Netflix’s documentary about the murder of Gabby Petito leaves out some details that fans would have probably wanted to see.
Premiered on February 17 on the streamer, and jumped to number one in several countries in just a few days, American Murder: Gabby Petito looks into the killing of the #VanLife YouTuber.
In August 2021, Petito was killed by her fiancé Brian Laundrie as they were travelling together across the US on their van. After a search, Petito’s remains were found in September of the same year in the Grand Teton National Park.
Several weeks later, Laundrie, who had been named a person of interest in her murder, died by suicide in a Florida park, reportedly admitting to having murdered her in a note found by the FBI.
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The Netflix doc focus on the relationship between Petito and Laundrie, following the final weeks of their lives. As many have criticised the decision to have an AI-generated recreation of Petito’s voice reading her journal entries, the documentary has also attracted criticism for leaving out some details about the case.
According to Variety, the docuseries doesn’t feature Gabby’s family lawsuits against Utah’s Moab Police Department. Petito’s family alleged that the police officers who pulled Petito and Laundrie’s van didn’t do enough to protect their daughter. Police operated a traffic stop on the van after receiving a 911 call that reported Brian being physically violent towards Gabby.
Gabby insisted she didn’t want to be separated from Brian, and said she hit him first. Police treated the incident as a mental breakdown and not a case of domestic violence, and arranged for the couple to spend the night apart.
Petito’s family’s lawsuit was dismissed in November 2024 due to a state law prohibiting lawsuits against government agencies. The family have since appealed that decision and are now seeking to overturn the 1996 state precedent that currently limits wrongful death claims against Utah government departments.
“While the ruling today may feel like a setback, it was not unexpected,” they told the Associated Press after the case was dismissed, announcing they would appeal the decision to the Utah Supreme Court.
“We never anticipated that this would be an easy process and look forward to the Utah Supreme Court upholding the Utah constitution’s original intent to preserve the right to recover for wrongful death claims under these circumstances. We remain committed to pursuing justice for Gabby and thank the many people who have continued to support us in that fight.”
American Murder: Gabby Petito is streaming on Netflix.
Topics: Gabby Petito, Netflix, True Crime
Stefania Sarrubba