As Episode 1 of "American Murder: Gabby Petito" (2025 release; 3 episodes ranging 39 to 48 min) opens, it is "August 12, 2021, Moab, Utah", and based on an anonymous tip, Utah police pulls over a van to question a couple. Turns out to be Brian and Gabby, a young couple on a cross-country road trip. When Gabby is questioned outside the van and away from Brian, she crumbles. We then go back to "March 19,1999, Long Island, NY", when Gabby is born, and we get to know her background an upbringing. At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.
Couple of comments: I was vaguely familiar with these events, but to now see it laid out as clearly and as detailed as this documentary mini-series does, only brought a sense of immense sadness and a disgust of the cruelty with which one person murders another, and for what? The mini-series is helped immensely by the fact that so much footage was filmed by Gabby in particular (she was prepping to start a vlog about their cross-country travels). This mini-series also focuses on the role of Brian's parents in all of this. How these people sleep at night, I have no clue.
"American Murder: Gabby Petito" has just started streaming on Netflix. Not sure why this is presented in 3 short episodes, as opposed to a feature-length documentary. I watched this in a single setting, and I suspect I will not be the only one. If you are interested in true crime documentaries, I readily recommend you check this out and draw your own conclusion.
