Steven Bertolino: Latest News

VENICE, Fla. - A Sarasota County judge has decided to move forward with the lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents, which claims they knew their son murdered Gabby Petito as authorities were searching for her.Thursday, Judge Hunter Carroll denied a motion to dismiss the case, filed by the Laundries' attorney. The decision comes one week after the first hearing in the civil lawsuit filed by Petito's parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito.

VENICE, Fla. - The family of Gabby Petito, the young woman who is suspected of having been murdered last year by her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, will be in Florida court on Wednesday, when a judge will hear arguments from both sides over whether their lawsuit should go to a jury trial. The Petito-Schmidt families and their attorney will appear before Judge Hunter W. Carroll in a Sarasota County Circuit Court for the 1:30 p.m.

NORTH PORT, Fla. - Lawyers representing the family of deceased Gabby Petito in their civil lawsuit against the family of deceased Brian Laundrie have released a list of witnesses they expect to testify in the case.While the initial witness list is procedural and not indicative of which witnesses will formally testify in the event of a trial, it does highlight the general direction in which claimants plan to take the case. The initial list includes Petito's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt; her stepparents, Tara Petito and James Schmidt; Brian Laundrie's parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie; FBI representatives; and North Port Police Department representatives.Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino described the expected witness list as a "wish list" told Fox News Digital that it is "not likely" the Laundries would testify.GABBY PETITO UPDATE: PARENTS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST LAUNDRIE FAMILYThe Petito family filed the lawsuit in March, alleging that Chris and Roberta Laundrie were aware that their son killed their daughter and attempted to help him flee justice while remaining silent about the pair's respective August 2021 and September 2021 disappearances.Petito and Laundrie were traveling cross-country over the summer in Petito's van before her parents reported her missing on Sept. 11.

NORTH PORT, Fla. - Nichole Schmidt, the mother of deceased Gabby Petito, on Friday filed a new wrongful death lawsuit in Florida against the curator of the estate of deceased Brian Laundrie. The lawsuit, which seeks wrongful death damages of $30 million, states that Laundrie intentionally killed Petito, and as a direct result of his conduct, Schmdit and Joseph Petito, Gabby Petito's father, "incurred funeral and burial expenses, and they have suffered a loss of care and comfort, and suffered a loss of probable future companionship, society and comfort."The complaint also demands a trial by jury and judgment for compensatory damages. RELATED: Gabby Petito family's lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents will head to jury trial in 2023, courts sayThe curator of Laundrie's estate, Barry Spivey, told Fox News Digital that one of his primary functions as a limited curator "is to accept service of a summons on that lawsuit," but he has "absolutely no responsibility to respond to it.""They needed somebody to accept service of process, but once that's done, I'm done with it," he said of the complaint.RELATED: New court filing says Brian Laundrie's parents knew Gabby was dead before family trip to Fort DeSotoThe new lawsuit comes after Schmidt and Petito filed a civil lawsuit in Florida alleging that Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, were aware that their son killed their daughter and attempted to help him flee justice.

Steven Bertolino filed a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit from the parents and stepparents of slain travel blogger Gabby Petito Wednesday.Bertolino filed his 20-page motion on Wednesday asking a Florida judge to drop the lawsuit with prejudice, arguing that there are no facts to support their claims of "intentional infliction of emotional distress." He further asked that the judge prevent the Petito-Schmidt families from filing an amended lawsuit should his dismissal request be granted. Clients Chris and Roberta Laundrie were exercising their constitutional right to remain silent, Bertolino wrote. "The gravamen of the claimed wrongdoing is that the Laundries exercised their constitutional rights and essentially made no statements to Plaintiffs or law enforcement," the motion states.

Brian Laundrie, seen in Aug. 12 Moab police bodycam video NORTH PORT, Fla. - One month after Brian Laundrie's remains were found at a Florida preserve, his parents have learned his cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the family's attorney.According to Steven Bertolino, the manner of death was suicide."Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families," the attorney said in a statement to FOX 13.Last month, the attorney for Laundrie's parents said an autopsy on their son's remains, which were described as "bones" by North Port police, did not reveal a cause or manner of his death.

NORTH PORT, Fla. - A forensic anthropologist analyzing Brian Laundrie's remains will likely have some answers regarding the deceased fugitive's manner, cause and time of death in two to three weeks, according to Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino.The Florida District 12 Medical Examiner conducted an initial autopsy after authorities recovered Laundrie's remains on Oct. 20, but results came back inconclusive.

TAMPA, Fla. - The attorney for Brian Laundrie's parents says an autopsy on their son's remains, which were described as "bones" by North Port police, did not reveal a cause or manner of his death. Laundrie's autopsy was completed Friday and his remains will be sent to an anthropologist for further examination, according to reporting from FOX 5's Jodi Goldberg.The Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino, said they were hoping for more answers from law enforcement regarding the cause of death for Brian, who was a person of interest in the death of fiancée Gabby Petito while the couple was on a cross-country road trip.The manhunt for Brian ended Thursday when skeletal remains, found the day before at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park

NORTH PORT, Fla. - Now that human remains have been found alongside Brian Laundrie's backpack and notebook in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, attention is shifting to his parents' actions following Gabby Petito's homicide and their son's subsequent disappearance. Chris and Roberta Laundrie left their North Port home early Wednesday to search in Myakkahatchee, which sits alongside the T. Mabry Carlton Jr.

NORTH PORT, Fla. - The "probability is high" that human remains found this week at a Florida park are that of Brian Laundrie, the only person of interest in the Gabby Petito case who has been missing himself since last month, according to the Laundrie family attorney.Potential human remains were found Wednesday at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in North Port, Florida, along with a backpack and a notebook linked to Laundrie. Authorities said at a news conference that it will take time to identify the remains, which forensic teams were examining. But Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino confirmed to FOX News Digital he believes the "probability is high" that the remains found belong to Brian.

NORTH PORT, Fla. - The last time Brian Laundrie was seen was back on Sept. 13, according to his parents, authorities say.

NORTH PORT, Fla. - The timeline of Brian Laundrie's whereabouts since he returned to Florida in his fiancee's van on September 1 continues to evolve as the family's lawyer confirms new details about the day he disappeared from his parents' North Port home.According to a statement from attorney Steven Bertolino, Brian Laundrie left the home of his parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, in his silver Ford Mustang on Monday, Sept. 13 – not Tuesday, Sept.

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. - The attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie announced that he will hold a press conference Tuesday related to the disappearance of his girlfriend, 22-year-old Gabby Petito, hours after FBI agents and police executed a search warrant at the family’s Florida home.Steven Bertolino, the attorney for the Laundrie family, said he will speak on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET in Long Island, New York. FBI agents swarmed the family’s home on Monday morning in North Port, Florida, spending hours at the residence while Laundrie’s parents were temporarily placed in an unmarked van.

RELATED: Gabby Petito case: Timeline of 22-year-old woman's disappearance"You can give them a lot of information to help," she said. "You can give information to law enforcement to help find this girl, assuming there's no foul play."But foul play or not, his lawyer’s job is to tell the police to "go pound sand," she added."Basically, he got a lawyer before law enforcement got him…and the lawyer is not going to make it easier for law enforcement to build a case against him," she said.