The
Cops
Gave
Brian
Laundrie
the
Benefit
of
the
Doubt

On
Aug.
12,
2021,
a
witness
called
911
to
report
he
had
seen
a
man
slapping
a
woman
on
the
side
of
the
road
in
Moab,
Utah,
after
which
they
drove
off
and
the
van
they
were
riding
in
hit
a
curb.

Body
cam
footage
from
the
Moab
City
Police’s
encounter
with
Brian
and
Gabby
that
day
was
aired
weeks
later
during
the
investigation
into
Gabby’s
fate.

But
it
remains
shocking
to
see
Gabby
basically
taking
responsibility
for
their
physical
altercation,
telling
officers
she
had
anxiety
and “really
bad
OCD”
and
Brian
really
stressed
her
out
but
had
been
trying
to
calm
her
down.

Brian
had
scratches
on
his
face
from
Gabby’s
phone,
he
said,
telling
police
he
was
trying
to
push
her
away
as
she
attempted
to
get
the
van
keys
from
him.

When
a
cop
asked
Gabby
how
she
got
bruises
on
her
face
and
arm,
she
kept
saying “I
don’t
know.”
But
she
had
been
yelling
at
him,
she
said,
and
told
police, “I
guess
I
hit
him
first.”

One
officer
told
another,
per
the
footage,
that “from
what
she’s
claiming,
she’s
the
full-on
aggressor
here.”

A
cop
then
escorted
Brian
to
a
hotel
known
in
the
area
as
a
refuge
for
victims
of
domestic
violence,
while
Gabby
was
given
the
keys
to
the
van
and
told
where,
an
officer
said,
she
could
get
a
cheap
hot
shower
to “decompress,
destress
a
little
bit.”

The
couple
were
ordered
to
refrain
from
contact,
including
texting,
until
the
next
day,
but
they
reunited
that
night
and
soon
were
headed
to
Salt
Lake
City.