Nicholas Godejohn Given Life Imprisonment for Killing Dee Dee Blanchard
Nicholas Godejohn, who murdered his girlfriend’s abusive mother Dee Dee Blanchard in 2015, was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole on Friday.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Godejohn’s girlfriend at the time, plotted the murder of her mother with him, feeling murder was the only opportunity to escape her mother’s abuse. The pair met on a Christian dating website and began dating secretly without mother Dee Dee’s knowledge.
Gypsy Rose was the victim of her mother’s alleged Munchausen syndrome by proxy (now called factitious disorder imposed on another), a mental illness that leads a caregiver to act as if the individual he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not really sick. During her childhood, Gypsy Rose underwent multiple unnecessary surgeries, was forced to use a feeding tube and wheelchair (though she could eat and walk unaided) and was given medications for conditions she didn’t have.
According to Fox 14, Godejohn confessed to stabbing Blanchard in interrogation footage.
“I did actually stab her,” he said, elaborating that he was motivated by his love for Gypsy Rose. “I would have never did it if it were not for me and her.”
Though they never claimed Godejohn’s innocence, his defense team claimed Gypsy Rose manipulated him and Godejohn’s autism diagnosis kept him from comprehending the severity of his actions. A psychologist on the prosecution side said Godejohn is “just barely within the diagnosis of autism,” KY3 reported.
Gypsy Rose is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Missouri. Hulu will release “The Act” on March 20, a series following the highly-publicized story.
Screenshot via Investigation Discovery Facebook page