{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Ep. 109: Inside the Netflix Documentary with Gabby Petito\u2019s Mom, Nichole Schmidt","description":"We\u2019re honored to welcome Nichole Schmidt to Toxic today \u2014 a friend of the pod and a fierce advocate for survivors, especially young survivors of dating violence. In 2021, her 22-year-old daughter, Gabby Petito, was murdered by her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, during what was supposed to be an idyllic cross-country van trip \u2014 and instead became a national tragedy. This past February, Netflix released American Murder: Gabby Petito, a docuseries featuring never-before-seen details about how Gabby\u2019s story unfolded. Ultimately, she became yet another preventable victim of dating violence, strangulation \u2014 and, yes, femicide. Just two weeks before her death, police in Moab, Utah, pulled the couple over after a witness saw Brian hit Gabby. Despite clear signs of abuse \u2014 and officers even identifying it as assault \u2014 Laundrie wasn\u2019t arrested. Instead, they named Gabby the primary aggressor and gave Brian a hotel room usually reserved for domestic violence victims. The incident laid bare just how much law enforcement \u2014 and society \u2014 still doesn\u2019t understand about abuser tactics. A little over a month later, Brian strangled Gabby to death in Wyoming. He later scribbled a confession in a notebook before dying by suicide \u2014 because, of course, accountability was never on his itinerary. Today, Nichole shares what life has been like since Gabby\u2019s death \u2014 and how she\u2019s working to keep her daughter\u2019s memory alive, one survivor at a time. We want to hear from you. Do you have a story we need to discuss or a guest we should feature? Visit us at ToxicThePodcast.com and share your story. If you\u2019re experiencing abuse or domestic violence, please reach out to someone you trust. You can also connect with a trained advocate near you through DomesticShelters.org. Finally, help us keep this conversation going. Share an episode of Toxic with someone also outraged by the relentless epidemic of violence against women. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, and please consider leaving us a review. Your support helps us amplify these critical stories. Together, we can create change. ","author_name":"Toxic","author_url":"https:\/\/www.toxicthepodcast.com","html":"