Gabby Petito

[LSUmiss]

I think if she was deceased, if my son told me it was a horrible accident after the parents told us she was missing, and the lawyer said to say nothing, I’d listen to the lawyer. As a mother of sons and daughters, I can mentally insert myself on either side. I’d do anything to protect my son, and I’d be ready to strangle them if it was my daughter.

This is what I have been trying to say exactly. I wonder if many of the ppl who have such strong opinions have daughters or no children at all. I also am not saying this is the right thing to do. I’m just saying I get it.

 

[JimMIA]

Verification in the deer cam dude was not Brian.

https://www.fox13news.com/news/hike...s-not-brian-laundrie-florida-deputies-confirm

Yeah, that's the good thing about living in a very small town. Several deputies recognized the person in the video, located him, and confirmed that he was the hiker.

 

[LSUmiss]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I am listening to the "In Your Own Backyard" podcast and it is PHENOMINAL. It's about a college freshman who goes missing and is allegedly killed on her way home from a party. The case has been open now since 1996 and may well never be fully solved, as the only one who really knows what happened is Paul Flores, the guy who PROBABLY killed her. The guy who produced the podcast did so primarily so the case would not be closed. It is maddening to hear the details he has revealed.

Here's the thing though;
This case may very well never be resolved because they cannot make Paul Flores talk - 5th Amendment, done. Same goes for Brian. Unless there is a whole lot of physical evidence we haven't been told about, he's the only one that knows. There are no other witnesses. Assuming he is alive, you can't make him talk.

It's maddening, but that's the system we have.

Which is probably exactly why Brian’s lawyer advised them not to talk.

 

[JimMIA]

Here's the thing though;
This case may very well never be resolved because they cannot make Paul Flores talk - 5th Amendment, done. Same goes for Brian. Unless there is a whole lot of physical evidence we haven't been told about, he's the only one that knows. There are no other witnesses. Assuming he is alive, you can't make him talk.

It's maddening, but that's the system we have.

Confessions are seldom important in murder trials. In fact, they are often recanted. More importantly, they just tell us what we already know from the physical evidence.

Where they are very important in murder cases is locating bodies, weapons used, etc. Locating the bodies is critical to closure for the families, and both come back to haunt the killer when they try to recant their confession in court. But they are icing on the cake.

 

[mom2rtk]

This is what I have been trying to say exactly. I wonder if many of the ppl who have such strong opinions have daughters or no children at all. I also am not saying this is the right thing to do. I’m just saying I get it.

I have strong feelings and I have 2 sons and a daughter.

 

[GreatLakes]

I can say with full confidence that my only thought would be protecting my child. The other person, their family, the public, and no one else would matter.

I'd give my son the exact same advice it appears was given here. Whether you know something, did something, or not clam up and don't say a word. Being innocent and trying to help could come back to bite you.

I wouldn't, however, wait days to report my son missing if I felt he was in danger. Unless they were giving him time to escape that seems odd.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just a reminder John Walsh is supposed to be featuring this story on "In Pursuit" tonight in ID.

 

[AndreaA]

I can say with full confidence that my only thought would be protecting my child. The other person, their family, the public, and no one else would matter.

I'd give my son the exact same advice it appears was given here. Whether you know something, did something, or not clam up and don't say a word. Being innocent and trying to help could come back to bite you.

I wouldn't, however, wait days to report my son missing if I felt he was in danger. Unless they were giving him time to escape that seems odd.

Would you help your kid escape if you thought he was guilty?

 

[AndreaA]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I am listening to the "In Your Own Backyard" podcast and it is PHENOMINAL. It's about a college freshman who goes missing and is allegedly killed on her way home from a party. The case has been open now since 1996 and may well never be fully solved, as the only one who really knows what happened is Paul Flores, the guy who PROBABLY killed her. The guy who produced the podcast did so primarily so the case would not be closed. It is maddening to hear the details he has revealed.

Here's the thing though;
This case may very well never be resolved because they cannot make Paul Flores talk - 5th Amendment, done. Same goes for Brian. Unless there is a whole lot of physical evidence we haven't been told about, he's the only one that knows. There are no other witnesses. Assuming he is alive, you can't make him talk.

It's maddening, but that's the system we have.

Interestingly, Flores is going to trial, as announced today:
https://www.latimes.com/california/...-to-stand-trial-in-1996-kristin-smart-killing

 

[Lumpy1106]

Did Flores run?

No, but he did invoke the 5th. Just TODAY, a judge ruled that he and his Dad will have to testify - I think it's a Civil trial now? Not a lawyer - rules are different Civil vs. criminal. BTW - he most likely hid the body on either his Mother or Father's property. They are separated but both have maintained ownership of each property so it cannot be searched more than it already has. If they sold it the new owners could dig it all up - so they are making sure that doesn't happen...allegedly. The only reason this case is still active at all is because of the podcast.

Point is, things like this favor the defendant, not the victims - they just do.

 

[GreatLakes]

Would you help your kid escape if you thought he was guilty?

I don't know. I'm not convinced without way more means than I have it would do anything more than delay the inevitable but if I had enough money to send him somewhere without extradition I might.

Of course we're also hopefully raising him not to ever put himself or us in that situation.

 

[JimMIA]

Would you help your kid escape if you thought he was guilty?

I don't think any of us would really know unless we were put in that horrible situation.

Obviously we all love our kids. Equally obviously, we also have morals and standards for our personal conduct. Those of us who have kids would probably also be in the "I can't imagine what it's like for that victim's family." It's the ultimate horror for a mom or dad. But we love our kids.

I think we'd all be very conflicted and can't honestly say what we would do. I know I can't.

 

[Dentam]

I don't know. I'm not convinced without way more means than I have it would do anything more than delay the inevitable but if I had enough money to send him somewhere without extradition I might.

Seriously? This is kind of mind boggling to me. But then I don't have kids... just feel like my own sense of right and wrong would outweigh everything else.

 

[NotUrsula]

It was mentioned in the article that I linked further up the thread, but the most famous case of a parent protecting a child who was a prime suspect (with a lot of physical evidence linking him to a premeditated murder), was the Sheinbein case in the mid-1990's. In that case, the high school student (age 17) actually advertised, by word of mouth, that he was looking for someone to kill, and would reward the person who brought him a victim. The killing was horrific, and they tried to frame a 3rd classmate for it and got caught when that failed. The boy's father, a patent attorney who was a childhood emigrant from Israel, heard that the police were seeking to arrest his son for the murder, so he met the boy in hiding, brought him a passport and money, and drove him to JFK to catch a flight. At the time, Israel did not extradite Israeli citizens to other countries. The whole thing wound up becoming an international incident, and is now shorthand for nightmare extradition situations. In a compromise, the son was tried for the crime in Israel, convicted and imprisoned there; he later died in an escape attempt in which he shot several guards. The father, who was disbarred for his actions, now lives in Israel; he cannot return to the US because there are still outstanding obstruction of justice charges here. The kid's siblings ended up changing their names; one now lives in Israel, the other is in the US. (I summarized & glossed over a lot; google Samuel Sheinbein if you want to read the entire story.)

One of the interesting things I notice about these cases is that when they begin with a big press bonanza over a missing person they tend to be forever known to the public by the name of a female victim, while cases that don't have that factor, even if there were multiple victims, almost always become known by the name of the convicted (or assumed) perpetrator. There are exceptions, of course, but that's the pattern. Why does the public so often canonize these particular victims but not the ones that are found right away?

 

[JimMIA]

Seriously? This is kind of mind boggling to me. But then I don't have kids... just feel like my own sense of right and wrong would outweigh everything else.

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, my Dad told me, "You don't know what love is...until you have a child."

He was right.

 

[Dentam]

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, my Dad told me, "You don't know what love is...until you have a child."

He was right.

I guess... hard to imagine putting aside morals and integrity for it though. I would definitely be horrified if I produced a kid like the one in the story above! That's a sociopath. And to aid that person in escaping to somewhere where he will no doubt repeat those kinds of horrific crimes? Nope, that's a big nope for me.

 

[MamaMermaid]

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, my Dad told me, "You don't know what love is...until you have a child."

He was right.

I agree with this. I don’t know what I’d do if my son was in Brian’s situation. But I certainly hope I wouldn’t encourage him to run away (if that’s what happened).

 

[mom2rtk]

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, my Dad told me, "You don't know what love is...until you have a child."

He was right.

I don't think one's willingness to help a child who had committed a murder to escape is connected to the depth of their love.

I assume at least that his parents know exactly what happened. My answer might be different if I was convinced of their innocence. But encouraging them to run could also be signing their death warrant (especially if running into the FL swamp. Or if you child has mental health issues that might make them prone to take their own life out on the run.

 

[Carol_]

If he had/has a mental illness, his parents are more likely to also have mental illness. I wouldn’t expect “normal” behavior.

 

[JimMIA]

I guess... hard to imagine putting aside morals and integrity for it though. I would definitely be horrified if I produced a kid like the one in the story above! That's a sociopath. And to aid that person in escaping to somewhere where he will no doubt repeat those kinds of horrific crimes? Nope, that's a big nope for me.

Have you ever had a long conversation with a sociopath? I have, but I don't know if Brian Laundrie is a sociopath or not. I don't see anything in this case so far that makes me think of him as a sociopath. True sociopaths are a special breed.