Gypsy Rose Blanchard has just been released from prison on parole after spending eight years behind bars for second-degree murder in connection with the death of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.
Gypsy was granted parole in September, with the Missouri Department of Corrections scheduling her release for Dec. 28, three years before her release date.
She and her then-boyfriend, Nicholas "Nick" Godejohn, conspired to kill her mom Dee Dee in 2015 after the woman had subjected Gypsy to painful and needless medical procedures for years.
Now 32, it’s believed that Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen by proxy, a form of abuse in which a caretaker exaggerates or induces illness in a child for attention and sympathy.
Image credits: Dr. Phil
Gypsy claims she was being mentally and physically abused and forced into yet another unnecessary medical procedure when she plotted her mother’s murder, and was “desperate” to get out of that situation, she recently told People.
The feeling led her to ask Godejohn, whom she met on an online dating site, to kill Dee Dee while she waited in the bathroom of the Springfield, MO., home she shared with her.
Among the numerous illnesses that Dee Dee falsely claimed her daughter had was muscular dystrophy, which resulted in Gypsy using a wheelchair despite being able to walk.
Furthermore, her mother forced her to use painful feeding tubes, and made friends and family believe she had Leukemia after shaving Gypsy’s head. She would also trick doctors into diagnosing and treating different illnesses.
"Obviously I knew that I could walk and didn't need a feeding tube, but everything else was a really big confusion for me," she said.
She was also forced to believe she had epilepsy, and offered far-fetched pretexts whenever she attempted to cast doubt on her mother’s word.
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"Whenever I'd question it my mother would say I'd had a seizure the night before and didn't remember. There was always an excuse."
Rebelling against her situation wasn’t an option, Gypsy explained. If she dared to contradict her mother, she would be either insulted or manipulated.
"I would voice concerns, being like, 'I really don't feel like I need this,' and she would get really, really upset with me and start manipulating me.”
When she was younger, to get her to comply, "she'd say 'If you do well at the hospital then we're going to Toys 'R' Us to buy a new Barbie.'"
Gypsy was jailed for taking part in the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, with her then-boyfriend, Nicholas "Nick" Godejohn
Image credits: Dr. Phil
In addition to causing physical pain with false medical diagnoses, Gypsy was isolated from her peers and other family members.
She was never enrolled in school and was kept from having a relationship with her father Rod, stepmother Christie and her half siblings.
"I was limited in what I could watch and the exposure I had to other kids. What I knew of the outside world was only in Disney movies and those don't talk about warning signs of bad parents,” Gypsy explained.
It was when she became a teen that things took a turn for the worse, with Gypsy increasingly suffering physical and verbal violence as she voiced her opinions.
"I tried my best to be respectful but sometimes it was hard. She'd call me things like b---h, wh--e, sl-t.” Dee Dee also started "hitting, punching, slapping" resulting in circumstances that Gypsy referred to as “domestic violence.”
"As long as you're complacent everything's fine. Put your foot down, then it's bad."
Dee Dee had subjected Gypsy to painful and needless medical procedures for years, causing her emotional and physical pain
Image credits: ABC News
Image Credits: Dr. Phil
Gypsy’s realization that she could no longer tolerate her mother’s conduct came after she'd attempted to flee her home before yet another unnecessary procedure on her larynx.
Dee Dee eventually tracked her down and filed paperwork claiming that her daughter was “incompetent” and she had “power of attorney” over her.
“That's when there was a conversation between me and my co-defendant Nick. He said 'I would do anything to protect you.' I said, 'Anything?' He said 'Yes.'"
Gypsy’s then-boyfriend was sentenced to life imprisonment for executing the deadly attack. He has reportedly said that he'd do it again if it meant saving her.
Gypsy doesn’t feel the same way. Years of reflection and professional help through therapy have allowed her to see that her mother was “a sick woman,” a realization that was accompanied by a feeling of remorse.
Now 32, she expresses a feeling of remorse about the murder, saying she "regrets" her mother's death "every single day"
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"She didn't deserve that. She was a sick woman and unfortunately I wasn't educated enough to see that. She deserved to be where I am, sitting in prison doing time for criminal behavior."
Looking back, she thinks there were other paths that she could have taken to escape the inhumane situation that her mother had put her through.
"If I had another chance to redo everything, I don't know if I would go back to when I was a child and tell my aunts and uncles that I'm not sick and mommy makes me sick.”
“Or, if I would travel back to just the point of that conversation with Nick and tell him, 'You know what, I'm going to go tell the police everything.' I kind of struggle with that."
But, she adds, "Nobody will ever hear me say I'm glad she's dead or I'm proud of what I did. I regret it every single day."
"I want to make sure that people in abusive relationships do not resort to murder. It may seem like every avenue is closed off but there is always another way. Do anything, but don't take this course of action."
"She didn't deserve that. She was a sick woman and unfortunately I wasn't educated enough to see that," Gypsy said of her mother
Image credits: ABC News
The crime garnered global attention and has been portrayed in popular Hollywood adaptations such as HBO's 2017 film "Mommy Dead and Dearest" and, more recently, Hulu's 2019 series "The Act."
Now, Gypsy will tell her own story in in Lifetime's anticipated docuseries The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, set to premiere Jan. 5.
After leaving her prison cell two years before the expiration of her 10-year sentence, she’s preparing for the intense spotlight and public scrutiny that lie ahead.
Most importantly, she's looking forward to reuniting with her dad and stepmom, who've supported her during her time in prison. On her to-do list is also a Kansas City Chiefs game she will attend with her husband—a Louisiana teacher she married while serving time in jail—where she’s hoping to meet Taylor Swift.
Her plans for the future are to reunite with her father and stepmother, who have supported her during her time in prison
Image credits: ABC News
Lifetime is set to release a documentary about the crime
Image credits: Lifetime
She will also publish a book, set to be released Jan. 9, that retells the difficult upbringing she had, detailing the physical and emotional abuse she suffered at her mother's hands, according to The Daily Mail.
A press release, published by Penguin Random House, reads: "Gypsy saw her story told by others again and again in the media, from news reports and podcasts to TV series."
“Now, granted early parole and preparing to start a new life, she’s free to speak directly to her supporters and the world.”
Many people agreed that Gypsy's case was "a case of self-defense"
