What kind of man is Brian Laundrie?

How his words give him away

In the ongoing case of Gabby Petito, there are two schools of thought from those that have watched the video of them being asked about domestic violence by the police. Some see Brian Laundrie, her fiancé, as the victim and many others who see him as a controlling and dangerous presence in her life.

If we look at the words he says in part of the video, what can we learn. Look at this passage:

Officer Robbins: What was the disagreement about?

Brian Laundrie:

It was, I wouldn’t even call it a disagreement. It was just, I’m dirty and I can’t change being dirty. I’ve got dirty feet and I’ve got sand in my [inaudible] and stuff like that. It was, we were at the coffee shop for so long [inaudible] so I guess there’s a few little things, little relationship [inaudible].

Officer Robbins I’ve been married for over five years now, so…

Brian Laundrie:  There’s a lot of little things…

Officer Robbins: I get it.

Brian Laundrie: We really weren’t physical before the point where I said, “All right, let’s let’s just take a breather” and walk away for a minute and I’ll lock the van up and I’ll go this way and you can go walk around the block. [inaudible], a nice area. You can go either way. It’s all shady, so I said, “Let just go for a little walk and breather, and come back. I’m not upset with her, but she got all worked up and she had a phone in her hand and keys in her hand, and her rings. And I was looking for the keys. I didn’t want her to go anywhere. And I figures, I don’t have my phone. I don’t really, I don’t have a phone. She goes off without me. I’m on my own. So I was saying, “Let’s just go for a walk.” And she was trying to get the keys. So I just, just back up, and that’s when she hit me. I did. I don’t want to push you.I didn’t get overtly physical. I’m just trying to keep her away. And then I got really loud and [inaudible] tension. I was going, “Back up, get away, just give me…”

(taken from https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/gabby-petito-brain-laundrie-utah-bodycam-footage-transcript-before-disappearance))

Let’s break it down:

“It was, I wouldn’t even call it a disagreement. It was just, I’m dirty and I can’t change being dirty. I’ve got dirty feet and I’ve got sand in my [inaudible ] and stuff like that. It was, we were at the coffee shop for so long [inaudible], so I guess there’s a few little things, little relationship [inaudible].

In this first response the first thing I notice is he doesn’t answer the question. He disagrees with the wording of the question, then gives some statements but a disagreement is when two people have differing views or opinions. He does not say what the disagreement is about or even if it’s not a disagreement what it is.

“It was just I’m dirty”. This is the first of many attempts by Brian to minimise what has happened. There will be plenty more use of the word “just” as he attempts to make sure that he portrays what has happened as small and trivial.

“I can’t change being dirty”. Yes you can, you can wash and you can groom and take care not to get dirt places. Is he saying here “I don’t want to be clean”? “I don’t think it’s important I’m clean”?

“It was, we were at the coffee shop for so long”. This almost sounds like he was going to say something else “It was… we were” 

“For so long” Being at the coffee shop doesn’t seem to be the point of contention in this story but “so long”? Brian has labelled it as a long time so was it contentious to him?

“so I guess there’s a few little things, little relationship”

Repeated words mean a lot and he uses little twice here - this suggests he thinks they are little things, maybe she doesn’t. Whatever the truth he certainly is at pains to make it seem small and unimportant.

Officer Robbins: I’ve been married for over five years now, so…

Brian Laundrie There’s a lot of little things…

I’m seeing a lot of minimising language - little, little, little, just - he is expressing all of these from his point of view not Gabby’s - so while he has said he thinks they are little things we can’t assume both of them thought that.We’re a few lines in and learned so much about Brian. He appears stubborn, he is desperate to minimise what went on between him and Gabby. He really didn’t like being so long in the coffee shop.

There’s worse to come. The second part reveals what really want on when they left the coffee shop and it isn’t pretty.

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