Brian Laundrie, who strangled girlfriend Gabby Petitio to death in a case that gripped the nation, admitted to killing Petito in a disturbing diary entry, Fox News exclusively reported.
“I loved you more than anything,” the entry reads, according to photos published by Fox News. Laundrie’s diary was found by the FBI in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Oct. 20, 2021. “I can’t bear to look at our photos, to recall great times because it is why I cannot go on. When I close my eyes I will think of laying on the roof of the van, falling asleep to the sight of a meteor shower at the Crystal Geyser. I will always love you.”
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This is Brian Laundrie’s notebook confession where he admits he ended Gabby’s life. pic.twitter.com/f3iyTutWpo— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) June 24, 2022
Laundrie then wrote that the couple were on their way back to the car when he heard a “splash and a scream” and found Petito “breathing heavily gasping my name,” according to the diary.
Laundrie claimed he tried to carry Petito back to the car but when he couldn’t go on any longer he made a fire and cuddled Petito close to the fire to keep her warm, claiming she was “soaking” wet, according to the diary.
Laundrie said Petito had a “small bump on her forehead” and she was “freezing, shaking violently” but in excruciating pain, Fox News reported.
“I ended her life,” the entry reads, according to Fox News. “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.”
“From the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her,” the entry continued, with Laundrie claiming he killed Petito after she fell in Wyoming.
“Please do not make life harder for my family,” the diary reads, according to Fox News. “They lost a son and a daughter. The most wonderful girl in the world. Gabby I’m sorry.”
Authorities determined Petito died of strangulation roughly three to four weeks before her body was found in Grand Teton National Park. Her death has been classified as a homicide.
Petito was last seen Aug. 24 after she and Laundrie checked out of a Salt Lake City hotel. The couple had embarked on a cross-country trip in July but Laundrie returned home to his parents’ house in Florida on Sept. 1 alone. Petito was reported missing by her mother on Sept. 11 after the family said they hadn’t heard from her. (RELATED: Officer Who Stopped Gabby Petito ‘Desperately F***ed Over’ By Her Death)
Bodycam footage from an Aug. 12 interaction between Petito and Laundrie showed an emotionally distraught Petito and relatively calm Laundrie. Authorities were called after a passerby saw Laundrie slapping Petito on the side of the road.
Laundrie went missing in September after his parents reported he had been unaccounted for several days after failing to return home from a hike. Authorities issued an arrest warrant within days of his disappearance. His body was later found in October. A lawyer for the Laundrie family said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.