CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses distressing content.
After spending eight years in prison, Gypsy Rose Blanchard has revealed that she regrets killing her mother Clauddine ‘Dee Dee‘ Blanchard back in 2015 and hopes her story will serve as a “cautionary tale”.
On December 28, Gypsy will be walking free from Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri after spending eight years in prison for her role in the murder of her mother.
For those who are not familiar with the case, in 2015 Gypsy and her then-boyfriend Nicholas ‘Nick’ Godejohn made a plan to kill Dee Dee and run away. During court proceedings, it was argued that Gypsy was a victim of physical and medical abuse as Dee Dee reportedly had Munchausen Syndrome by proxy — a “form of abuse” where someone fabricates illnesses or symptoms on someone else.
At the end of their trial, Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder and guilty of armed criminal action. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional 25 years for armed criminal action, as per USA TODAY. Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder but was granted parole in September 2023.
Gypsy’s polarising case has been retold through true crime podcasts, books, films and TV shows. One of the most famous retellings of the case was The Act (2019) starring Joey King and Patricia Arquette.
Ahead of her release, Gypsy spoke to PEOPLE and reflected on the couple of years she spent in the Missouri prison. During the exclusive interview, she said she regrets killing her mother despite being “desperate to get out of that situation”.
“If I had another chance to redo everything, I don’t know if I would go back to when I was a child and tell my aunts and uncles that I’m not sick and mummy makes me sick,” she said.
“Or, if I would travel back to just the point of that conversation with Nick and tell him, ‘You know what, I’m going to go tell the police everything.’ I kind of struggle with that.
“Nobody will ever hear me say I’m glad she’s dead or I’m proud of what I did. I regret it every single day.”
According to the publication, Dee Dee made Gypsy and folks around them believe that she was suffering from several illnesses including Leukemia and Epilepsy. Gypsy’s mother claimed that she needed a wheelchair.
“Obviously I knew that I could walk and didn’t need a feeding tube, but everything else was a really big confusion for me,” Gypsy said.
“Whenever I’d question it my mother would say I’d had a seizure the night before and didn’t remember. There was always an excuse.”
Further on in the interview, Gypsy expressed remorse and regret for the murder a second time, saying her mother “didn’t deserve” it.
“She was a sick woman and unfortunately I wasn’t educated enough to see that. She deserved to be where I am, sitting in prison doing time for criminal behaviour,” she continued.
As many folks find her case to be interesting, Gypsy said she hopes it serves as a cautionary tale for those in abusive relationships.
“I want to make sure that people in abusive relationships do not resort to murder,” she said.
“It may seem like every avenue is closed off but there is always another way. Do anything, but don’t take this course of action.”
According to PEOPLE, Gypsy will be “looking forward” to reuniting with her dad and stepmum. She will also be reuniting with her husband Ryan Anderson, a Louisiana teacher who she married in 2022 while in prison.
She recently announced an e-book titled RELEASED which is set to drop in January 2024.
Image source: Associated Press / Nathan Papes
