American abused child who at age 23 arranged for her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, to kill her abusive mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard (née Pitre; born 3 May 1967 in Chackbay, Louisiana). Gypsy Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and she is now serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Late on the night of 14 June 2015, sheriff’s deputies in Greene County, Missouri, found her mother’s body facedown in the bedroom of her house just outside Springfield, lying on the bed in a pool of blood from stab wounds inflicted several days earlier. There was no sign of her daughter Gypsy Rose, who, according to Blanchard, suffered from leukemia, asthma, muscular dystrophy, along with several other chronic conditions and had the “mental capacity of a 7-year-old due to brain damage” she had suffered as a result of her premature birth.
After reading troubling Facebook posts earlier in the evening, concerned neighbors notified the police, reporting that Dee Dee might have fallen victim to foul play, and that Gypsy Rose, whose wheelchair and medications were still in the house, might have been abducted. The following day, police found Gypsy Rose in Wisconsin, where she had traveled with her boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, whom she had met online. When investigators announced that she was actually an adult, and suffered from none of the physical and mental health issues her mother had claimed, public outrage over the possible abduction of a severely disabled girl gave way to shock and some sympathy for Gypsy Rose.
Further investigation found that some of the doctors who had examined Gypsy Rose had found no evidence of the claimed disorders. One physician suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental disorder where a parent or other caretaker exaggerates, fabricates, or induces illness in a person under their care to obtain sympathy or attention. Dee Dee had changed her name slightly after her family, who suspected she had poisoned her stepmother, confronted her about how she treated Gypsy Rose. Nonetheless, many people accepted her situation as true, and the two benefited from the efforts of charities such as Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Dee Dee had been making her daughter pass herself off as younger and pretend to be disabled and chronically ill, subjecting her to unnecessary surgery and medication, and controlling her through physical and psychological abuse.
Many people who met Gypsy were charmed by her. Her 5-foot (150 cm) height, nearly toothless mouth, large glasses and high, childlike voice reinforced the perception that she had all the problems her mother said she did. She often wore wigs or hats to cover her baldness; her mother regularly shaved Gypsy’s head to mimic the hairless appearance of a chemotherapy patient, allegedly telling Gypsy that since her medication would eventually cause her hair to fall out, it was best to shave it in advance. When they left the house, Dee Dee often took an oxygen tank and feeding tube with them; Gypsy was fed the children’s liquid nutrition supplement PediaSure well into her 20s.
On the night of the murder, Gypsy hid in the bathroom and covered her ears so that she would not have to hear her mother screaming. Godejohn then stabbed Dee Dee several times in her back while she was asleep. The two had sex in Gypsy’s room, and took $4,000 in cash that Dee Dee had been keeping in the house, mostly from her ex-husband’s child support checks. They fled to a motel outside Springfield where they stayed for a few days while planning their next move.
On 16 June 2015 Police agencies in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, raided Godejohns’ Big Bend home. Both he and Gypsy surrendered and were taken into custody on charges of murder and felony armed criminal action.
On 5 July 2016 Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is now serving a 10-year sentence.
The judge set Godejohn’s trial for November 2018. After four days, the case was sent to the jury. After approximately two hours of deliberation they returned with the verdict and on 16 November Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Link to Wikipedia biography