American Murder: Gabby Petito Recap for We Bought a Van

Episode one of American Murder: Gabby Petito is titled We Bought a Van. It opens with a male witness calling the police over a domestic dispute on August 21, 2021 in Moab, Utah. He describes the white van, where a man was seen slapping a woman and then drove off, hitting the curb.

The van is then pulled over and Gabby and Brian Laundrie are questioned by the police. She apologizes and says that they were fighting, which distracted him from driving. She cries and tries to explain what is happening but is very agitated and stressed out. The cop assures her she is not in trouble but has her sit in his car to calm down. Gabby then requests to call her mom.

News reports and press conferences are shown about Gabby’s disappearance and how only Brian came home from the road trip they were on, where the fight occurred.

Home videos of Gabby’s parents preparing for her birth are also shown as her mom Nichole talks about her growing up years. She says Gabby was always loud, on the go and gave her a run for her money. She also talks about separating from Gabby’s dad Joe, but how they remained friends. Joe echoes the sentiments, saying the separation was a friendly one.

Nichole and Gabby’s stepdad Jim talk about Gabby’s love of art and how she continued to pursue her passion throughout the years. Another friend talks about how Gabby was one of her first female friends and it was nice to have another girl in a group dominated with guys.

She also talks about meeting Brian and how she initially thought he was a narc because he looked so old. However, the two became close and even lived together at one point, with him calling her his best friend or the love of this life, but he was too dumb to know the difference.

Brian would go on to move to Long Island, where he would meet Gabby. They both said it was love at first sight.

Nichole had known of Brian when Gabby was in high school, but didn’t make the connection that he was the same Brian that Gabby was spending time with now. She would ask about the situation, but Gabby would remain tight lipped about it. When she first met him, Nichole thought he was socially awkward and was surprised when Gabby said she was moving to Florida with him, since she had no idea of the relationship status.

Gabby would vlog their road trip and time in Florida. They were living with Brian’s parents and in the beginning, everything seemed to be going well. However, Brian’s mom would get jealous of the time Brian was spending with Gabby and even started a fight over a pie. This would cause a lot of tension in the house. At one point, Brian’s mom even changed Gabby’s home address back to her parents’ address.

Another friend named Rose talks about meeting and becoming friends with Gabby and how they would make videos together. Gabby would even go with her on Domino’s delivery runs. Rose says that Gabby changed her life for the better. Things seemed to be doing well and then this friend met Brian. She said he was very nice, but she thought there was something off about him….and that feeling would continue as she began to see his dark side.

A video shows them shooting out of a car and some of Brian’s more disturbing artwork. Rose also remembers a time when she and Gabby were going out and Gabby had forgotten her ID. She had gone back home and ended up fighting with Brian, saying that he stole her ID because he didn’t want her to go out. This led to her crying and fighting with Brian.

Rose claims that Brian would treat Gabby badly, then do something amazing to make up for the behavior….something that was a pattern that made her uncomfortable.

The other friend talks about Brian’s plans of a proposal….and how he did it without a ring. Instead, a firefly landed on her finger. Brian’s mom posted about it on Facebook, but her parents and stepdad had no idea until they asked Gabby for confirmation.

Gabby had initially been excited about marrying Brian, but that soon faded with no plans being made. They instead bought a van and decided to vlog a road trip plan, where they would travel and live out of their van/

Before that, Gabby had been working at Taco Bell to save for the future. She was also hanging out with other people, causing problems with Brian. He became more possessive and controlling, isolating her despite getting Nichole involved in the drama.

Gabby ended spending more time with Rose and letting Brian know she was not going to put up with his behavior.

In June 2021, the road trip was set to begin. They went to Nichole and Jim’s to say goodbye. Nichole recalls giving her money and telling Brian to take care of her. She also remembers hugging Gabby as she cried, saying it was the best hug. However, she has no idea why Gabby was so upset.

We see some footage of their vlog. Rose says that despite the facade, there was a lot of tension behind the scenes and before long, it leaked into the videos. She also mentions that Gabby would distance herself from her. The other friend mentions that people see what they want and not the nit and grit of it all.

We also hear some diary entries from Gabby saying that she needs to spend more time with Brian and less time on her phone. Rose thinks that she was trying to convince herself that everything was okay.

August 12th, 2021. Video obtained from Gabby’s phone catches her crying as we once again hear the call about the dispute where Brian was slapping Gabby. Brian is seen in this scene, saying he pushed her away and apologizes. Gabby is shown crying again and that they keep fighting. We see her go into the cop car to calm down while the cop has Brian get out of the van. He tells his side, where he claims she gets worked up and he pushed her away to stop filming, causing the fight. He also claims that she beaned him with the phone.

Gabby is questioned about the hitting and marks on her body but seems to be afraid of saying too much. Both share their sides with different cops and are let go, separately. They are told not to contact each other and told to find ways to calm down. Brian gets a hotel, while Gabby stays in the van. They also talk to Gabby about her anxiety.

Nichole remembers getting the call from Gabby and how she kind of brushed the situation off. She was also not happy Brian got the hotel and Gabby got the van.

Despite the request to stay apart, the two met up and drove to Salt Lake City. Ten days later, Gabby contacted her ex-boyfriend Jackson, asking for help. He had a feeling she wanted to escape, but didn’t know how.