Gabby Petito's Emotional Letters to Brian Laundrie Serve as a 'Confirmatory Piece of Evidence' of Their 'Toxic' Relationship, Expert Claims

Private letters written by late murder victim Gabby Petito hinted at then-fiance Brian Laundrie's allegedly "manipulative" nature, according to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Ziv Cohen.

An excerpt of one of the letters — which was recently released by the FBI alongside other evidence in the high-profile case — read: "Brian, You know how much I love you, so (and I’m writing this with love) just please stop crying and stop calling me names because we are a team and I’m here with you. I'm always going to have your back."

"So just try to understand, yes, I can be a child sometimes, I know," she continued. "But it's cause you give me this energy and I just love you too much. Like so much it hurts. So you in pain is killing me."

A second letter repeated the details of Laundrie sobbing and the intensity of her love for him.

"I hope you understand that when I am upset it’s cause I love you too much," the slain TikToker penned at the time. "Now stop crying!!!"

Cohen read over the messages and noted he didn't think there was "anything in these letters that is a smoking gun" to outright prove the romance was abusive, but said they showed signs of a "toxic relationship."

"Obviously, we have much stronger evidence like when the police stopped them for a bonafide domestic violence incident," Cohen added, referring to when Moab police received calls about a man "slapping his girlfriend," and later spoke with both Laundrie and Petito. "But this seems like a confirmatory piece of evidence."

The psychiatrist also pointed out that the letter proved she was struggling with working out how to properly communicate her emotions with her fiancé.

"It's the kind of thing we encourage in therapy," Cohen explained. "Sometimes, when you can't put things into words directly to the person, we encourage them to write it down. Sadly, we'll never know exactly what was going on in this relationship."

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As OK! previously reported, Petito went missing in August 2021 while on a road trip with Laundrie. Her body was later discovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest on September 21, 2021.

After returning home without his fiancée, Laundrie went on the run, leading to a weeks-long manhunt. He eventually took his own life and his secrets likely would have gone with him to the grave if he hadn't confessed to killing Petito in his journal.

Cohen spoke with People about Petito's letters.