Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the Missouri woman in prison for the murder of her mother, Clauddinnea “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who allegedly abused her daughter and kept her sick for years, is set to be released on Thursday.
Gypsy Blanchard and her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, were arrested in 2015 for the murder of “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who was found stabbed to death in her Springfield home.
Gypsy Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years.
Gypsy Blanchard speaks with her attorney’s Mike Stanfield, right, and Clate Baker before her court appearance in Springfield, Mo., July 5, 2016.
Andrew Jansen/ANews-Leader via AP
The case garnered national headlines and was even made into a streaming series on Hulu in 2019. Patricia Arquette won an Emmy for playing “Dee Dee” Blanchard in the series, called “The Act.”
“Dee Dee” Blanchard allegedly abused her daughter for years by convincing Gypsy and the public that she was extremely sick, when she wasn’t.
Gypsy Blanchard, now 32, grew up believing she suffered from conditions including leukemia, muscular dystrophy, vision and hearing impairments and seizures. She used a wheelchair, a feeding tube and underwent multiple surgeries that were later deemed to be unnecessary. “Dee Dee” Blanchard allegedly lied about Gypsy’s age, making her appear younger on documents.
This undated booking photo proved by the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department in Waukesha Wi., shows Gypsy Blanchard.
Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department photo via AP
Gypsy Blanchard said her mother kept her weak, isolated and dependent on her, and said her mother became more controlling as she got older.
“She physically chained me to the bed and put bells on the doors and told … anybody that I probably would’ve trusted that I was going through a phase and to tell her if I was doing anything behind her back,” Gypsy Blanchard told ABC News’ “20/20” in 2017.
Police tape blocks the home of Claudinnea “Dee Dee” Blancharde, June 15, 2015 in Springfield, Mo.
Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP
Gypsy Blanchard said she eventually grew more curious about the outside world, and she made a dating profile and began an online relationship with Godejohn.
She said her mother “got jealous, because I was spending a little too much attention on him, and she had ordered me to stay away from him.”
Gypsy Blanchard told “20/20” she wanted her mother dead “because I wanted to escape her.”
In June 2015, Godejohn stabbed “Dee Dee” Blanchard in her bedroom, he later told police. Godejohn said he wanted to protect his girlfriend.
Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In 2017, Gypsy Blanchard told “20/20” she felt freer in prison than she did living with her mom.
This undated booking photo proved by the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department in Waukesha Wi., shows Nicholas Paul Godejohn.
Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department photo via AP