04 January 2024 , 16:52
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As it nears a week since Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison early after orchestrating the murder of her medically abusive mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard, more details about the abuse Gypsy suffered at the hands of Dee Dee have come to light as she also revealed the reason she never told anyone their deepest, darkest family secret.
Dee Dee suffered from factitious disorder imposed on another, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which caused her to make up illnesses like leukemia, genetic disorders, epilepsy and other harrowing conditions she forced Gypsy to pretend she had — even upping the act by having her use an oxygen tank, feeding tubes and constraining her to a wheelchair.
It prompted charities such as Habitat for Humanity to build them a home after their previous one was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and others to send them on free trips to Disney.
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Gypsy became wise to the deception after many years of abusive and unnecessary surgeriesGypsy became wise to the deception after many years of abusive and unnecessary surgeries, such as the removal of her saliva glands for a supposed case of excessive salivation, as well as inappropriate medications, including one for epilepsy that caused her teeth to crumble and fall out. But she never told anyone, not even on the rare occasions when other family members were allowed to visit her.
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She was barred from seeing her father, who has since become a part of her life after her release from prison, and she rarely got to see any of her extended family, but she said she regrets not reaching out to them for help. The reason she didn't? She felt no one would believe her if she did.
"I wish I could go back and tell my younger self, 'Call your dad. Reach out for help with people because they will actually believe you,'" she told the Associated Press. "The main reason why I didn’t is because I really felt like nobody would believe me whenever I said that things just wasn’t right at home."
Gypsy was barred from seeing her father, who has since become a part of her life after her release from prison (Crime+Investigation)But at the age of 23, Gypsy didn't know any better, having lived such a sheltered life that she was largely ignorant when it came to life outside the confines of her home, which was essentially a prison. So, after meeting her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn on a Christian dating site, then meeting him for the first time at a movie theater, where her mother had taken her to see Cinderella, Gypsy conscripted his help in killing Dee Dee in a desperate ploy for her freedom.
The murder was the only way she believed she could escape her "very sick" mother at the time. She handed Godejohn a knife after secretly letting him into her house, then hid in the bathroom as he stabbed Dee Dee around 17 times as she lay in bed. Then, the two fled to Godejohn's home state of Wisconsin, where they were eventually arrested after the police traced Facebook posts they had made from Dee Dee's account hinting at her gruesome death.
The murder was the only way she believed she could escape her 'very sick' mother at the time (@gypsyroseblanchard727/TikTok)Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison for the killing, having been convicted of first-degree murder, while Gypsy was given just 10 years for second-degree murder as part of a plea deal she made that involved considerations of the abuse she endured.
She said prison was an experience that was "nothing but self-discovery," and it allowed her to earn her GED, brush up on the basic math and other skills she missed out on as a child and become educated and even meet a few friends. She also met her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, and the two married while she was still in prison.
Photos taken last week show Gypsy and her husband out buying shoes in an Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse near Kansas City, Missouri, which is just southwest of where she was imprisoned in the Chillicothe Correctional Center in the city of the same name.
Gypsy met her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, and the two married while she was still in prison."I was in a little cocoon. And now that I’m free, I’ve emerged as a butterfly," she said of her experiences. She had hoped to also attend a Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium on New Year's Eve with Anderson, where she hoped to meet Taylor Swift as she rooted for her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, but that dream was snubbed after it was ordered that she head to Louisiana, where she'll be carrying out her parole sentence. The authorities had believed her potential attendance to be too much at the time for security purposes.
So instead, she and her "teddy bear" husband headed down to his home in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Gypsy has settled into her post-prison life. She visits with her father, who also lives in the state, and the two play video games together. She's also experienced delight at using a Keurig coffee maker for the first time.
"This is what I've been wanting for so long," she said, adding that it's been "an adjustment" but a "wonderful adjustment" nonetheless, noting that this is her "first taste of actual, real, full-fledged freedom."
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Gypsy said she's found ways to forgive her mother and herself for what they both did (Gypsy Rose Blanchard/Instagram)For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US
What comes next for Gypsy is a mystery, but she said she's going to take as much time as she needs to figure it all out — she's only 32, after all, and has the time to decide, she said. She eventually wants children and wants to start a career, but she's not sure what kind of skills she may have, having only ever had odd jobs at the prison in which she was serving time.
"Right now, I'm really not sure what my skill is, so I'm going to have to kind of discover that over time," she said. There have also been several docuseries and films made about what happened to her as well as a book written about her experiences. She said she's watched none of them, fearing that they'd be too "emotionally traumatising," but she said she will watch the upcoming docuseries on Lifetime, called The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
Gypsy shared a photo kissing her husband onto Instagram (Gypsy Rose Blanchard/Instagram)Gypsy also said she's found ways to forgive her mother and herself for what they both did, but it's taken time. She said it boiled down to her mother being really sick with "a lot of mental issues," which made it easier for her to forgive her. "I don't think she was evil," she said, even though she admitted there's still confusion surrounding what happened to her.
Of the docuseries and telling her story to the world, Gypsy said: "I am at least putting myself out there to be a cautionary tale because I don't want anyone to have to go through what I went through."