pegs and other equipment to compare dirt and such

 

[Alkali13]

It says “manual strangulation”-can this possibly have any meaning other than strangulation via human hands?

Since "throttling" was used on the official document, that confirms use of hands. MOO. It also likely would've said ligature strangulation otherwise (I believe).

 

[Which_pancake]

Yes, I don’t get this either. I thought murder charges would be filed in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred. Strange.

This would be very bizarre. In no way do I see Palm Beach County having anything to do with the murder. I read the article a couple of times, and I think maybe the wording is just confused:

"We're moving towards filing charges but prosecutors are in no rush to file charges because once you file those charges, you have speedy trial rules and you have to try the case within 180 days," Aronberg said. "So prosecutors are going to make sure they have enough evidence before they file charges."​

Other than the "We're moving" it sounds like he is talking about other prosecutors...so maybe he just misspoke or something when he said we, or it was a misquote? Otherwise it makes no sense. MOO

 

[meatandcookies]

I am not sure that is entirely correct?

Manual strangulation can be performed by any part of the body. Like if someone kneels on your neck and suffocates you. Or if someone has you in a rear choke hold and their forearm chokes you.

"He would not confirm if an item was used to kill her."
Gabby Petito: US blogger was strangled to death - coroner

The “throttling” part indicates hands.

 

[Alkali13]

I am not sure that is entirely correct?

Manual strangulation can be performed by any part of the body. Like if someone kneels on your neck and suffocates you. Or if someone has you in a rear choke hold and their forearm chokes you.

"He would not confirm if an item was used to kill her."
Gabby Petito: US blogger was strangled to death - coroner

Throttling/manual strangulation specifically means using hands iirc. What you are describing would likely be referred to as asphyxiation in general, not manual strangulation. MOO.

 

[Newsjunkiejen]

This is why sometimes I question why not go for the death penalty rather than life in prison w/o parole in general population.

Death row inmates are in their cell for 23 hours a day. Those many years waiting to exhaust all their appeals must feel like several lifetimes locked up in confinement.

Yes, this is kind of what I was getting at!

It would effectively be a lengthy sentence with the death penalty hanging over them the whole time. Best of both worlds in terms of if you really wanted to punish a criminal.

MOO

 

[Alethea]

Yes, I don’t get this either. I thought murder charges would be filed in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred. Strange.

I think he's just giving his opinion on what the feds doing. He was on a few of the shows early in the case to say what prosecutors "would" be doing at various stages of the investigation.

Since a homicide occurred in Bridger-Teton National Park, it is by law within the jurisdiction of the Federal District of Wyoming. It will be investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming (and his staff).

 

[Bekind89]

Throttling/manual strangulation specifically means using hands iirc. What you are describing would likely be referred to as asphyxiation in general, not manual strangulation. MOO.

Yes, using the hands and sitting on the chest often occurs as well. Jmo