It’s been over three years since Gabby Petito went on a four-month road trip across the U.S. with her fiancé Brian Laundrie and never returned. The trip began on July 2, 2021, but along the way, Petito, who disappeared on August 27, was reportedly murdered by Laundrie, who shot and killed himself two months later. As part of the American Murder universe, Netflix has developed a docuseries, American Murder: Gabby Petito, highlighting the events that led up to the mysterious disappearance, and it now has a release date.

In addition, the streamer has dropped a trailer for the three-part documentary, parts of which show Petito documenting her supposedly happy journey with her fiancé. Although they look like the picture-perfect couple in some parts of the clip below, viewers get to see that there was a lot more happening behind closed doors and away from social media. One such incident was when Laundrie assaulted Petito, causing the police to intervene.

Produced by Cinemart and Stage 29, American Murder: Gabby Petito dives into the true story behind Petito’s murder and features real text messages, video footage, and excerpts from the deceased’s personal journals. As described by Netflix, “the series captures the reality of a young woman enmeshed in an abusive relationship behind closed doors — even as she put on a happy, “Insta-perfect” face for social media.” The docuseries is directed and executive produced by Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro. Other EPs are Dr. Phillip C. McGraw and Sarah Carden.

What Makes Up The ‘American Murder’ Universe?

American Murder: Gabby Petito is the third documentary in Netflix’s American Murder franchise, following 2020’s American Murder: The Family Next Door and last year’s American Murder: Laci Peterson. The former was released on September 30, 2020, and examined the 2018 Watts family murders, particularly the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children and the terrible events that followed, using raw, firsthand footage. It isn’t until the middle of the production that Chris Watts is revealed as the killer, and he buried Shannan in a shallow grave at his workplace, an oil field, while he stuffed his daughters’ bodies into twenty-foot-high oil tanks on the property.

On the other hand, American Murder: Laci Peterson tells the story of what happened to Laci and her unborn child leading up to and following her disappearance on December 24, 2002. On that day, her husband, Scott Peterson, reported her missing from their home in California, and four months later, her body and the body of her unborn son were found on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Scott was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of murder, and in 2004, he was found guilty of both charges.

American Murder: Gabby Petito premieres February 17. For more true crime updates, stay tuned to Collider and, in the meantime, you can stream the Laci Peterson documentary on Netflix.

via Collider