Gypsy Rose Blanchard talks about the breaking point that led to the murder

The fatal stabbing was carried out on June 9, 2015, by her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn. Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 25 years for armed criminal action. Meanwhile, Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Throughout her childhood, Gypsy is believed to have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of abuse in which a caregiver fabricates or induces illnesses in their child to gain attention or sympathy. This abuse was a large part of her life and ultimately played a significant role in the events that led to her mother’s death.

Now, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is opening up about the “final straw” that led to her mother’s murder in her new memoir, “My Time to Stand,” released Dec. 10.

According to the 33-year-old, the “final straw” occurred a month before the murder when her mother “tried to cut” her throat after her voice became unexpectedly “high-pitched”. She recounted pleading with her mother, who insisted there was nothing wrong with her voice, but Dee Dee still took her to a pulmonologist who recommended “exploratory surgery on her throat.”

By this time, Gypsy had already attempted to escape twice and shot her mother with a “BB gun” after Dee Dee allegedly “chained” her to the bed, claiming that Gypsy had become “harder to control” as she got older. Gypsy described the proposed throat surgery as “completely unnecessary” and said it made her “really afraid” of “the scope of (her mother’s) malice”.

Before the planned surgery, Gypsy said her mother had been “gagging” her mouth at night with a CPAP machine “to treat her sleep apnea” and using Oragel to “numb” her mouth, making her “drool and drool.” She also held Dee Dee responsible for her teeth falling out, which she attributed to “side effects of excessive medications.”

“By speaking for me and writing down all my interactions, you denied me the ability to find my own voice. Now, the way I saw it, my literal voice, no matter how shrill, could be taken away from me. Her final play,” the ex-con wrote.

“I always had this stuffed animal or Barbie doll, (and Dee Dee) would tell me just (play) with your Barbie doll and when the doctor comes to check me, just stay in the wheelchair, be quiet, play with your Barbie doll, and don’t move your legs.” , she recalled in an interview while she was still in prison for the charge against her 2017 documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest”.

“I was in the dark like everyone else,” she added. “(The only thing) I know is that I can walk. As for everything else, like the leukemia and the epilepsy, I was taking medication that Dee Dee said was cancer medication.”

Gypsy shared that her mother went so far as to shave her head, telling her, “It’s going to fall out anyway, so let’s keep it nice and neat.”

As for how Dee Dee was able to fool so many doctors, it is believed that the drugs she gave Gypsy “caused many of the symptoms of diseases (that) the doctors thought they were treating.”

Over the course of nine years, Dee Dee brought Gypsy to the hospital more than 100 times, citing various fabricated medical conditions.

In 2016, Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the death of her mother, Dee Dee. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and was released on conditions on December 28, 2023, after serving 85% of her sentence.

Her then-boyfriend, Godejohn, who carried out the fatal stabbing in 2015 at Gypsy’s behest, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During her trial, Gypsy testified that the reason she conspired to kill her mother was because of the years of abuse she had been subjected to, which made her feel as if murder was her only recourse. She recounted how Dee Dee forced her to use a wheelchair and undergo countless unnecessary medical tests and procedures.

Dee Dee also exploited her daughter by portraying her as a terminally ill, disabled child to gain sympathy and raise charitable donations from organizations such as Make-A-Wish and The Walt Disney Company, all while exercising complete control over Gypsy’s life.