BREAKING NEWS – Gabby Petito died by strangulation, coroner says

Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue held a Zoom press conference at 2.30pm on Tuesday Oct. 12 to discuss the ruling of Gabby Petito’s autopsy.

According to the Coroner:

  • Verdict – Death by strangulation and manner is homicide
  • No other information will be released on the autopsy due to Wyoming state laws.
  • Autopsy findings and photos will not be released
  • Now taking questions – these are the questions & answers:
    • Were you able to determine when she died?
      • Date of death: 3-4 weeks before the body was found.
    • When will her remains be released her family?
      • Remains have been released to the mortuary.
    • John Walsh comes on and asks: ‘Everybody in the world believes Brian Laundrie killed Gabby – will the FBI release a homicide warrant for Brian now that they know the cause of death?
      • Coroner says that would be up to the FBI
    • Can you comment on any other bruising on the body? Older bruises or cuts?
      • Coroner says due to state law he can only release the COD.
    • What were the condition of her remains?
      • Coroner says her body was outside for 3-4 weeks – he can’t say anything more specific than that.
    • John Walsh is back asking questions that the coroner can’t answer. He again asks “do you have any doubt Brian Laundrie killed her?”
      • Coroner again says he can’t answer that.
    • Was her body buried?
      • Coroner can’t say – they’re not allowed to release that info.
    • Was there any impact on her body from weather or wild animals?
      • Cant say specifically but again her body was outside for 3-4 weeks.
    • Was she murdered there or taken there?
      • He cant comment on that.
    • What were the results of her toxicology testing?
      • He cant comment
    • Was Gabby Petito pregnant?
      • She was not pregnant.
    • Can you tell us what tests you ran?
      • Whole body cat-scan, examination by forensic pathologist, examination by forensic anthropologist and toxicology – covered all the bases.
    • How did you come to conclusion that she was strangled?
      • He can’t comment on that
    • Was there any other COD that was a possibility?
      • They look at all possibilities but strangulation is the COD they determined.
    • Is there a date of death on the death certificate?
      • The death certificate is not finished but in Wyoming you’re allowed to have a range or estimate so there won’t be a specific date.
    • Can you clarify if it was manual strangulation or with an item?
      • He cannot
    • Was the examination all done at your lab or was her body shipped elsewhere?
      • Full examination was done there
    • Can you comment on what it was like doing your job with this being such a big case?
      • He said it’s been a big media circus but there are a lot of men and women who aren’t covered with this kind of media attention who die from domestic violence (not the full quote from him – but generally this is what he said).
    • Can you comment on the state of decomposition and if that hindered your investigation at all?
      • He cant comment on that.
    • Can you determine if this was an accidental homicide or deliberate?
      • That would be up do the FBI.

The Laundrie family attorney gave a statement:

Even though the coroner said he couldn’t clarify on the type of strangulation during the press conference, the official statement does say it was manual strangulation/ throttling.

The definition of ‘manual strangulation’ is “Manual strangulation, also known as throttling, is a type of asphyxial death where the perpetrator uses his hand to encircle and compress the front and side of the neck. It is a common method of homicide, most often encountered when the physical size and strength of the assailant exceeds that of the victim.”

You can read our previous blogs on Gabby’s case:

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