Gypsy Rose Blanchard released from prison after serving seven years of ten-year sentence

Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been released from prison, where she was sentenced to ten years on a plea bargain for the second degree murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. For those unfamiliar with Gypsy’s case, buckle up, it’s a wild (and bloody) ride.

Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard lived in a Habitat for Humanity home in Springfield, Missouri. The house had been built and donated to the mother and daughter due to the many illnesses and disabilities Gypsy suffered from. According to Dee Dee, the girl had a myriad of diseases and illnesses, including Asthma, Leukemia and Muscular Dystrophy. Gypsy was fed through a feeding tube, she was bald, was missing nearly all of her teeth and she was confined to a wheelchair. Dee Dee claimed that she had the mental capacity of a 7-year-old.

Dee Dee was often praised for being such a devoted mother, and seemingly spent all of her time caring for Gypsy. As a result, the two were often given special awards and gifted with trips and money on a regular basis. They even shared a Facebook page, on which Dee Dee posted photos, shared inspirational stories and wrote of Gypsy’s health issues.

Dee Dee’s friends and Facebook followers were understandably shocked when a brief post was made on June 14, 2015, reading: “That b**ch is dead!” When multiple phone calls were made to the police, they responded, finding Dee Dee stabbed to death in her bed, and Gypsy nowhere to be found. Gypsy’s wheelchairs were still in the house, and everyone thought the girl had been abducted.

The truth came out soon enough, and a whole new story began to unfold, shedding a different light on Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s life story. After discovering that the murder of Dee Dee had been planned by Gypsy and her secret boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, the two were arrested at his parents’ home in Wisconsin.

What law enforcement discovered shocked everyone. Gypsy was actually 23 years old, not 19 as her mother claimed, she had basically been imprisoned and lied to about her health and her age. She did not have any of the illnesses that Dee Dee claimed, and she did not need a wheelchair. She was definitely sick, but much of that was due to unneeded medications and procedures that her mother insisted upon. It was believed that Dee Dee suffered from Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, and this caused her to inflict years of pain and misery on Gypsy.

In the end, Gypsy’s attorney worked out a plea bargain, under which she was sentenced to ten years in prison for second degree murder. Nicholas, who actually committed the murder, was charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action, and sentenced to life for the first charge and 25 years for the second.

There has never been any question about whether or not Gypsy’s story was true, her medical records prove that much. According to a statement made by her attorney to BuzzFeed, she was so malnourished that she actually gained 14 pounds during her first year in prison (most inmates lose weight). On December 28, 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison.

What happens to her from here is anyone’s guess. I personally hope she continues to receive mental health counselling, and that her family members will protect her from unscrupulous members of the press.

If you want to know more about the story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard, you can watch the documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest on max, or the series The Act on Hulu. The Act features Joey King as Gypsy, and an amazing performance by Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee.