Gypsy Rose Blanchard — who experts have labeled a victim of Munchausen by proxy — is slated to be released from prison next week, nearly eight years after she conspired with her then-boyfriend to murder her abusive mother.
Blanchard is scheduled to walk free from the Missouri’s Chillicothe Correctional Center on Dec. 28, and she already has big plans lined up.
Dee Dee Blanchard and Gypsy Rose Blanchard in their home.
She previously told TMZ that she purchased tickets for a Kansas City Chiefs game on New Year’s Eve, where she hopes to meet Taylor Swift, who’s famously dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Blanchard, who was originally set for a 2026 release from prison, will be freed after serving 85% of her sentence as required by state law. She was also given time served for the year she spent in Greene County Jail before she entered her guilty plea.
In 2016, Blanchard was ordered to spend 10 years in prison for the second-degree murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who managed to fool doctors and everyone else around her into believing her daughter was ill.
By the time she was 8 years old, Blanchard was allegedly suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, hearing and vision impairments as well as seizures. She relied on a wheelchair to get from place to place and a feeding tube for nutrition and medicine she didn’t really need.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard takes the stand during the trial of her ex-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, Nov. 15, 2018, in Springfield, Mo. Blanchard, the Missouri woman who admitted to convincing her online boyfriend to kill her abusive mother after being forced to pretend for years she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, is set to be paroled Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023.
The deception continued for most of her childhood, with DeeDee collecting thousands in gifts and donations given out of sympathy for Blanchard’s alleged health issues, People reported. They also received a house from Habitat for Humanity, went backstage at Miranda Lambert concerts via the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and enjoyed paid trips to Disney World.
In interviews from behind bars, Blanchard said she became more defiant in her teen years, and eventually joined a dating website, on which she met Nicholas Godejohn. The duo maintained a secret online relationship for more than two years before meeting in person and telling Dee Dee, who rejected the romance.
On June 9, 2015, Blanchard waited until her mother had fallen asleep to invite Godejohn over. She hid in a nearby room and listened as he attacked her.
Days after the slaying, the pair wrote about DeeDee’s death on social media, including one post reading, “That b—h is dead.” Authorities found her body that same day, June 14. She had been stabbed 17 times.
Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder for carrying out the slaying, and received a life sentence.
Today in history: Dec. 27
1932: Radio City Music Hall
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In 1932, New York City’s Radio City Music Hall first opened.
1968: Apollo 8
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In 1968, Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.
1985: Airport Attacks
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In 1985, Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; 19 victims were killed, plus four attackers who were slain by police and security personnel.
1985: Dian Fossey
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In 1985, American naturalist Dian Fossey, 53, who had studied gorillas in the wild in Rwanda, was found hacked to death.
2000: Roger Gregory
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In 2000, President Bill Clinton put the first Black judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serving several Southern states. (The nomination of Roger Gregory had been stalled in the Senate, but Clinton used a recess appointment to put him on the bench.)
2001: Guantanamo Bay
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In 2001, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
2012: Norman Schwarzkopf
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Retired Army general Norman Schwarzkopf, 78, died in Tampa, Florida.
2016: Shinzo Abe
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Five years ago: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH’-bay), accompanied by President Barack Obama, visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where he offered his “sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives” in Japan’s 1941 attack; Abe did not apologize, but conceded his country “must never repeat the horrors of war again.”
2017: Disneyland
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A power outage struck parts of Disneyland in California, forcing some guests to be escorted from stalled rides.
2017: Jose Altuve
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Houston Astros star second baseman Jose Altuve was named AP Male Athlete of the Year after leading the team to its first World Series title.
2020: Donald Trump
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One year ago: President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that would deliver cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.
2020: Nashville
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One year ago: Federal authorities identified the man they said was responsible for a Christmas Day bombing that tore through downtown Nashville; they said Anthony Quinn Warner had died in the blast.
2021: USS Milwaukee
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Defense officials said a U.S. Navy warship, the USS Milwaukee, remained in port in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with about two dozen sailors – or nearly a quarter of its crew – testing positive for COVID-19.
