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Gypsy Rose Blanchard is reflecting on her mother’s murder amid being released early from a 10-year prison sentence. According to Fox 35 Orlando, Blanchard pled guilty to second-degree murder in July 2016.
The woman was accused of enlisting her boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, to kill her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, in 2015.
According to the outlet, Blanchard was released early from the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri on Thursday, December 28.
The outlet adds that a Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson has explained that Blanchard was granted parole after serving over 85% of her original 10-year sentence.
Furthermore, Fox 35 Orlando reports that “no in-person coverage” of Blanchard’s was permitted “in the interest of protecting safety, security, and privacy.”
According to PEOPLE, Blanchard sat down with the outlet “just before her early release.” At the time, the 32-year-old explained that she was “ready for freedom.”
“I’m ready for freedom,” Blanchard shared. “I’m ready to expand, and I think that goes for every facet of my life.”
Additionally, the 32-year-old reflected on her mother’s murder.
“No one will ever hear me say I’m proud of what I did or I’m glad that she’s dead,” she continued. “I’m not proud of what I did. I regret it every single day. She didn’t deserve that.”
Blanchard also shared how she would have handled things differently if she could go back in time.
“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 behavior,” Blanchard explained. “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 mommy makes me sick. 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.”
Before concluding the interview, the 32-year-old explained what she was looking forward to upon her prison release while sharing advice for other victims of abuse.
To note, Blanchard is now married to Ryan Anderson, a man she met behind bars in 2022.
“When I’m at home with my family, with my husband’s arms around me, and I’m surrounded by my loved ones, that is when I will be happy,” she explained. “I want to make sure that people in abusive relationships do not resort to murder. 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, Dee Dee Blanchard’s body was found after a fatal stabbing in June 2015. At the time, Blanchard was 23, and she and her boyfriend, Godejohn, were subsequently arrested for Dee Dee’s murder.
At the time, authorities discovered that Blanchard was a victim of abuse by her mother.
Dee Dee allegedly led family and friends to falsely believe that her daughter was terminally ill with the mind of a seven-year-old, suffering from “muscular dystrophy, leukemia and other ailments.”
Blanchard alleged that her mother wouldn’t allow her to speak at doctor visits, per PEOPLE. Additionally, Blanchard explained that she never enrolled in school and was kept from her father and siblings.
“I would voice concerns, being like, ‘I really don’t feel like I need this,’ and she would get really, really upset with me and start manipulating me,” Blanchard told the outlet. “I was limited in what I could watch and the exposure I had to other kids. What I knew of the outside world was only in Disney movies and those don’t talk about warning signs of bad parents.”
Blanchard ultimately confided in Godejohn about the treatment she received from her mother. According to Fox 35 Orlando, Blanchard would then supply Godejohn with a knife and hid in a bathroom while he fatally attacked Dee Dee.
Blanchard pled guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother, while Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder. He was then sentenced to life in prison.
To note, the Blanchard murder case has captured national attention and even been chronicled in various films and television series, including ‘Mommy Dead and Dearest,’ released by HBO in 2017, and ‘The Act,’ released by Hulu in 2019.
