Gypsy Rose Blanchard Looks Very Different Now As She Shares New Details About Murdering Her Mom In 2015
Gypsy Rose, who was convicted of murdering her mother in 2015, looks quite different.
YouTube What does Gypsy Rose Blanchard look like now? She looked very different when new photos surfaced of her from jail during an interview with Dr. Phil called "Mother Knows Best: A Story of Munchausen by Proxy and Murder," which aired on November 21, 2017.
To the world, Blanchard's life was one that gained sympathy and an outpouring of support. The 28-year-old was terminally ill, suffered from muscular dystrophy, leukemia and other ailments that left her bound in a wheelchair as well as the mind of a 7-year-old. Well, according to her mother, that is.
In reality, Blanchard was a healthy adult who was fully capable of taking care of herself.
The abuse she suffered from her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, was a rare kind where a guardian exaggerates or induces illness in a child for attention and sympathy. Blanchard was a victim of Munchausen by proxy.
For over a decade, Blanchard suffered unnecessary medical procedures and painful surgeries, while her mother received praise and sympathy from doctors, neighbors, and strangers. They even benefited from multiple charities, such as Habitat for Humanity, the Ronald McDonald House and Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Habitat for Humanity even built them their home in Missouri that included a wheel-chair ramp and a hot tub.
"She said that I had muscular dystrophy,” Blanchard told Dr. Phil during her exclusive 2017 interview. “She told me that I couldn’t speak during the doctor’s appointment. She would tell me, ‘Just sit in your wheelchair, play with your Barbie dolls, and let me talk.’ And this continued on even into my 20s.”
In June of 2015, Dee Dee was found lying in a pool of her blood in the Springfield, Missouri home she shared with her daughter. When police realized Gypsy was missing from the crime scene, a frantic search for her began. People believed that she had been abducted and was in serious danger.
It didn't last long, after police found her the next day — walking on her own — with her then-26-year-old boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn.
Together, they had plotted Dee Dee's murder, and she had been killed several days before her body was found.
Blanchard would often go online after her mother went to bed, and eventually connected with Godejohn in 2012. He had a criminal record for indecent exposure and his own history of mental illness, though police believe that to be real.
For three years, their relationship developed, along with the plan to murder Dee Dee.
After being let in the house and given a knife by Gypsy, Godejohn stabbed his girlfriend's mother several times while she slept. They then stole $4,000 in cash and fled to a nearby hotel. They mailed the murder weapon back to Godejohn's home and posted updates to Dee Dee's Facebook, so people would find her body.
Police located Godejohn and Blanchard after a neighbor she had confided in about the relationship told police everything she knew.
In 2016, Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is currently serving 10 years in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 2024. In 2018, Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder and is currently serving a life prison sentence.
“I believe, firmly, that no matter what, murder is not okay. But at the same time, I don’t believe I deserve as many years as I got,” Blanchard told Dr. Phil. “I do believe that I do deserve to spend some time in prison for that crime but also, I understand why it happened and I don’t believe that I’m in the right place to get the help that I need.”
When asked if she was glad her mother was dead, Blanchard had the following response: “No sir. I’m glad that I’m out of that situation, but I’m not happy she’s dead.”
After the shocking story was first dropped in 2016, it started to garner a lot of attention in the media and even inspired a 2017 HBO documentary titled Mommy Dead And Dearest, and a 2019 Hulu series titled The Act, which offers a fictionalized account of the story and starred Patricia Arquette and Joey King.
Emily Blackwood is a freelance writer, editor and journalist who covers small business, pop culture, travel, health and wellness.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on November 16, 2017 and was updated with the latest information.