After all the heartbreaks, the trauma, and the tragedy, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for this young woman whose life had an infamously rough start, and who some felt was judged unfairly.
It has been announced that Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who gripped the world with her grim story, will be released from prison early on parole, three years before her original release date, after she was sentenced to 10 years for conspiring to kill her own mother.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been granted an early release from prison, following a sentence of 10 years on a murder charge
Image credits: Dr. Phil
Gypsy’s story is one that exemplifies why a person shouldn’t just judge a book by its cover.
Born in 1991 in Golden Meadow, Louisiana, to what appeared to be a loving and caring mother, Dee Dee, Gypsy spent her childhood fighting serious diagnoses that prevented her from leading a normal life.
According to Biography.com, when Gypsy was eight years old, Dee Dee described her as suffering from leukemia and muscular dystrophy, and said she required a wheelchair and feeding tube.
Gypsy spent most of her childhood in a wheelchair, being fed medications that she didn't need
Image credits: HBODocs
The list of medical problems that Dee Dee related about her daughter continuously grew as Gypsy became older.
The mom added seizures, asthma, hearing and visual impairments to the long list of her daughter’s health problems.
As a result of Dee Dee touring doctors’ offices, from one physician to another, with the aim of confirming various diagnoses, Gypsy was prescribed a litany of medications and had to sleep using a breathing machine.
Gypsy's mom said her daughter suffered from leukemia and seizures
Image credits: Dr. Phil
Gypsy also went through multiple surgeries, such as an operation on her eyes and the removal of her salivary glands.
The unfortunate teen girl saw her teeth rot which may have been caused by the abundant amount of different prescribed medications she was forced to take, the missing salivary glands, or simply neglect, causing her to lose all of her teeth at the age of 18.
As Dee Dee fabricated a lengthy list of illnesses and medical conditions, Gypsy was confined to a wheelchair for a massive portion of her life.
It was already too late when experts realized that Gypsy was in fact a perfectly healthy young girl who had actually been suffering at the hands of her mother, as a victim of Munchausen by proxy.
At age 18, Gypsy lost all of her teeth after they had rotten, which may have been caused by taking all of the medications
Image credits: HBODocs
Munchausen by proxy is a condition where a fabricated disorder is imposed on another person, or when an illness is induced by carers. A caregiver typically creates the appearance of health problems in another person, very often on their own child.
Gypsy, who was maturing as a normal teenage girl despite her mother restricting her to the life of a sick child, started to grow curious about love, just like any regular girl her age would.
She went on to meet Nicholas Godejohn on a Christian dating website, and they started an online relationship which would become physical.
Gypsy reportedly asked Nicholas about killing Dee Dee, knowing that he had some mental health issues of his own, including multiple personality disorder.
Gypsy's boyfriend, Nicholas, stabbed Dee Dee to death
Image credits: Dr. Phil
Nicholas had also previously been in trouble with authorities after watching adult content in a McDonald's while touching himself inappropriately.
Nicholas and Gypsy reportedly had multiple exchanges on the manner in which Dee Dee would be killed, before finally settling on a fatal night in June 2015, when Nicholas came over to Gypsy’s house and stabbed Dee Dee while she was asleep.
Gypsy and Nicholas were subsequently arrested and respectively sentenced to prison for their parts in the murder, with Gypsy being convicted of second-degree murder.
Gypsy met Nicholas through a Christian dating site
Image credits: Greene County Sheriff's Office
According to Springfield News-Leader, Missouri's Department of Corrections has confirmed that the now 32-year-old will be released on December 28 - after serving just seven years of her original sentence.
In a previous interview with Dr. Phil, Gypsy admitted that she did not think she had received the right sentence.
When Dr. Phil enquired on whether her prison sentence was accordingly justified or not, Gypsy replied: "To be honest, I have complicated feelings about that.
Nicholas is still serving a life sentence
Image credits: Greene County Sheriff's Office
“I believe firmly that no matter what murder is not okay.
“But at the same time, I don't believe I deserved as many years as I got."
In turn, Dr. Phil asked: "But for you initiating the sequence of events she would still be alive?
"So in that sense, you are responsible for her death? What would be a just punishment?"
"I'm not really certain on that," Gypsy responded.
She continued: "I do believe that I do deserve to spend some time in prison for the crime, but also, I understand why it happened and I don't believe I'm in the right place to get the help that I need [...]
Gypsy is now bracing herself to be released this December early on parole
Image credits: HBODocs
“At the time I knew I was being abused but I didn't know exactly what kind of abuse it was."
Gypsy went on to explain that she had been severely restricted in her life by her mother, such as being forced to stay in a wheelchair and to go to doctors' appointments that she didn't need.
“I just wanted that life to stop,” she said. “Ultimately I didn't want her dead, I just wanted that life to stop and that life to be dead."
In 2021, Gypsy’s family friends Fancy Marcelli and Titania Gisclair expressed concern Gypsy could “end up back in prison”.
“She’s supposed to get out in 2025, but I worry about what’s going to happen to her.”
Fancy said: “She doesn’t want counseling, which the prison offers.
“She doesn’t feel that she needs any help. She needs better people around her.”
Nicholas, on the other hand, will continue to serve his life sentence behind bars.
Besides an HBO documentary, Gypsy's tragic story inspired a screenplay for Hulu's true crime TV series
Gypsy’s tragic story was the subject of a Hulu scripted series and an HBO documentary.
The Hulu series was based on a 2016 BuzzFeed article that detailed the shocking 2015 crime. The Oscar winner Patricia Arquette played Dee Dee while Gypsy was played by Joey King.
Many people agreed on the fact that Gypsy's prison sentence was not fully justified
