American Murder: Gabby Petito (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Hi, I'd like to report
a domestic dispute.
-Florida license plate, white van.
-What were they doing?
Uh, we drove by,
and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
He was slapping her?
Yeah, then they drove off.
Driver is showing
some obscure driving,
possibly intoxicated.
Currently doing 45 miles an hour.
Zone through here is 25. Oh!
Subjects just hit the curb.
Place your vehicle into park
and turn it off for me.
-Yeah.
-Turn off your engine.
Go ahead and set your keys
on the dash for me. All right?
What's your guys's names?
-Gabby.
-I'm Brian.
Gabby, Brian, okay.
What's going on? How come you're crying?
I'm just… Sorry.
We've just been fighting this morning.
Some personal issues.
It was a long day.
We were camping yesterday
and camping got… got flies and stuff.
I'm sorry… I'm sorry I hit the…
the bump there.
I was distracting him from driving.
I'm sorry.
Step out of the vehicle
for me, ma'am?
Yeah.
You wanna tell me
what's going on?
Some days I have really bad OCD.
-Okay.
-And just…
I was just cleaning and straightening up
the back of the van before,
and I was apologizing to him
and saying, "I'm sorry that I'm so mean."
"Sorry if I'm in a bad mood."
I've been really stressed.
I had so much work I was doing
on my computer this morning.
What do you do?
I just quit my job
to travel across the country,
and I'm trying to start a blog.
-Okay.
-So I've been building my website.
So I've been really stressed,
and he doesn't really believe
that I could do any of it.
And he wouldn't let me in the car before.
Why wouldn't he let you
in the car? Because of your OCD?
He told me
I needed to calm down, yeah.
But I'm perfectly calm.
I'm calm all the time.
Why don't we do this?
Why don't I sit you down
in the back seat of my car.
You're not in any trouble, okay.
I'm not gonna put handcuffs on you.
You obviously don't have any weapons.
I'm gonna get you
into the air conditioning.
Let you take a breath, relax a little bit.
Is there any way to get my phone
so I can call my mom?
I had called his sister.
She said, "Oh, Brian's home.
He left her at a hotel, and he flew back."
-Am I able to talk to your son?
-He's not gonna talk to you.
Kinda weirded out.
I don't know what's going on.
Hi, I'm calling,
I'm right on the corner of Main Street.
We're driving by,
and I'd like to report a domestic dispute.
Florida license plate, white van.
-Gentleman about 5'6", beard.
-Where's it at?
They just drove off.
They're going down Main Street.
What were they doing?
Uh, we drove by,
and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
He was slapping her?
Yes, and then we stopped.
They ran up and down the sidewalk.
He proceeded to hit her,
hopped in the car, and they drove off.
Okay.
You said it's a white van?
It was a smaller van.
The make was a Ford, model was Transit.
White Ford Transit.
All right, I will let somebody know.
Thank you.
Subjects just hit the curb.
-Hi.
-Sorry, officer.
You want to place your vehicle
into park and turn it off?
-Yeah.
-I'm sorry.
No, park?
-Oh, it is in park.
-Okay, turn off your engine.
Go ahead and set your keys
on the dash for me, all right?
Can I get you
to step out of the vehicle for me?
Yeah.
-I'm so sorry.
-Thank you. Oh no, you're fine.
I'm gonna go ahead
and close your door, okay?
Why don't you come over here?
Hey, we got a call
about a male hitting a female
and the two of them
getting in this vehicle and taking off.
Sorry, it… I… I… I…
I don't want to try and defend myself
but I pushed her away.
She gets really worked up,
and when she does, she swings.
She had her phone.
I was trying to push her away.
I don't know,
we've just been fighting all morning.
And he wouldn't let me in the car before…
Why wouldn't he let you
in the car? Because of your OCD?
He told me
I needed to calm down, yeah.
But I'm perfectly calm.
I'm calm all the time.
He really stresses me out,
and I just…
And this is a rough morning.
Well, why don't we do this?
Why don't I sit you down
in the back seat of my car.
-Okay.
-All right.
Just go ahead and take a seat.
Watch your feet.
Hi.
-Have you talked to my fiancé?
-What's that?
-Have you talked to Gabrielle already?
-Yeah, I just spoke to her.
-Okay.
-So, you want to do me a favor?
Let's go ahead and get you
to step out of the vehicle. Alrighty.
Come on over here.
You're not in any trouble right now.
So, tell me what's going on?
It…
She just gets worked up sometimes,
and I try and distance myself from her,
so, like, I locked the car
and I walked away from her.
What happened this morning
was that she's trying to start up
her own little website blog
and everything, so I give her time.
I mean, we really had a nice morning,
and if anything, but…
Tell me about those scratches
on your face.
She had a cell phone in her hand.
That's why I was pushing her away.
Because I…
She wanted…
I had the keys so I could walk away.
I said, "Let's just take a breather,
and let's not, you know, go anywhere."
"Calm down for a minute."
She was getting really worked up.
And then she had her phone
and was trying to get the keys from me.
I was just trying to…
I know I shouldn't push.
I was trying to push her away, to go,
"Let's take a minute,
step back and breathe."
And… she got me with her phone.
What's your name?
-Gabby.
-How old are you?
I'm 22.
-Did you get hit in the face?
-Um…
It kinda looks like something
hit you in the face.
-I don't--
-And over on your arm?
Your shoulder, right here?
That's… that's new, huh?
It's kind of a new mark.
Oh, yeah, I don't know.
Did he hit you though?
It's okay if you're saying you hit him.
I understand if he hit you,
but we want to know the truth
if he actually hit you.
-I guess I hit him first.
-'Cause, you know…
Where did he hit you?
Don't worry. Be honest.
He, like, grabbed my face,
like this.
I was just trying to keep her away
and not get hit,
and then I got really loud, and I didn't
pay attention to wherever I was going.
You know, "Back up, get away.
Just give me…"
Okay, so you said you pushed her,
to create some distance, obviously, right?
What happened after that?
What got the scratches on your eye?
So, has he been drinking?
No, we don't drink.
What was up with his driving?
This officer said he hit a curb.
I… I… I…
-While you were driving?
-Well…
While he was driving,
you were hitting him?
Well…
So you pushed her,
and she hit you?
She was…
It wasn't like a push
and she jumped on me.
She was… She was already…
She was already… I don't…
-Swinging. Multiple hands…
-Swinging…
Lot of hands, lot of nails, lot of rings.
Yeah. You got
three scratches on your neck.
You got one on the left side of your eye.
I was yelling at him,
and when you turned your lights on,
I kinda punched his arm like this,
and… Just an idiot.
She's saying why
he hit the curb.
Is it bruised or tender
or anything?
-No. I'm fine.
-Okay.
I love Gabby, and I hope she doesn't have
too many complaints about me.
You're the victim
of a domestic assault.
I feel bad.
You worried about her story?
Should I…
No, you can talk to her.
She seems like a really sweet girl.
Twenty-two or something,
has a lot of anxiety,
and from what she's claiming,
she's the full-on aggressor here.
That's kind of what he said.
You're kind of having a rough day,
it sounds like.
Yeah.
I mean, it happens to be
a beautiful day here in the park.
-Yeah.
-We camped in the Devils Garden.
Oh, that's fun.
-Beautiful campground, isn't it?
-Yeah.
Yeah.
Can I, um…
Is there any way to get my phone
so I can call my mom?
I can find out.
Give me just a minute.
I'm gonna close this.
Take a deep breath, okay?
Be right back with you.
How far do you want to go?
The reason they don't give us
discretion on these things
is because too many times,
women who are at risk
want to go back to their abuser,
and they get worse and worse treatment
and then end up getting killed.
In no way, shape, or form
that I can perceive
that this is gonna digress
into the situation
where he's gonna be a battered man.
-Right.
-Then again I don't have a crystal ball.
Everything she's saying tells me
that she is the primary aggressor.
I'm looking at a 110-pound female.
She's not a threat to him,
more than slight abrasions
from her fingernails.
I… I don't care if… if we use
the actual letter of the law
to not charge,
but I also don't care because it literally
does possibly make perfect sense
to go full-on domestic assault,
and do the whole thing.
Right.
So I would make
a decision yourself.
I'd rather be dinged for a decision I made
than a decision I didn't make.
An option is to not charge
If they find themselves together again,
what's it to you?
You separated them.
You provided for his safety.
Alrighty, Gabrielle.
He does have marks on him.
Normally, we take people to jail,
but he's trying to work it
so you can just have the van.
-Tomorrow…
-I don't want to be separated.
-Are you gonna have anxiety?
-Yeah. No, we're a team, please.
What was that?
No, like, we're a team, please.
It's gonna give me so much anxiety.
Do you tend to have
a lot of anxiety and stress?
Yeah, a lot of anxiety.
I'm not telling you
what to do,
but if you know you have anxiety,
look at the situations you can get in.
You know what I mean?
All right, Brian. A couple things.
-A couple things?
-Couple things.
One, I got you a hotel room for the night.
-Thank you. That's better than outside.
-All right.
Although I like the outside.
Catch your breath. You'll be
in a hotel room, watch some TV.
It's probably been a while since you sat,
relax in some air conditioning, watch TV.
When she's passing on her love,
saying good night, stuff like that,
all that ooey-gooey stuff
that I do to my wife too, okay?
-So…
-I appreciate it coming from you.
Just…
It was just a silly argument.
We were just going to get water.
A silly argument where it came
to putting hands on each other
and he's got marks.
Silly arguments shouldn't involve
hurting each other.
I know you didn't…
That wasn't the intention,
but silly arguments shouldn't go that far.
Just stand over here
in front of this pick-up real quick.
We'll get her out of here,
and I'll give you a ride to the hotel.
Don't text each other tonight.
He wants to pass on
the same message you passed to him.
He's looking forward to talking to you,
but I told him, and you,
unless there's
earth-shattering emergency news,
don't text tonight, okay,
even with "Good night, I love you."
He's saying good night, he loves you,
and you can talk tomorrow morning, okay?
He's gonna go to the hotel.
I'm gonna give you the keys to the van.
And then you get to go home.
-Okay.
-Alrighty?
Also, something I want you to know.
Here, stand over here real fast for me.
If you go over to City Market,
they have a list of places
where you can get yourself a shower
for like four or five bucks,
something like that, pretty cheap.
A place where you can shower,
decompress, destress a little bit.
Alrighty? Um…
Yeah, I just showered yesterday
at one of those.
Well, you didn't have
today happen yesterday, so…
-No, but…
-It does my wife wonders.
When she gets stressed out,
it's like, "Get in the shower."
-That does sound really relaxing.
-Go take a shower, relax.
Take some time to yourself.
Don't text each other tonight.
Text each other tomorrow
after you're fully awake.
Have your coffee,
your morning routine, okay?
Right, we're done here. Have a good night.
Thank you.
-Do you listen to Rob Zombie?
-What?
Do you listen to Rob Zombie?
You like it?
Do you get to play
your own personal music in here?
Heck yeah, dude, I got
my own phone hooked up to this thing.
-You just jamming all day.
-Yeah.
I wanna make sure
you have room to get out.
-I'm okay. Thank you so much.
-Okay.
Yeah, you're welcome. Have a good one.
She seems a lot like my wife.
My wife has really, really,
bad, bad anxiety,
and she takes medication for it daily.
And sometimes it's just not enough.
And things that really works for my wife
is when she gets stressed out
to go take a long, hot shower,
so I gave her a place to go
where she can shower tonight
for four or five bucks, really cheap.
Awesome!
We're gonna come in here
and talk to Tyson for a minute.
-Tyson?
-Yeah?
This is Brian Laundrie.
All right.
He'll get you set up
with your hotel room.
-All right.
-Alrighty.
And like I said,
just remember my requests.
I think it'll make a big difference
in your guys's next couple weeks.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much, for everything.
-No problem. Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.
Have a good one.