BBM
You are certainly entitled to your opinion. RL writing the letter after Brian returned to Florida seems to be the claim the P's are making. (In other words, that the letter was written when the L's knew G was dead in early Sept and knew the whereabouts of her body. Hence they caused the P's distress.)
But why would RL write to BL after he returned to Florida from Wyoming and say "Bring a shovel. Help bury the body"? (Things the P's attorney claim the letter said.) It just makes no sense to me. And lots of things about that scenario don't make sense to me:
1. It doesn't make sense RL would put a serious offer to help bury a body in a letter. Some things are hard to talk about and sometimes writing is easier. But the only way the letter can mean what the P's claim it does is if B had already talked to RL about Gabby's death. I'm not at all convinced that happened. But the hypothetical scenario of RL offering aid in a coverup only works if he'd told her G was dead. And it's only legally relevant to the emotional distress lawsuit if it was written after G was dead and the L's knew she was dead seems to me. If B and RL had already talked about G's death before the letter was written, why start writing to plan a coverup? Why not keep talking? Writing is more risky even with burn instructions.
2. It doesn't make sense she'd write that sort of letter to BL to offer help in a criminal coverup if he was living in the house with her. On the other hand, writing a sort of combination relationship repair/goodbye letter to him when he and G were living there and leaving shortly made sense. B&G may have been joined at the hip whenever they were home so RL may not have seen B alone much. And for all she knew, they might come back from their trip married. Or they might have decided to settle down out west. Or maybe they were considering a move to NY as the NPPD spokesperson claimed. Even without the tragic outcome, it could have been the last time she could talk to "her baby." Hence the references to childhood books.
Some here have suggested she sent the letter to B in Wyoming offering to help after he called her to confess to killing G. But realistically that can't work. There's just not enough time. So IF the letter refers to G's death, it seems it had to be delivered to him in Florida.
We know it's been reported BL and RL left the house together sometimes after he returned to Florida-- to bike, shop, and so on. They had plenty of opportunities to talk. If they thought the house was bugged, that meant they thought LE was watching. So why write a letter to hatch a criminal plot with LE watching? Or was the goal to keep CL from knowing? If so, exactly how was RL going to help B bury G 2400 miles away?
3. It doesn't make sense she'd direct him to buy a shovel to help her bury a body. Wasn't the P's claim that she'd offered to help him? That's not what the reported words say--- "Bring a shovel. Help bury the body." If those things were merely included in a list of things she'd willingly to do for him-- climb the highest mountain, cross the widest sea....it would be pretty clear from the full context the scenarios weren't referring to real life. That it was just a horrible coincidence.
4. Criminals do make mistakes. But IF RL was really offering to help B cover up a crime, I'd think she'd have been worried about LE finding that letter even if it had said burn it. Why didn't she ask if B had destroyed it after the van was seized? Or search for it and destroy it after B left the house? Maybe she tried but it wouldn't seem the entire house would have required searching-- just B's room. Personally I don't think she gave the letter a second thought A) because it had been written months before, not days before. She might have even forgotten she wrote it. B) it was totally innocent.
5. As I said, personally I am not convinced the L's knew Gabby was dead. But if RL knew, was she proposing that she and B drive back to Wyoming in early Sept and bury her? It would take days to get there and back. How was that going to work with the 3-day camping trip to Ft. DeSoto that was already planned? Or were they going to fly out quickly carrying a shovel with them? (That would hardly be inconspicuous and they'd have to fly under their real names.) Both scenarios-- driving or flying--seem incredibly unlikely to me. But if a return to Wyoming was supposed to happen, why doesn't the letter say that? Or contain hints of that? The P's attorney would undoubtedly remember if it had and the FBI would have been interested too. And if the letter doesn't mention returning to Wyoming, how can the shovel scenario really be thought to refer to burying G? Or is it the case no one really thinks it does refer to her death but it seems callous anyway? So someone who would write those things in jest might actually do other things? Is it really "bad character" or "propensity" evidence?
While rumors suggest the letter was found with B's body, RL denies that and indirectly the P's attorney does too. He says the letter had been in the van but was found in the L's house during the Sept search.
It doesn't make any sense the attorney knew it had been in the van. If it had been there, BL obviously didn't tell him. Neither did the L's. And LE wouldn't have taken stuff out of the van, looked through it to catalog it, and put it in the L's house when the van was seized. So it makes no sense the attorney knew it had been in the van (if it even ever was) but was found in the house. From the time anything was first written about the letter, RL and Bertolino have maintained she wrote it before B&G left on their trip. B could taken it with him on the trip. In the very small van G might have known about the letter and might have shared that knowledge in some way (was it seen in a photo, did she journal about it? Mention it to family? Could that be how the attorney knows it had been in the van?) Or B could have left it at home in his room where LE found it and the attorney is blowing smoke or just honestly mistaken. But no matter what, LE had the letter early on. They don't seem to have taken the letter as a serious coverup offer.
JMO
