TAMPA (WFLA) – Following the release of the Teton County coroner’s autopsy of Gabby Petito, a former prosecutor is offering insight on what the scene revealed to him.
According to NBC affiliate, KSL-TV, video from their helicopter on the day her body was found showed the remains were above ground and a pair of hiking shoes were also found next to her.
Kurt Morgan came away with distinct impressions from this scene.
“This was quick. This was not sitting here for five or six hours, trying to figure out how to conceal a crime,” he told KSL.
He also didn’t notice any obvious signs of a struggle on the ground.
“One of the things I’ve been seeing in this story is a history of these individuals getting into fights and she attacked him,” said Morgan. “I don’t see that here. All I see is one individual who suffered the damage and no evidence of injury created by her.”
Petito’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, is considered a person of interest in her disappearance and returned home to North Port alone on Sept. 1 with the van the couple had been traveling in.
The coroner said on Tuesday that Petito was likely killed three to four weeks before she was found on Sept. 19. She had been missing officially since Sept. 11. Her last known contact with family members was at the end of August when she was on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie.
Under Wyoming law, only the cause and manner of death will be released. Other portions of the autopsy, including photographs, will not be released to the public.
Despite repeated questions, the coroner would not comment on his thoughts about who the killer could be, and would not comment on whether or not he thought Petito was killed by her fiancée Brian Laundrie.
The coroner said it was up to law enforcement to make that determination and confirmed that DNA samples were taken by law enforcement, and responding to questions about the body’s condition only said that Petito’s remains “were outside for three to four weeks.”
