Nashville — Gabby Pettit’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, shocked a packed audience on Friday when she said she had forgiven her daughter’s boyfriend, accused murderer Brian Landry.
“Brian, I’m here to speak for myself. I forgive you,” she said. “I needed to free myself from the chains of anger and resentment. I won’t let your vile act define the rest of my life.”
But she took out her anger on Landry’s mother, Roberta.
“You don’t deserve to be forgiven,” she said. “You deserve to be forgotten.”
Gabby Pettit’s parents settle Florida lawsuit with Landry family and attorney Steve Bertolino
Nicole Schmidt spoke during a panel session at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
Schmidt, who never got to confront her daughter’s killer in court because she fled into a swamp and committed suicide after police launched a missing persons investigation, read a victim impact statement to the audience at CrimeCon 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.
“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.”
Roberta Landry unlocks her car in the driveway of her home in North Port, Florida, on Oct. 11, 2023. The parents of Brian Landry, the late Gabby Pettit’s alleged killer, are appearing for a deposition ahead of a civil lawsuit filed by Pettit’s family. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Roberta Landry testified in the civil lawsuit in the same car she used to sneak away and not cooperate with police the night her son shot himself. Pettit’s body wasn’t found until days later.
Landry’s parents acknowledged in their testimony that they had concerns about Pettit’s health after speaking with him irregularly by phone shortly after his murder.
Pettit’s parents alleged that the Landries knew about the murder and tried to cover it up and help their son avoid justice.
The parties settled the lawsuit earlier this year.
Brian Landry’s parents acknowledged they were concerned about Gabby Pettit’s welfare when she called them days after the murder.
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)
Schmidt also mourned her daughter, who she described as a talented artist, a tenacious free spirit and a “bright light” who was lost too soon.
“My plea to you all is to live by these simple words, spoken directly by Gabby: ‘Be a better person,'” she concluded.
Among the speakers was Gaby’s stepmother, Tara Petitot, who slammed Landry’s actions following the murder.
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Tara Petito will read a victim impact statement from her stepdaughter’s suspected killer, Brian Landry, who never had a chance to testify in court because he refused justice and took his own life. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
He had driven home from Wyoming, where he’d dumped Pettit’s body, to go camping with his parents, his sister and her children and eat s’mores around the campfire while the victim’s family frantically tried to figure out what had happened and where she was.
“Only someone with truly evil in their heart would do something like that,” she said.
Landry’s parents denied knowing about the crime but had sent a $25,000 retainer to a top Wyoming lawyer.
He was the only suspect in Pettit’s murder when his son’s body was discovered in a park near their home in October 2021. The FBI also found a handwritten confession stored in a waterproof bag.
Brian Landry hires Wyoming lawyer who represented Bin Laden’s bodyguards at Guantanamo
Chris and Roberta Landry were at Myackahatchee Creek Ecological Park the morning police found their son’s skeletal remains. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
Pettit’s disappearance in late summer 2021 attracted international attention after he and Landry documented a road trip across the United States on social media, touring national parks.
Her posts stopped shortly after a domestic violence incident in Utah in which police were called but no one was arrested.
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.
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)
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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.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 (SAFE).
