That is a good point. Usually when I look up a true crime case I look up whether the state in question has the death penalty. In this case, the federal government has the death penalty, but they’re not very quick to use it, depending on politics.
He’s bald. That is, he has a horseshoe of hair around the sides and back.
Brazil has extradition, but dozens of other countries don’t. Of course some of them would be pretty terrible places to live, and I don’t know how many would want him. I don’t know how tough it’d be to get a passport in a different name, but I’m guessing not easy (and, of course, not legal).
I wouldn’t be surprised if he were hiding out in someone’s house.
The family says (through their attorney) they have no idea where he is. I don’t believe them. They have a son who’s at risk because a lot of irate people are convinced he’s a murderer and who leaves his cell phone and wallet behind while he goes for a hike (because the last one went so well), and they don’t report him missing for three days? Not buying it.
Even if they find Laundrie (alive), I doubt that we’ll ever know whether Petito was killed on federal land or on state land.
Certainly his legal team would advise him to decline to clarify. Of course he might genuinely not know the status of the land on which they were parked when the homicide took place—but if he did know, there would be no good reason to stop the authorities from fighting over jurisdiction. Such a fight would delay final disposition of the case.
There must be other such cases; I’m getting curious, now, over how they were handled. But I suspect it’s all moot. I don’t think Brian will ever be returned to the USA.
Both have the death penalty, although Wyoming hasn’t executed anyone since the 1990’s.
That would depend on the forensic evidence, I suppose. I am less confident the feds can’t (or more confident they could) establish that the murder did or did not take place at least in the vicinity of where the van was found. But then if they determine the murder did not take place where the van was found, it may be harder to determine if it was state or federal land (but even then, who knows what kind of information they might get from, say, cellphone company records and various map/location tracking apps).
Anyway… the issue has come up before:
I don’t see anything wrong with it, for two reasons.
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Just because you have a right to do something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. A reasonable assessment of whether bail should be granted will take past actions into account. For example, acquiring money is also entirely legal, yet how much money you have is taken into count. As you point out, it is reasonable to assume that the suspect is a flight risk due to past actions. And being a flight risk is one of the legally sanctioned reasons to not set bail.
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The courts have held before that merely remaining silent does not invoke one’s right to remain silent. You have to say out loud that you are exercising that right. As such, it would seem likely to me that mere avoidance of the police does not count as invoking the right to remain silent.
His parents, of course, asserted their rights not to have their property searched. But, as far as I know, Laundrie himself never directly asserted any such rights.
If bail is outright denied, can’t the accused force a speedy trial?
Arguably, Laundrie (assuming he did kill Petito) knew she was dead, thus if permission dies with the person granting it, he knew he was no longer authorized.
The reports that he used a debit card don’t actually say WHOSE debit card it was. I mean, it’s strongly implied that it was Petito’s - but I don’t recall seeing that stated anywhere.
If her body was found on Federal land, but she was killed on state land, the body was dumped on Federal land, at a minimum. How that affects the prosecution of the case, I don’t know - but in many places, the act of dumping a body is itself a crime.
To go into a rabbit hole - if he killed her, then his best bet was to continue using the van and card, because stopping use would be evidence that he knew she was dead.
‘Hell, if they knew how much fun I was havin’ in here, they’d let me loose!’ - Richard Speck
I don’t know about Wyoming specifically, but generally the speedy trial clock is shorter for defendants in custody. There are, of course, all kinds of ways to extend it. Most commonly, the defendant asks for more time to prepare for trial.
And, bail doesn’t have to be “denied,” it can be set at $5 million and have the same effect.
But as things stand today, the prosecution probably is in no hurry to go to trial. If they arrested Laundry on some charge they’d probably be thrilled to allow him out on bail while they build their murder case.
I’ll follow you down that rabbit hole.Was Laundrie sharp enough well-educated enough to think of that angle? He didn’t seem to be thinking very clearly, judging by his apparent flight from the scene via hiking and hitchhiking and then return to the van.
I’m curious as to whether he had any money of his own. After all, he worked at a juice bar (Part-time? Full-time?), a job I suspect his parents helped him get. (They run a juice machine repair business.) And what was that $1,000 in withdrawals for? Not lodging, I wouldn’t think, as he apparently spent little time sleeping. Would he have spent $1,000 on gas and food?
If he’d really wanted to foster the illusion Petito was still alive, it seems to me he would’ve driven around the country for a few days, taking photos with Petito’s phone and posting them on her blog as if it were her. Instead, he sent one text (which he messed up) from her phone and hightailed it right back to Mommy and Daddy. He doesn’t strike me as a very goal-oriented, organized individual.
Hey, you try killing someone and remaining calm and organized!
You go first. Maybe I’ll pick up some pointers. 
What a completely horrid human being.
Interesting comparison–thanks for posting it.
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Good point.
Dog the Bounty Hunter is on the case. I apologize for the Fox link.
This I just what this case needed.
/s
Easiest job on earth: Oahu bounty hunter. Just hang out at Ala Moana and eventually the fugitive will come by.