Whether Moab LE had arrested GP based on what she told them she did to BL or arrested BL based on what LE guessed he may have done to GP, the separation very likely would have been for that one night. Whoever was arrested would have been released the next day per multiple legal sources in Utah who went on the record at the time this was breaking news. These days, people just don't stay in jail for very long post-arrest.
It's not clear to me how an arrest would have affected the eventual outcome and prevented GP's death weeks later. (And the lawsuit IS for wrongful death.) Further, it's certainly not clear a separation that night due to an arrest would have had a preventative effect in a way the "mental health" separation LE arranged could not. (Although we now know the mental health separation the couple agreed to may not have been honored by the couple for the full night. While they preferred it to GP being arrested (as she claimed to be the aggressor) both seemed to prefer no separation at all. (No surprise.)
We know the female park ranger
claims she tried to "talk sense" into GP during the road stop. We know GP's best friend in Florida, RD, didn't like BL, we know the years-long relationship going back to high school between BL & GP was full of drama-- arguments, breakups & makeups. We know from her family that once GP made up her mind, she stuck to it. Somehow I doubt GP being handled a folder of DV resources by LE (or lectured) in the middle of a long-planned road trip with her fiance’ would have changed anything. And I expect it's very rare for a DV situation to come to an "ah ha! I get it now" and end that way.
The recent stories also don't mention the intervening ~6-day separation the couple also had when BL flew to FL. GP & her van were at a SLC hotel. So far as we know, GP spent that time (Aug 17-23) working on video & talking to her parents on the phone (parents who at that point have said they viewed the Moab incident as a traveler's spat.) The multi-night SLC/FL separation didn't change the outcome.
It may be proven LE should have arrested GP as the aggressor or should have decided she was lying and arrested BL. But even with the lower level of proof required in a civil case, lack of adherence to dept policy won't automatically morph into the cause of GP's death weeks later. At best it sounds like the argument is, "Had LE done something different, it's
possible GP would have made some different choices going forward." Sure, maybe she would have, and just as likely maybe she would not have. (Personally I think it's less likely she'd have made other choices. She seemed pretty committed to that multi-year relationship.) Either way, that doesn't strike me as a strong argument for LE being responsible for her wrongful death.
So far as Moab being 15-20 times more responsible than BL for GP's death, the damages sought in the two wrongful death suits do suggest that idea. But in some ways, BL is no longer important. It's other people who have to pay and be punished now. For example, in June of this year Nicole Schmidt said she forgave BL for killing GP. But she said she won't forgive his mother RL who was over 2000 miles away when GP was killed by BL -- "You do not deserve forgiveness. You deserve to be forgotten and dehumanized. You epitomize pure evil.”
Gabby Petito’s Mom Says She Forgives Brian Laundrie, but Not His Mother: 'I See No Empathy in Your Eyes'
So it's not surprising Moab LE might be considered much more responsible than BL for GP's death.
MOO
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