Gypsy Rose Blanchard released on parole from Missouri prison years after her mom’s stabbing death
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from a Chillicothe, Missouri, prison early Thursday morning on parole more than eight years after she convinced her then-boyfriend to kill her abusive mother.
Blanchard was released around 3:30 a.m. on parole from Chillicothe Correctional Center after serving around 8 years for her role in the fatal stabbing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. She was released early from her original 10-year sentence.
For years, Dee Dee Blanchard allegedly lied to doctors, family, neighbors and her own daughter, convincing them the girl had a host of ailments, including leukemia and muscular dystrophy.
She forced her daughter to use a wheelchair and feeding tube, even though she could walk and eat on her own and lied to officials and her daughter about her age, so that Gypsy Rose would remain a minor under her custody. Gypsy Rose was pulled from school at an early age and had little contact with anyone unless her mother was by her side.
Dee Dee Blanchard was alleged to have subjected her daughter to unnecessary medical procedures for the conditions she claimed Gypsy Rose had. They made multiple trips to Children’s Mercy Hospital for procedures, and also benefited from the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City.
News of Gypsy Rose’s condition drew attention nationally from stars and charities. The pair met Miranda Lambert on multiple occasions and received charitable donations, a trip to Disney World and a home built by Habitat for Humanity near Springfield.
Originally from Louisiana, Dee Dee Blanchard would allegedly tell questioning doctors that her daughter’s medical records had been lost in Hurricane Katrina, and hoped they would rely on her oral history alone. If a physician asked too many questions, she’d find a new one.
Among the unnecessary procedures Gypsy Rose underwent was the removal of her salivary glands. Dee Dee Blanchard convinced doctors the procedure was necessary by using a topical anesthetic to force her daughter to drool.
As Gypsy Rose got older, she testified that the abuse she faced from her mother became more physical. She said, at points, her mother beat her and chained her to a bed.
The killing
In June 2015, Gypsy Rose’s then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn of Big Bend, Wisconsin, traveled to the Blanchards’ home near Springfield, where he stabbed Dee Dee Blanchard 17 times while Gypsy Rose hid in the bathroom and covered her ears.
The couple then reportedly had sex and fled by cab to a motel room. They took a bus to Godejohn’s home in Big Bend, after mailing the knife used to kill Dee Dee Blanchard there.
The pair were arrested that same month during a police raid of Godejohn’s home.
At her former boyfriend’s trial in 2018, Gypsy Rose admitted she convinced him to kill her mother, so she could escape.
Godejohn is currently serving a life sentence, after he was found guilty of first-degree murder.
In the years since, the case has become the subject of the HBO documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest” and the Hulu miniseries “The Act.” Lifetime also has an upcoming docuseries titled “The Prison Confession of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.”
No in-person news coverage was allowed of Gypsy Rose’s release from prison Thursday.
