Nashville – Gabby Pettit’s mother and stepmother dressed Brian Landry’s mother in matching T-shirts over the weekend in hopes of raising money for domestic violence victims and missing persons awareness.
The fiery message criticizes a so-called “burn-to-read” letter in which Roberta Landry vowed to rescue her son with a shovel and garbage bags.
Nicole Schmidt and Tara Petitot participated in a panel at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday to deliver victim impact statements that they were not given the chance to read in court after Brian Landry became a fugitive from justice and committed suicide in a swamp.
Schmidt shocked audiences by forgiving his daughter’s killer, but then immediately lashing out at the killer’s mother.
Gabby Pettit’s mother survives murderer Brian Landry, slams ‘evil’ Roberta: ‘You deserve to be forgotten’
Gabby Pettit’s mother, Nicole Schmidt (left), and stepmother, Tara Pettit (right), wear T-shirts that read “Read It, Burn It,” a subtle criticism of Roberta Landry, whose son murdered their daughter. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
“Brian, I’m here to speak for myself: I forgive you,” Schmidt said. “I needed to free myself from the chains of anger and resentment, and I refuse to let your despicable actions define the rest of my life.”
Then she turned to his mother.
“As for you, Roberta, I condemn you personally because you are the mastermind behind the clearly evil destruction of your family and mine. I see no empathy in your eyes,” Schmidt said. “I see no remorse in your heart and no willingness to take responsibility for your actions.”
Tara Petitot also wore the same shirt while speaking, and the family is selling limited edition T-shirts. Gabby Pettit Foundation A website has been launched to raise funds to end domestic violence.
Gabby Pettit’s parents settle Florida lawsuit with Landry family and attorney Steve Bertolino
Gabby Pettit, 22, from Long Island, New York, was reported missing by her family after returning home alone after a cross-country road trip with her fiance in early July 2021. (Steve Pettit)
The two mothers wore matching T-shirts, mocking Roberta Landry, the writer of the infamous letter that penned the phrase.
Gabby Pettit and Brian Landry had planned to embark on a cross-country tour of national parks in 2021 and document their adventure on social media.
Petito stopped posting on Instagram in late August.
Landry returned home early and drove the van without her from Wyoming to Florida, parking it in her parents’ driveway on September 1.
Brian Landry’s parents acknowledged they were concerned about Gabby Pettit’s welfare when she called them days after the murder.
Flowers are placed at a memorial bench for Gabby Pettit in Florida, near where a makeshift memorial stood for months while police frantically searched for Pettit and then Brian Landry. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
His family, including his parents, his sister and their children, were camping at Fort De Soto Park south of St. Petersburg.
The letter surfaced as part of a civil lawsuit between the Pettit and Landry families, in which Pettit and Schmidt’s sides have accused Chris and Roberta Landry of hiding information about the murder and trying to help their son avoid justice. The parties settled out of court earlier this year.
Roberta Landry stands in a clearing at Myackahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Oct. 20, 2021, just yards from where police found her son’s skeletal remains that morning. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
“I just want you to remember that you will always love me. You are my son. Nothing can stop me from loving you and nothing can ever tear us apart, no matter what we do, where we go, or what we say. We will always love each other. If you are in jail, I will bake you a cake and put your papers inside. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags,” Roberta Landry wrote in the letter. “If you fly to the moon, I will be watching from the sky for you to come back. If you tell me you hate me with all your heart, I will find new courage. Remember that love is a verb, not a noun. Love is not a thing or a word. It is an action. To know if a person loves you, look at their actions, not their words.”
Follow the FOX True Crime Team on X
Landry’s maintains that the letter was written months before the murder and has nothing to do with Pettit’s death.
Brian Landry is seen in police body camera footage released by Moab, Utah police during a domestic violence investigation. Police separated the pair overnight, but just two weeks later, Landry is believed to have strangled his then-girlfriend, Gabby Pettit, to death at a remote Wyoming campsite. (Moab Police Department)
“The letter to Brian was written before Gabby and Brian left my home and embarked on their trip,” Roberta Landry told Fox News Digital in 2023, one of her only public statements during the saga.
He was the only suspect in Pettit’s murder when Landry’s body was discovered in a park near his home in October 2021. The FBI also found a handwritten confession stored in a waterproof bag.
Pettit’s disappearance in late summer 2021 attracted international attention after he and Landry documented a cross-country road trip they took, touring national parks, on social media.
Her posts stopped shortly after a domestic violence incident in Utah in which police were called but no one was arrested.
Chris and Roberta Landry were at Myackahatchee Creek Ecological Park the morning police found their son’s skeletal remains. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
Gaby Petito affair: Brian Landry’s mother promised son a shovel, garbage bags and prison cake in love letters
Pettit’s family founded the Gabby Pettit Foundation in her honor, a charity that fights domestic violence and supports missing people across the country.
Gabby Pettit was reported missing in September 2021, about two weeks after her ex-fiancé, Brian Landry, apparently killed her and dumped her body at a campsite in Wyoming. Landry later took his own life at a Florida sanctuary and left a confession. (@petitojoseph/Instagram)
Click here to get the FOX News app
They have lobbied for federal legislation, some of which became law with bipartisan support last year, as well as lethality assessment laws in Florida, Utah and New York.
Foundation Last year, he donated $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Click here for more true crime news from FOX News Digital
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 (SAFE).
