Gypsy-Rose Alcida Blanchard-Anderson (born July 27, 1991) is an American activist and author who was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, and sentenced to ten years in prison.^[1] Following her mother's death, Blanchard gained international notoriety, and her story was eventually adapted into a Hulu limited series, The Act (2019).

She was released on parole in December 2023, after serving eight years.^[2] Following her release, Blanchard has become an advocate for victims of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP) and has made numerous media appearances.

Early life

Blanchard was born on July 27, 1991 to 24-year-old Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard and 17-year-old Rod Blanchard.

Her mother first became convinced that Gypsy-Rose had an array of different health issues from infancy. Her mother had told her that she had muscular dystrophy and needed a walker. When she was around seven or eight years old, she was involved in a minor motorcycle accident with her grandfather, in which she obtained a minor knee abrasion. After this, Dee Dee had told her that she needed a wheelchair.^[3]

Move to Missouri

After Hurricane Katrina destroyed their Louisiana home, Dee Dee and Gypsy-Rose lived in a rented home in Aurora in southwestern Missouri. During their time there, Gypsy-Rose was honored by the Oley Foundation, which advocates for the rights of feeding-tube recipients, as its 2007 Child of the Year.^[4] In 2008, Habitat for Humanity built them a small home with a wheelchair ramp and hot tub as part of a larger project on the north side of Springfield, to the east, and the two moved there. The story of a single mother with a severely disabled daughter forced to flee Katrina's devastation received considerable local media attention, and the community often pitched in to help the woman who now went by Clauddinnea Blancharde, and whom they knew as Dee Dee.^[5]

Many people who met Gypsy-Rose were charmed by her. Her 4’11 (150 cm) height, nearly toothless mouth, large glasses, and high, childlike voice reinforced the perception that she had all the problems her mother claimed she did. Dee Dee regularly shaved Gypsy-Rose's head to mimic the hairless appearance of a chemotherapy patient, allegedly telling her that since her medication would eventually cause her hair to fall out, it was best to shave it in advance; Gypsy-Rose often wore wigs or hats to cover her baldness. When they left the house, Dee Dee often took an oxygen tank and feeding tube with them; Gypsy-Rose was fed the children's liquid nutrition supplement PediaSure well into her 20s.^[5]

Dee Dee used physical abuse to control her daughter, always holding her hand in the presence of others. When Gypsy-Rose said something that suggested she was not genuinely sick or seemed beyond her purported mental capacity, she recalls that her mother would squeeze her hand very tightly. When the two were alone, Dee Dee struck her with her open hands or a coat hanger.^[6]

Growing independence

Dee Dee seems to have at least once forged a copy of Gypsy-Rose's birth certificate, changing her birthdate to 1995 to bolster claims that she was still a teenager; Gypsy-Rose said in a later interview that for 14 years, she was unsure of her real age.^[7] She sometimes also claimed that the original was destroyed during the post-Katrina flooding. Dee Dee did keep another copy with Gypsy's true birthdate. Gypsy recalls seeing it during one of their hospital visits and becoming confused; Dee Dee told her it was a misprint.^[8]

Gypsy-Rose had attended science fiction and fantasy conventions since 2001,^[9] sometimes in costume since she could blend into their diverse and inclusive communities in her wheelchair. At a 2011 event, she made what may have been an escape attempt that ended when her mother found her in a hotel room with a man she had met online. Again Dee Dee produced the paperwork giving her false, younger birthdate and threatened to inform the police.^[5] Gypsy-Rose recalls that afterward, Dee Dee smashed her computer with a hammer and threatened to do the same to her fingers if she ever tried to escape again; she also kept Gypsy-Rose leashed and handcuffed to her bed for two weeks. Dee Dee later told Gypsy-Rose that she had filed paperwork with the police claiming that Gypsy-Rose was mentally incompetent, leading her to believe that if she attempted to go to the police for help, they would not believe her.^[10]

Sometime around 2012, Gypsy-Rose, who continued to use the Internet after her mother had gone to bed to avoid her tightened supervision, made contact online with Nicholas Godejohn, a man around her age from Big Bend, Wisconsin, whom she said she had met on a Christian singles website.^[5] Godejohn has a criminal record for indecent exposure and a history of mental illness, sometimes reported as dissociative identity disorder. He also has autism spectrum disorder.^[6]

In 2014, Gypsy-Rose confided to 23-year-old neighbor Aleah Woodmansee (who, unaware that Gypsy-Rose was closer to her own age, considered herself a "big sister"), that she and Godejohn had discussed eloping and had even chosen names for potential children. Gypsy-Rose, who had five separate Facebook accounts,^[10] and Godejohn flirted online, their exchanges sometimes using BDSM elements, which she has since claimed was more what he was interested in. Woodmansee tried to talk her out of it, still thinking Gypsy-Rose was too young and possibly being taken advantage of by a sexual predator.^[5] She considered Gypsy-Rose's plans just "fantasies and dreams and nothing like this would ever really take place." Despite Dee Dee's efforts to prevent her from using the Internet, which went as far as destroying her daughter's phone and laptop,^[7] Gypsy-Rose maintained contact with Woodmansee, who saved printouts of her posts, until 2014.^[5]

The next year, Gypsy-Rose arranged and paid for Godejohn to meet her mother in Springfield. Her plan was for him to just casually "bump into" her while she and Dee Dee were at a movie theater, both of them in costume,^[7] and apparently strike up a relationship that way, and then later for her to introduce him to her mother. As soon as they did meet in person for the first time, Godejohn says, Gypsy-Rose led him to the bathroom, where the two had sex.^[6] The two continued their Internet interactions and began developing their plan to kill Dee Dee.^[5]

Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard

Godejohn returned to Springfield in June 2015, arriving while Gypsy-Rose and her mother were away at a doctor's appointment. After they had returned home and Dee Dee had gone to sleep, he went to the Blanchard house. Gypsy-Rose let him in and allegedly gave him duct tape, gloves, and a knife with the understanding that he would use it to murder Dee Dee.^[7]

She hid in the bathroom and covered her ears so that she would not have to hear her mother screaming. Godejohn then stabbed Dee Dee 17 times in the back while she was asleep.^[6] Afterward, the two had sex in Gypsy-Rose's room, and took $5,000 in cash that Dee Dee had been keeping in the house, mostly from child support checks. They fled to a motel outside Springfield, where they stayed a few days while planning their next move; during that time, they were seen on security cameras at several stores. Gypsy-Rose said at that point she believed the two had gotten away with their crime.^[7]

They mailed the murder weapon back to Godejohn's home in Wisconsin to avoid being caught with it,^[11] then took a bus there. Several witnesses who saw the pair on their way to the Greyhound station noted that Gypsy wore a blonde wig and walked unassisted.^[12]

Investigation and arrests

After seeing concerning Facebook statuses posted from Dee Dee's account, the Blanchards' friends suspected something was amiss. When phone calls went unanswered, several friends and neighbors went to the house. While the friends and neighbors knew that the two often left on medical trips unannounced, they saw Dee Dee's modified car still in the driveway, making an unannounced trip unlikely. Protective film on the windows made it hard to see inside in the low light. No one answered the door, so the gathered friends called 9-1-1. When the police arrived, they had to wait for a search warrant to be issued before they could enter, but they allowed one of the neighbors present to climb through a window, where he saw that the inside of the house was largely undisturbed and that Gypsy-Rose's wheelchairs were all present.^[5]

When the warrant was issued, police entered the house and found Dee Dee's body. A GoFundMe account was set up to pay for her funeral expenses and possibly Gypsy-Rose's. All who knew the Blanchards feared the worst—even if Gypsy-Rose had not been harmed, they believed she would be helpless without her wheelchair, medications, and support equipment like the oxygen tanks and feeding tube.^[5]

Woodmansee, who was among those gathered on the Blanchards' lawn, told police what she knew about Gypsy-Rose and her secret boyfriend. She showed them the printouts she had saved, which included his name. Based on that information, police asked Facebook to trace the IP address from which the posts to Dee Dee's account had been made. It turned out to be in Wisconsin, and the next day police agencies in Waukesha County raided the Godejohns' Big Bend home. Godejohn and Gypsy-Rose surrendered and were taken into custody on charges of murder and felony armed criminal action.^[13]

The news that Gypsy-Rose was safe was greeted with relief in Springfield, where she and Godejohn were soon extradited and held on $1 million bond. But, in announcing the news, Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott warned, "things are not always what they appear." The media in Springfield soon reported the truth of the Blanchards' lives: that Gypsy-Rose had never been sick and had always been able to walk, but her mother had made her pretend otherwise, using physical abuse to control her. Arnott urged people not to donate money to the family until investigators learned the extent of the fraud.^[13]

Prison

While in prison, she got engaged to a man named Ken, who she met through a pen pal programme.^[14] They subsequently ended their relationship. In July 2022, she married Louisiana teacher Ryan Anderson in a prison ceremony with no guests present.^[15]

After prison

Blanchard was released on parole on December 28, 2023, after serving eight years of her ten-year sentence.^[16]

She announced her e-book, Released: Conversations on The Eve of Freedom,^[17] would be released in January 2024. Following her release, Blanchard began giving interviews to various news outlets and television programs. In her first television interview on January 5, she spoke to Good Morning America and CNN.^[18][19] Later that day, she appeared on an episode of The View, in which she discussed her release from prison and her plans going forward.^[20][21][22]

In popular culture

There have been many portrayals of Gypsy-Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard in film and television. HBO released a documentary film, Mommy Dead and Dearest, in 2017. It included exclusive interviews from Blanchard and Godejohn.^[23][24] The CBS network talk show Dr. Phil episode "Mother Knows Best: A Story of Munchausen by Proxy and Murder" featuring interviews with Gypsy Rose, her father and stepmother, premiered on November 21, 2017.^[25][26] In 2019 Hulu released an eight part mini-series, The Act. Joey King portrayed Gypsy-Rose and Patricia Arquette portrayed Dee Dee. Drag queen BOA portrayed Gypsy-Rose for the Snatch Game on season 1 of Canada's Drag Race.^[27] On January 5, 2024, Lifetime TV network released a six part docu-series entitled The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.^[28]

See also

• Factitious disorder imposed on another

References