Gypsy Rose was born on July 27, 1991, in Louisiana, USA. She was the daughter of Dee Dee Blanchard, a single mother who raised her alone. For 23 years Dee Dee pretended Gypsy was disabled and chronically ill, subjecting her to unnecessary surgeries and medications.
Then Gypsy, after 23 years living under these conditions, could no longer stand her mother’s psychological abuse. To solve this, she combined with her boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, whom she met over the Internet, to kill Dee Dee to stop all these lies.
Gypsy Rose is a killer?
Gypsy could no longer stand her mother’s false stories about her health condition. Since childhood Dee Dee Blanchard pretended that her daughter was very sick, with a long medical history, including problems such as epilepsy, anemia, leukemia, mental retardation and many others.
The situation was so bad that Gypsy was in a wheelchair, but she could walk perfectly, just like anyone else. That was the only thing she knew that was really a lie, everything else she faithfully believed her mother.
The illness, in fact, was always in the mother: Munchaüsen syndrome by proxy. This is a disorder in which the person believes that someone under their care has a physical or mental illness, acting as if it were true.
Gypsy never had a choice, long before she developed the minimum age to have any discernment, her mother was already using her to acquire attention, government benefits, and charity donations.
The daughter’s hair was often shaved, to try to imitate a sick person. Her mother said that because of her illnesses it was better to shave it off, since it would fall out anyway. Gypsy always believed this story.
Gypsy’s Father
Gypsy’s father was always trying to help his daughter, but they only saw each other a few times, because Dee Dee did not allow it. She also had contact with other family members, but according to reports Dee Dee knew how to deceive very well about the seriousness of her daughter’s health, she was a professional at it. They really believed that the girl had cancer.
Her father cared very much for her, yet Dee Dee fought hard to keep him and his new wife away from Gypsy. But he was always helping her with money, even after she came of age.
Dee Dee’s tricks
Gypsy appeared to be much younger than she really was, and at first she also believed she was at least about five years younger. The problem was so bad, that her father said that on his daughter’s 18th birthday he was instructed by Dee Dee not to tell her how old she was, because she believed it was her 14th birthday.
Some doctors who attended them, began to suspect that Gypsy was a normal person, her leg had as much muscle as a person who can walk. As a solution to this kind of problem, Dee Dee changed doctors, until she found one who believed in her craziness.
Gypsy had all the characteristics of a disabled person due to her mother’s great skill at cheating, who almost never left her alone, to prevent as much as possible the girl from having the opportunity to tell the truth to someone.
When they went to talk to someone, Dee Dee would usually hold her daughter’s hand and squeeze her if she said something that didn’t help the story.
But as Gypsy grew older and older and developed as a woman, so did her desire to have relationships with men. At the same time her mother did not allow her to have contact with other people.
The solution she found was to use dating sites while her mother was asleep. That was when she met Nicholas Godejohn on a Christian website. They talked for two years and seemed to have a lot of affection between them.
How the crime occurred
Gypsy had already been thinking of several ways to get rid of her mother, and it was through Nicholas that the main one materialized: to kill Dee Dee. Nicholas would carry out the murder, with Gypsy’s help.
On an ordinary night in their routine, they were doing each other’s nails while Gypsy already had the whole murder planned. The girl acted coldly and did not arouse her mother’s suspicions. The strong medication she was taking probably helped this.
Then that early morning of 2015, Nicholas Godejohn entered the front door as instructed by Gypsy, who had left it unlocked, and with a kitchen knife went into Dee Dee’s bedroom and stabbed the sleeping woman several times.
Dee Dee still managed to scream for help, but Nicholas proceeded with the act. Meanwhile Gypsy was lying on the bathroom floor in the fetal position awaiting the conclusion of the murder.
After the murder, the two left the house and checked into a nearby hotel while acting normally. According to the police conclusion, they did not seem to have a plan of what to do after this, their main goal was simply to untie Dee Dee from Gypsy.
After the hotel they went to Nicholas’ parents’ house, who did not notice anything suspicious.
Gypsy makes a strange post on her social network
On the same day that she killed her mother, Gypsy made a very strange post on her Facebook. The message said, “the bitch is dead”.
This worried people, because it was something totally atypical for Gypsy. As a result, many people became concerned, and some even went to their house to check what was going on, but when they rang the doorbell, no one answered. And to make matters worse, Gypsy didn’t answer anyone else on social networks.
There was so much concern that the police had to be called. Soon after, they were able to get a warrant to enter the house. And to everyone’s surprise, Dee Dee was dead in her own bed while Gypsy was missing.
At this point nobody understood what was happening anymore, and the concern turned to finding Gypsy, since she would probably be a key to unraveling this situation.
Then the police started a search for her and in a short time they found. When the police arrived, Gypsy was very well and even walking, which made the story even more confusing for everyone. However, Gypsy quickly confessed to the whole story and even took responsibility for the murder.
Trial and sentencing
Gypsy pleaded guilty to the death of her mother. In the verdict she got the minimum sentence, 10 years in prison for second degree murder. The result was a relief for her, as she could have even gotten the death penalty.
His parole will probably take place in 2022, when she will be 33 years old.
On the other hand, Nicholas Godejohn, who stabbed Dee Dee, in a trial with much less media coverage, received a much harsher sentence, life imprisonment. He is still trying to appeal for a mitigation of sentence.
