All language subtitles for Mommy.Dead.And.Dearest.2017.WEBRip.x264-ION10

( door closes )

>>WAUKESHA COUNTY
SHERIFF'S OFFICE<<
( door closes )

>>JUNE 15, 2015 10:40PM
WAUKESHA, WI<<

( men chattering )

- Man:
Hey, Gypsy, this is Stan.
- Stanley Hancock: Hi, Gypsy.

- I'll let you guys talk.
- Hi, I'm Det. Hancock.

I'm with Greene County
Sheriff's Office.

- How are you today?
- Gypsy: I'm doing good.

Hancock:
Good.

( music playing )

Hancock:
You need to be
honest with me.

And if you're involved
in anything

that I'm about ready
to tell you, then you
need to tell me, okay?

- Absolutely.
- Um, your mom's dead, okay?

Now, what I want
to ask you--

- Wait, what, what?
- Your mom's passed away, okay?

She's deceased,
all right?

Now, what I want
to ask you--

did you have
involvement in this?

- Okay.
- ( crying ) No, no--

Hang on, listen to me
for just a second, okay?

- Uh-huh.
- What happened
with your mom that night?

( Gypsy crying )

Um...

I don't know
what happened
with my mom at all.

- Help me.
Please help me.
- Okay, you...

Just listen to me,
okay, sweetheart?

You know what happened
to your mom, okay?

And I know
that you know.

Gypsy:
You think that it's me?

Why would you think
that it's me?

I have always loved
my mom.

My mom and I
are best friends.

Hancock:
Listen to me.

Please don't dig yourself
in this hole,

and that's what
you're doing.

Gypsy:
I really love my mom.

- I know you do.
- Please.

I know you-- sweetheart,
I know you love your mom.

I have no doubt
that you love your mom.

( crying )

Hancock:
>>But why did Nick
hurt her?<<

Now's the time
to be truthful, sweetheart.

No more lies.

- Did you kill your mom?
- Gypsy: No. No, sir.

Hancock:
Did you help Nicholas
kill your mom?

>>MOMMY DEAD AND DEAREST<<

( applause )

Man:
Ladies and gentlemen,

please welcome
a cancer survivor

and passionate young lady,
Gypsy Rose Blanchard

and her mother
Dee Dee Blanchard

from Springfield, Missouri,
to the stage.

>>SIX YEARS EARLIER<<
( applause )

♪ I believe ♪

♪ There are angels
among us ♪

♪ Sent down to us ♪

♪ From somewhere
up above ♪

♪ They come
to you and me ♪

♪ In our darkest hours. ♪

( applause, cheering )

Dee Dee:
Thank you, my sweetie.

I've always said

you're the reason
I was born to be your mama.

- ( applause )
- ( mouthing words )

>>SPRINGFIELD, MO<<

Reporter:
Breaking news this morning.

48-year-old
Dee Dee Blanchard

was found dead
inside her home.

Her 19-year-old daughter
Gypsy

is still
considered missing.

- ( siren wailing )
- Jim Arnott: It all started

receiving a call
on June 14th

to check the well-being
of a family.

>>GREENE COUNTY SHERIFF<<

( chatter )

Linda Ong:
Gypsy and Dee Dee

were Hurricane Katrina
survivors.

Everybody believed
that they were coming here

to the Ozarks
to make a better life.

>>LOCAL NEWS REPORTER
SPRINGFIELD, MO<<

Arnott:
There was a Facebook post

that was quite alarming.

We were actually thinking
that it was somebody that
hacked into the Facebook

and it wasn't
actually a threat.

>>WHAT?!!! Did your FB
get hacked? I have never
heard you talk like that.<<

Elaine Scherer:
Gypsy was in a wheelchair.

She had leukemia
and she was having seizures
>>COMMUNITY SERVICE WORKER
AURORA, MO<<

and she had to be
tube fed.

Arnott:
As the sheriff,
my primary responsibility

at that time
was really to ensure

that her well-being
was okay.

Whatever they were going through
was incredibly hard for them,

especially with
the medical conditions.
>>GYPSY'S NEIGHBOR AND FRIEND<<

And so, everybody
gathered around them

and would try
to help them out
as much as possible.

It just proves
that happy endings

are not just
in fairy tales,
they're real.

( laughter )

The Facebook post
was quote...

"The bitch is dead."

And another post stating,

"I fucking slashed
that fat pig

and raped her sweet,
innocent daughter.

Her scream
was so fucking loud, LOL."

>>GREEN COUNTY
SHERIFF'S OFFICE<<
- ( men chattering )
- ( cameras clicking )

>>JUNE 16, 2015<<

Okay, good morning.

I want to specify
at the beginning of
this press conference

that this is an ongoing
investigation.

And I want to start off
with saying

things are not always
as they appear.

The truth is--
okay, I'll admit it.
>>GYPSY'S BOYFRIEND<<

I did actually...

stab her.

- I will admit it.
- I know, okay.

The only reason I did it
is 'cause I did it
for me and her.

- I would've never did it
if it was not for me and her.
- Okay.

I know that
he loves me, and...

he would do
anything for me

and-- to be with me.

Did Gypsy know
that you were going
to kill her mother?

Um... honestly,

she asked me to.

Okay.

>>THE BITCH IS DEAD<<

Arnott:
Both Facebook postings

were authored by Gypsy.

>>I FUCKEN SLASHED THAT FAT PIG
AND RAPED HER SWEET INNOCENT
DAUGHTER...<<

>>HER SCREAM
WAS SOOOO FUCKEN LOUD LOL<<

The prosecutor
has filed charges
this morning

for first-degree murder.

This is a tragic,
tragic event

surrounded by mystery
and public deception.

Gypsy can walk
without assistance

or a wheelchair...

and she can do that
very well.

( clicks )

Okay.

( camera clicking )

>>GYPSY'S ARRAIGNMENT
JUNE 16, 2015<<

( sobbing )

This individual
has alleged

to conspire
with Nicholas Godejohn

to stab her mother
to death

so that they could
be together.

- The penalty is
life imprisonment or death.
- ( sobbing )

( indistinct chatter )

Reporter:
Seeing Gypsy Blanchard
walk on her own two feet

in a Wisconsin courtroom
was a shock to friends
and neighbors.

>>GYPSY'S NEIGHBOR<<
Is she sick?

I don't know yet.

We're trying
to figure that out.

>>Can she walk?<<

Um, yes.

Oh, son of a bitch.

( crying )
To see her walk...

was really upsetting.

Obviously,
if that's a lie,

then who knows
what all was a lie.

We really don't know
the true background
of this family,

as we have unearthed
the appearance

of a long
financial fraud scheme.

Reporter:
The family got
medical airlifts,

Disney travel,
and free housing
over the years

because of Gypsy's
supposed disabilities.

Reporter #2:
It was a facade
that translated online,

>>THE GYPSY ROSE TRIP<<
donations pouring in

for Gypsy's reported
muscular dystrophy

and leukemia.

>>CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT
GYPSY'S MEDICAL TRIP BY DEE
AND GYPSYROSE BLANCHARD<<

Arnott:
We have not confirmed
the age of Gypsy.

It appears that there is
several date of births

that have been used
over a period of time.

I almost want to say,
"Man, I can't believe she--

I even wanted
to associate with--
why did I even help them?"

I just never would see
that that little girl

really wasn't
who she was supposed to be.

( camera clicking )

>>JULY 24, 2015<<

>>THE PROSECUTION PRESENTS
ITS PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE
AGAINST GYPSY.<<

Case exhibit 53.

Can I ask you
if you'll tell me
what that is?

Dan Patterson:
Miss Blanchard is charged

with murder
in the first degree.

When you commit
a first-degree murder,
>>GREENE COUNTY PROSECUTOR<<

you knowingly cause
the death of another person

after deliberation.

Analysis of cell phones

provided evidence
of numerous text messages

between Gypsy Blanchard
and Nicholas Godejohn.

Patterson:
Nicholas Godejohn was someone

that Gypsy Blanchard
met online.

They began a online
dating relationship.

Patterson:
During the attacks,
the two discussed

Nicholas killing
Clauddine.

( chimes )
>>The shits gonna go
down tonight...<<

>>Babe its My Evil Side
doing it<<

>>he won't mess up
because he enjoys killing<<

>>...we'll be happy soon.<<

>>After this night
we will never bring it up<<

At the beginning,
it looks like a tabloid case.

It looks like,
"Here's some people
in some weird outfits,

and they're pretending
to be disabled and they're
scamming everybody.

And then there's this, like,
sort of horrible murder,

and the Facebook status,
'That bitch is dead.'"
>>FREELANCE JOURNALIST<<

Like, all of it
is very tabloid.
>>THE NEW YORKER, BUZZFEED<<

And then, gradually,
that story just sort of
fell apart.

Still, it feels to me
like it's developing
into something else.

( seagull screeching )
>>LAFOURCHE PARISH, LA
GYPSY'S HOMETOWN<<

>>GYPSY'S FATHER
DEE DEE'S EX-HUSBAND<<

I still ask the question,

"How do you kill
your own mother?"

I mean, there's got
to be a reason.

There's got to be
some abuse there.

You don't just...
"I'm gonna kill my mother

because I wanna be
with a boyfriend."

Like I told my mom
when I called my mom

and talked to her
about it.

I said, "Mama,
I've been-- you know,
I was mad at you before,

but I've never, ever
in a million years

thought about
killing you."

I said, "For me to think
about killing you,

you'd have had to done
some pretty bad stuff to me."

Nobody wants
to believe that something
like this can happen.

>>GYPSY'S LAWYER
MISSOURI PUBLIC DEFENDER<<

I think
the initial reaction is--

is that, you know,
Gypsy's been lying
to everybody.

But when you look
at the backstory,

when you look
at how we got here,

this all started
long before Gypsy

would've ever had any type
of say in what was happening.

>>GYPSY, 3 MONTHS OLD<<

Right from birth,
three months old.

Dee Dee was telling me
that she had sleep apnea

and she needed
a breathing machine

or breathing monitor
machine,

which, I mean, I--
to this day,

I don't know if that was real
or not, you know?

It escalated from then.

Problems with her eyes,
her hearing,

her digestive system.

After that,
Gypsy couldn't walk anymore.

She had
a muscular disorder.

>>GYPSY, 10 YEARS OLD<<

And Dee Dee told me
she would need a wheelchair.

You know, I asked her.
I said, "Man, she's got
a lot of issues.

What's going on?"
You know, and, um...

They had done some tests
and found out she had
a chromosome disorder

that was causing
all of her functions
from developing--

her digestive system
and her muscular system.

Dee Dee told me
she's not going to live

to be, you know,
18 years old.

She may be an old teenager,
that's about it.

You know,
I was like, "Really?"

You know, it was shocking,
it was disturbing.

And to see her
at 23 years old now,

perfectly healthy--
( scoffs )

( stammering )
it pisses me off, you know?

>>GYPSY'S STEPMOTHER<<

( growls )

Kristy:
This picture here...

I don't know
if this was the surgery

where she thought
her stomach lining

wrapped around
her esophagus.

Rod:
No, she would've
had that earlier.

She had that feeding tube
way before then.

You know?

She was 10 here.

Rod:
This was probably close
to the first year or two

when she was
in a wheelchair.

Yep.

Breaks my heart...

knowing she got put
through all of this

when she didn't need it.

Fourteen years.

To be confined.

The last 14 years
in a wheelchair.

I couldn't imagine.

Stanfield: I've never
encountered anything

that is even close to what
Gypsy has gone through.

Her mother appeared
to have taken great steps

to keep Gypsy
in a very juvenile role,

making her act
several years younger
than her actual age.

It appears that Gypsy
was not even aware

of what
her actual age was.

Rod:
I called her
for her 18th birthday,

and Dee Dee said,
"Don't tell her she's 18,
you know?"

I'm like, "What you mean
don't tell her she's 18?

She knows she's 18.
It's her 18th birthday."

"Yeah, but she don't know
she's 18.

She's-- you know."

I thought it was weird,
you know?

I-- she--

I mean, I always did know
that she--

she told me
her mental capacity was,

you know, like,
five years behind.

When she was, like, 15,
she was like,

"Oh, yeah, her learning
is coming along,

but she's like, mentally,
at a 9- or 10-year-old."

Kristy:
She looks like
she would be 10 and 11,

and she was probably
like, 21, 22.

I wonder
what she was thinking.

Hello, everybody!
This is Gypsy Rose

reporting
from Aurora, Missouri.

I'm about to dive
off our porch
>>DEE DEE'S HOME MOVIES<<

into the pile of snow.

You ready?

( screams, laughs )

That was so grand!

Whoo!

All right!

Yooh!

Yeah!

>>A SPECIAL DAY<<

( squealing )

That's so cool.
Let's do it again.

Dean:
It's hard to answer
a lot questions

about who Gypsy is,
right?

Because she was somebody else
for such a long time.

- ( door closes )
- Dean: And now we know her

as almost a completely
different person.

- Erin Lee Carr: I'm Erin,
as you remember.
- I remember.

Dean:
I would be curious
if anybody Gypsy has talked to

feels they're getting
the full story.

This is actually
kind of the first time
I've been honest

besides being honest,
you know, with my attorneys.

Even then, I haven't been
completely honest
with them, so...

Carr:
How would you
describe your mom?

Um...

unique.

Um...

I mean,
I used to always think

that maybe she was
a little overprotective.

So, if I had to say
one word about her,

it would be overprotective.

Dee Dee:
How old are you?

>>GYPSY, 1 YEAR OLD<<

>>(DEE DEE'S VOICE
OFFSCREEN)<<
You're one.

And where's your cranial?

Very good.
And where's your phalanges?

Yes.
Very, very good.

I really didn't think
any abuse was going on.

Um... it's like
when you're abused,

but you've lived that way
your whole life.

You don't really know
that you're being abused.

You don't know
any different.

Looking at
the open ocean now.

And it's beautiful!

Gypsy:
I knew that I was different

or my life was different
from other kids'.

But people thought of us,
as, you know,

the sweetest
mother-daughter family ever.

The best two people
in the world.

Carr:
What illnesses
did your mom

say that you had?

Um...

asthma, epilepsy,
hearing impaired,

vision impaired,
fed with a feeding tube,

paralyzed
from the waist down.

Um...

slow, so retardation.

And-- among other things,

I just can't
remember them.

>>GYPSYROSE'S DIAGANOSIS<<

>>LIST OF CONDITIONS
DEE DEE GAVE TO DOCTORS<<

>>G I REFLUX, ANEMIA,
HYPERVENTILATION, INCONTANINCE,
LUNG DISEASE, HEART MUMMUR<<

>>DEE DEE'S
MEDICAL CLOSET<<

Gypsy: I was
on breathing medication.

Medication for seizures.

Medication to help
go to the bathroom.

Pain medication,
anxiety medication.

Just everything.

I would have to put on
the breathing machine
every night.

I hated it, though,
because it seemed to make

my breathing worse,
not better.

And then another machine
was for the feeding tube.

It was controlling
what I'd eat.

My medications would be
put through there.

I really wouldn't even
have to be awake.

So, she could put
whatever in my body,

and I wouldn't even know.

( yawns )

>>DEE DEE AND GYPSY ON
ONE OF THEIR MEDICAL TRIPS<<

Dee Dee:
Hey, you make me
wanna yawn.

- ( yawning )
- ( snorts )

( laughs )
So, where are you
going today?

I'm going
to Children's Mercy Hospital

to see my dentist.

For my teeth.

And we'll be back.

And we'll be back soon.

- Not yet.
- ( giggles )

>>ACCORDING
TO MEDICAL RECORDS,<<

>>DEE DEE BROUGHT GYPSY
TO LOCAL HOSPITALS<<

>>OVER 100 TIMES
BETWEEN 2005 AND 2014.<<

Gypsy:
If we'd be going
to the doctor,

she would do
all the talking.

I'd always have
a stuffed animal

or a Barbie doll.

She'd just tell me just play
with my Barbie doll.

And if the doctor would come
to examine me--

"Just stay
in the wheelchair,

be calm,
play with your doll,

and don't move your legs."

>>GYPSY UNDERWENT
MULTIPLE SURGERIES
DURING HER HOSPITAL VISITS.<<

>>THEY INCLUDED
GASTROINTESTINAL OPERATIONS,<<

>>EYE PROCEDURES,
AND THE REMOVAL<<

>>OF HER SALIVARY GLANDS.<<

I was just
as much in the dark
as everybody else.

The only thing I knew
is that I could walk.

As for everything else,

you had the leukemia
and the epilepsy.

I was taking medication

that she said
was cancer medicine.

She would shave my head
and say,

"Well, it's going
to fall out anyway,

so let's just keep it
nice and neat."

I just went on blind faith
that a mother knows best.

>>THE MEDICATIONS
DEE DEE GAVE GYPSY
INDUCED MANY OF THE SYMPTOMS

>>OF DISEASES DOCTORS THOUGHT
THEY WERE TREATING.<<

You're supposed to love
and protect your children.

How could you do this
to your child?

Dr. Marc Feldman:
Gypsy Rose Blanchard

>>SKYPE INTERVIEW<<
was as consistently

>>CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST<<
and viciously subjected to,

>>MUNCHAUSEN EXPERT<<
in my opinion,
Munchausen by proxy

as anyone
I've come across.

>>MUNCHAUSEN BY PROXY
SYNDROME<<
Munchausen by proxy
involves a caregiver

who either feigns
or actually induces illness
in her children.

And her goal is some kind
of emotional gratification--

looking for sympathy,
attention, care,

concern that she feels
unable to get in any other way.

It is a form of child abuse,
first and foremost.

Gypsy:
The earliest surgery
that I can remember

probably would be

having my feeding tube
put in.

You have to have it
constantly changed,

like every six months.

And that would be
pretty painful,

because they don't put you
under anesthesia,

they just take you
in the emergency room,

rip the old one out,
and put a new one in.

I don't know why
these procedures were done

or how her mother was able
to convince the doctors.

"Mindboggling"
is the only way

I can put her ability
to manipulate people.

Basically, each one
of these paperclips

is some medical record

where Dee Dee
essentially lied

to the doctor
about something.

Mentally,
Gypsy is behind.

She's at the level
of a seven-year-old

on mother's information.

And this is something
that you see

almost across
all of the records,

is "Upon mother's information,"
"Upon history by mother."

So she's talking
to the doctor here
and she's talking about

how she has mental
and developmental delays,
needs assistance.

Apparently, "while holding
her hands over Gypsy's ears,

so as not offend,
history of mental retardation--

seven-year-old level,
per mom."

And so, this was the one time
where a doctor actually
put in the record

that Dee Dee's got her hands
over Gypsy's ears,

so Gypsy can't even hear
what Mom is telling the doctor.

Then we get into
the family history.

The family history changed

depending on what doctor
she was at.

You'll notice here,
we don't get a whole lot of...

- She's at the cardiologist.
- Right, she's at
the cardiologist,

and so they all died
of a heart attack.

( sighs )

Now, this was the first one
that jumped out at me.

She ends up going
to the neurologist,

Dr. Flasterstein,
and so...

the very first thing
right off the bat-- "Mother
is not a good historian,"

which is interesting,
because he puts that in bold
and underlines it.

Dr. Flasterstein:
One of the things
that was a big discrepancy

was that for a person
that has not walked

for nine years,
for years,

she should have,
technically,

almost no muscles
in her lower extremities.

But she did have muscles
that looked quite normal.

And she was able to support
her body weight.

I remember her standing.

So, I had a big doubt
about the whole thing,
from the beginning.

Stanfield:
He says, "Since last seen,

I managed to talk to
one of her previous providers.

She specifically remembers
Gypsy Rose and mentioned that
her previous neurologist

clearly reported the fact
that Gypsy does not have
muscular dystrophy.

Analyzing all the facts,
and after talking to her
previous pediatrician,

- there's a strong possibility
of Munchausen by proxy..."
- What?

...with maybe some underlying,
unknown ideology to explain
her symptoms."

Once in a while,
we report patients
to Social Services.

We do that when we feel
that there's a neglect.

But a neglect is different
from what this mom was doing.

She wasn't
really neglecting her,

she was overtreating her.

We have a system,

which is a big
integrated system,

that decided to adopt her
and bring her, support her.

So many people
looking at her,

knowing the history,
knowing what she was
going through,

knowing what
she went through,

I would have been rejected
on the spot.

So all that I could do
was put that in my notes.

Nobody in the system
ever said anything about it,

and I didn't see it right
to keep going

in convincing other people
that something is
not right here.

- Now...
- Un-freakin'-believable.

...here's
the interesting thing.

This is
the last record

from Mercy,
here in Springfield,
until 2015.

So, this is 2007.

Rod:
Eight years.

What I couldn't figure out
was how Dee Dee figured out

that Dr. Flasterstein
was on to her.

But if you look at a lot
these social work notes,

Dee Dee's requesting
medical records.

She would have gotten
a copy of this letter.

But I still
don't understand

why you put your child
through this.

I don't know.
I mean, the thing is...

- Good question.
- ...it just keeps going.

And it would have
kept going

'cause her mama was
an insane, compulsive liar.

Rod: Dee Dee and I met
at the bowling alley
one night.

Met up again
a couple of weeks later.

And then we started
dating then.

She got pregnant.

She got pregnant and...

being from the South,
I guess, it was--

I was raised where
you got a girl pregnant,

then you got married.

There was no other question
about what you did.

I was 17.

I woke up
on my 18th birthday

and I'm like,
"What am I doing here?"

She was kind of
into some dark--

darkness--
dark things.

Uh...

she started talking
a little bit about witchcrafts

and just different
weird, dark stuff like that.

It was kind of weird.

She had a pet tarantula.

Dee Dee was my aunt.

Um, real... weird girl.

I would think
she's bipolar, no doubt.

Multiple personalities,
perhaps.

Definitely...

an evil person,
I would say, you know?

To shave your kid's head
and say that she's got leukemia?

You're a sick individual.

( music playing )

MC:
At this time, we'd like
to present to you

South Lafourche
ROTC Military Queen,

Ms. Clauddinea Pitre.

Her escort--
Sergeant Earl Longden.

Clauddine "Dee Dee" Pitre...

( continues indistinctly )

( tinkling )

Carr:
What was Dee Dee like
as a child?

What, baby?

What was Dee Dee like
as a child?

- What was Dee Dee like
as a child?
- Dee Dee?

She was okay.

We were pretty close,
me and her.

Yeah, I would
give her everything
that she wanted anyway.

Whatever she wanted.

Except a dog in the house.
I didn't want that.

Now we wind up-- we got
two dogs in the house.

( chuckles )

Ahem, but this--
she was something else.

Laura Pitre:
She was a very filthy person.

If it didn't go her way,

she'd see to it
that you would pay.

And did we pay.

Paid a lot.

She opened credit cards
in my dad's name,

my grandpa's name,
ran up crazy bills.

Supposedly,
America's Most Wanted
was looking for this girl.

Laura:

Slidell--
she was wanted.

Bad checks
in New Orleans.

Claude:
No matter where she went,

she was doing
all kind of stuff.

She was poisoning
my stepmother.

Supposedly, she was
giving her some...

Roundup
in her food and stuff.

She was putting
some poison in my food.

The same thing
she had put in the plant.

And she wind up--
she stayed nine months
in bed after that.

She couldn't get up.

I didn't think
she was going to make it.

There was nothing
she couldn't get away with.

Laura:
Her mama was
a little bit like her.

Claude:
Yeah, her mama, too.

Her mama was a shoplifter
and all kind of stuff.

I don't know how many times
she had to go to court

for shoplifting
and other things.

Laura:
She had stolen how much
money from your daddy?

Before he got married,
she had stolen

I think it's $3,000
or $4,000 from my daddy.

Bobby:
I think ever since
my grandmother died,

Dee Dee kind of went
off the deep end.

Kristy:
The day that her mom died,

Dee Dee was
in the house somewhere,

and Dee Dee
was starving her.

Like, she wasn't--
Dee Dee wasn't giving her
anything to eat.

I asked her sister--

you know, I was like,
"I hate to ask this,

but you think Dee Dee
had anything to do

with her mom's death?"

And she, you know,
said,

"Now I wonder."

That's how evil she was.

To leave your mama dirty
and asking for food

and not want
to feed her...

- Yeah.
- ...that's evil.

Carr:
Were you sad at all
when you heard she was dead?

Me?

I didn't believe it.

- It didn't--
- It just didn't sink.

It took a few days
before... you know?

I didn't believe
that she was dead.

I thought it was another
one of her tricks.

I said, "Who did Dee Dee
piss off now?

You know, what kind of shit
did Dee Dee get into?"

I wasn't thinking,
"Oh, God, my aunt's dead."

Because I figured that one day
she'd piss off somebody

to that point,
you know?

And I actually did think
that it would probably
be Gypsy, you know?

And whenever--
we later got the word

that Gypsy was fine and she was
by her boyfriend's house,

we were like,
"She killed her mama.
She finally did it.

She couldn't take it
anymore."

She finally just said,
"Fuck it all.

I'm killing this bitch."

Carr:
Do you think she got
what she deserved?

- According to
Gypsy, yes.
- Yes.

Yeah, she got
what she deserved.

I know all the brothers
and sisters don't care

about Dee Dee no more.

Gypsy--
she got cremated.

She said,
"What you want me
to do with the ashes?"

Everybody said,
"I don't want her.
I don't want her."

- Darla said, "Flush 'em."
- I told her, "Flush that
in the toilet."

( laughing )
I didn't want it.

Her sister said,
"Flush that in the toilet."

She said, "We're going
to bring that in Mama's room,

make her a mass
and everything."

"You going to pay for it?
I'm not paying for it.

We can't afford it.
Flush it in the toilet."

>>GREENE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
NOVEMBER 9,2015<<

( cameras clicking )

Reporter:
Prosecutors have decided
not to seek the death penalty

against a Springfield woman
and her boyfriend,

both of whom are
accused of murdering
the woman's mother.

Reporter #2:
The announcement comes
after several conversations

between the defense
and prosecution,

both agreeing
this was the best decision.

Patterson:
Being a prosecutor,

the standard is to do
what's right

and what's just.

When you look
at the mitigators

as well as the background
of these individuals
as we know it,

as well as the facts
of the case,

this case
was not an appropriate
first-degree murder case

in which to seek
the death penalty.

This is a case
that we haven't dealt with,

and it's because
it's so unusual.

I mean, it really is
an unusual case.

What we thought initially
may be a victim

turns out to be
a suspect,

and in the middle of a story
that is twisted.

We think we know
who Gypsy is,

but once this trial
starts,

we'll be able to see
her life unfold

and find out exactly
what she was all about.

( music playing )
>>HOME VIDEO FROM ONE OF
DEE DEE AND GYPSY'S TRIPS
TO DISNEY WORLD<<

Hi, everybody.

Right now,
I'm in Cinderella's castle

eating some
real mashed potatoes.

Mm!

That is good.

Dean:
Gypsy loved Disney

because they were stories
that resolved

in happy ways.

And ultimately,
her story was not resolving
in a happy way.

Gypsy:
I liked the Disney movie
"Tangled."
>>DISNEY'S TANGLED<<

It's about Rapunzel.

She's a princess
in this kingdom

and she's kidnapped
by Mother Gothel

from her real family.

And Mother Gothel
keeps her

in this tower
for all of her life

and tells her,
"Don't leave this tower."

And so,
that is all she knows.

Woodmansee:
I think that Gypsy
just wanted her life

to be like
any fairy tale princess

and have
the perfect ending.

You know,
all the bad villains
get what they deserve.

Gypsy:
At the end,
Mother Gothel died.

She got thrown
out a window,

um, because Rapunzel
tried to stand up for herself

and leave her tower.

But in Disney movies,
everything's a fantasy.

It's a fairy tale,

and life is not
a fairy tale.

I learned all that
the hard way.

Stanfield:
I don't think calling
Gypsy's life sheltered

would do it justice.

I've kind of come
to describe it

as a fairy tale nightmare.

Her mother controlled almost
every aspect of her life.

Dr. Feldman:
The control was total

in the same sense
that the control of
a kidnapped victim

sometimes is total.

Her daughter was,
in essence, a hostage,

and I think we can
understand the crime

that occurred
subsequently

in terms of a hostage
trying to gain escape.

Woodmansee:
Any time Gypsy and I
were together,

her mom was always
present.

She was immediately
like a filter for us,
you know.

Like, Gypsy wouldn't talk
about anything personal

while we were together.

That's like, really,
the big red flag,

thinking back
on it all now.

Dee Dee would always hold
Gypsy's hand, you know?

It was like, I don't know--
it was almost like,
you know, just,

"If I squeeze it,
you'll know what to say."

I mean, that was
just so strange to me.

Just to feel it now, I think
that was really strange.

Even in videos I've seen
since then,

I'm like, "Yep,
it's just the same thing."

It's like
she's holding her hand.

I mean, now I'm--
it was maybe a control thing.

Dr. Feldman:
The hand-holding
and the tight hugs

is a way of asserting mastery
over another person

and saying,
"You're not free.

You are under my control
at all times,

even in relatively benign
situations

like our being
photographed

getting the Habitat
for Humanity home."

You know,
those are innocuously
happy occasions,

but they were also occasions
where Dee Dee

reasserted her mastery
over Gypsy.

My mom had cake...

Gypsy:
If we were in
a group of friends,

you know, if I said something
that I wasn't supposed to,

she'd squeeze my hand,
and I'd know, "Zip it."

I was just afraid,
just too afraid.

Dr. Feldman:
I have a strong feeling

that the extent
of the control over her,

heavily psychological
as it was,

would've involved
physical punishment as well.

She'd hit me
with a coat hanger...

or her-- or her palm.

And I'd have to take
so many slaps

for-- depending on what,

how severe it was,
I did.

- Carr: Did you ever
try to hit back?
- Never.

Never.

It's like
if you have a baby

and you, like,
get in its face

and the baby starts to struggle
and get away from you.

Now picture that happening
for your whole life, right?

Your mother
is just in your face
and will not get away.

That's basically what
Gypsy's whole life was like.

It's snowing.

I'm not joking.
>>DEE DEE AT HOME IN MISSOURI<<

They said it's snowing,

so I'm staying
under my heating blankie.

- ( Gypsy giggling )
- And I'm not getting out,
mm-mm.

She wants to get out.

Ain't gonna happen.

Let her doll
take care of her.

Gypsy:
Oh!

Her mother
was so suffocating,

so powerful,
so manipulative

that Gypsy may have felt
any efforts to escape

were bound to fail.

The first time
I ran away from home,

I had met a friend.

We both went to this sci-fi
fantasy convention
called Visioncon.

I told him vaguely

about what was going on
at home.

And he told me, you know,
"You just pack your stuff

and you can come live with me
in Arkansas."

And I said, "Okay."

I stepped out,
got a ride from a stranger,

and went over
to his place.

And then within,
like, four hours,
my mom found me at his place

because we had
mutual friends in common.

So she was threatening
to call the cops on him.

And she took me back home

and smashed my computer
with a hammer,

smashed my cell phone
with a hammer and said,

"If you ever try
to do that again,

I'm going
to smash your fingers
with a hammer."

It was a rough year.

I call that
"the bad times."

She had taken
this dog leash

and clipped it
to a pair of handcuffs,

and clipped the handcuffs
to the bed

and kept-- it was like that
for about two weeks.

My mom had actually
convinced a lawyer

to draw up some papers
saying that I was incompetent.

So I thought if I had tried
to go to the police,

they'd look at these papers
and say, "She's retarded.

She doesn't know
what she's talking about."

Gypsy has
essentially fallen

through every crack there is
in the system.

The Greene County
sheriff's deputies

came out to the house
on an anonymous report

that Gypsy was potentially
being abused.

And they came to the house,
they spoke with Dee Dee,

and Dee Dee did exactly
what she does all the time--

she manipulated
the police officers,

showed them a few things,
and they left.

And at that point,

Gypsy has absolutely
nowhere else to turn.

Literally
everyone failed her.

Literally.

The doctors
who were positioned

as there to help her
didn't help her.

Her father,

who I think was in
a very difficult position,

couldn't help her.

How was she supposed
to think anybody could?

I was just kind of at that point
where you're like,

"I'm angry at the world
and this is unfair."

Why couldn't
anybody figure this out
before it got this bad?

( chatter )

- Woman: Gypsy.
- Dee Dee: Over here, baby.

We all kind of did see
how Gypsy was being treated
by Dee Dee,

not that it was like horrible,
beating the shit out of her

in the back room
with a freaking cable,
you know?

She would just-- she put her
in a wheelchair and told her,

"Your leg's messed up.
You can't walk."

Her sister told me once,
"Rod, you know,

Gypsy can walk."

And I asked Dee Dee
about it.

She's like, "Yeah, well,
with her muscular dystrophy

or with her disease,
her muscles hurt sometimes.

So sometimes she can walk
when she's feeling okay,

but it's progressive.

It's going to get worse."

And it wasn't long
after that that they were--

they started moving
further and further away.

And there was nobody there
to question--

question that anymore,
you know?

After all of the doors
had been closed--

family, friends,
the police--

I think that Gypsy felt
she had no other--

no other avenue.

Gypsy:
I met Nick through
a Christian dating website.

He was one of the profiles
that I had saw.

Thought he was cute,
so I checked him out,
sent him a wink.

He sent me one back.

Once you met on there,
what happened?

We got closer on there,

and we connected
more and more.

Godejohn:
The way that we clicked,

we somehow just knew
we were right for each other.

Four days later, we started
a relationship together.

Dean:
Gypsy had no template
for romance

that wasn't
this sort of heightened
Prince Charming narrative.

And Nick just happened
to be there.

His background
equipped him

with a bad narrative
in different ways.

So, it was like
two bad narratives

collided with each other.

What kind of person--
if somebody never met him,

what kind of person
is Nick?

He's pretty quiet,
kept to himself,
you know.

We always tell him
he's got to get out
and mingle, you know.

- Sure.
- But he's like, "I'm afraid
of getting backstabbed,

because
everybody backstabs you,"
and all that stuff.

He has autism,
you know, Asperger's.

Has he been diagnosed
with autism and Asperger's?

- Yes.
- Okay.

Stephanie:
Last doctor he talked to,

they said his mind is probably
always going to be 15, 16,

right around there.

At first, it was all
lighthearted, you know.

"If you got married,

where would you like
to have your honeymoon?"

You know,
"Where would you like
to get married?

Where are all the places
you want to travel?"

Different things like that,
normal stuff.

And as it progressed,
things got weird.

( chuckles )

He started talking about
something called BDSM.

Gypsy:
And at first, I didn't
know what it was,

so I looked it up.

And once I looked it up,
I was like, "I don't want
to do this."

And then he kind of
just talked me into it

and was like,
"It'll be fine,"
you know?

"Try this with me."

And so,
I agreed to it.

I was taught
that a woman's role
is to be submissive

and the man is dominant,

so I didn't think
it was that outlandish.

Then his ex
had messaged me.

She told me, you know,
he's a really bad guy.

He thinks he's a vampire

and he's into all this
dominant/submissive stuff.

And I was thinking,
it's just an ex.

You know,
she's just badmouthing him.

She doesn't know anything.
She's jealous, blah, blah, blah.

She was right.

Godejohn also has
a criminal past.

In 2013 he was arrested
after investigators say

he was watching pornography
and fondling himself

in a McDonald's restaurant
for nine hours,

police finding a large knife
during the arrest.

I really don't know
what's wrong with him,

but, I mean, it's not like
I ever had a boyfriend before,

so I really didn't know
what was a normal relationship.

How don't know how much
she told you about me, but...

Have you been diagnosed
with that?

I probably should be
diagnosed with it

because it--
it happens--

the thing is,
I used to take
a medication.

I used to hear
voices in my head.
Then it went away.

And then somehow
it's a part of myself.

Okay.
Does Gypsy know that?

- Yes. She does know that.
- Okay.

His multiple personalities
would come out,

and he had talked to me
one day

and he was just like,
"You know, I would like

my other personalities
to have a girlfriend."

So I made up
some individual personalities

to match
his other personalities.

Godejohn:
One side of her is named Kitty.

It's like a little girl
inside of her.

We had another one
called Candy.

She has an evil side
of herself as well.

She used to call her Ruby.

Gypsy: It was deaf,
dumb, blind love.

And sometimes,
it's a big crazy love.

Dean:
One of the most interesting
things about this case

is that no matter
how much control

you have
over an individual,

you can't stop
adolescent sexuality
from blossoming.

Her whole life,

this had been a subject
that was forbidden to her,

and, ultimately,

that turned into
a really destructive force.

Gypsy:
Probably about a year
into our relationship,

I just couldn't lie
to him anymore.

And I just told him
everything.

Why did nobody know
she could walk?

Her mom wanted
everyone to think

that she was, like,
16 the entire time.

So, yeah, she felt kind of
trapped on a wheelchair

when I actually was trying
to encourage her

to be able to walk
more and more and more.

Gypsy:
It really didn't come up,
like, "I want you to kill her."

But he had said,
"I'll protect you from anybody."

And I said, "Anybody?"

And he said, "Yeah."

And I said,
"Even my mom?"

And he said, "Yeah."

And that's where
it kind of developed
from there on.

We'd call it "plan B."

But we always
pushed it back.

You know,
it was just a thought.

It was never reality.

We'll consider
other options.

We had planned a meeting
at a movie theater.

I and my mom was going
to go see "Cinderella,"

the live-action version
of "Cinderella,"

and I was like,
"This is a perfect time
for us to meet.

I'll buy your ticket, and you
come to the movie theater.

We'll meet like we're just
meeting as new friends,

and it's going
to be perfect."

Godejohn:
She wanted to have sex
with me, so I did.

Officer:
Okay, she wanted
to have sex with you?

- Yes.
- Wow, did her mom know?

( laughs )
Um, we kept it
from her mom.

Okay.
Where did you have sex at
in the theater?

- It was in the bathroom.
- Okay.

In the girls' bathroom
or boys' bathroom?

She just took me
in the boys' bathroom.
I didn't have any choice.

We went right into
the boys' bathroom.
She was okay with it.

Okay, okay.

And then what happened
after you guys had sex
in the theater?

We went to our movie
and watched it.

They're all looking at you.

Believe me,

they are all looking at you.

I don't know
what it was,
but, apparently,

the night got ruined
in some way.

I couldn't--
I was trying to understand

what was going on
with her mom.

She despised him.

She was like,
"He's creepy.
He's weird.

He's coming
to see a kids' movie
alone by himself."

And now looking back on it,
yeah, it is weird.

We were the only people
at the movies,

and he didn't have
a kid with him

or a girlfriend
or nothing.

He's just this guy going to see
this chick movie.

Carr:
Couldn't you have said
that you have a friend

and you want
to introduce them?

I wouldn't have had no way
to meet him, you know?

I can't say
I met him online or...

She's-- she was
all the time with me,

so there would be
no other time
to meet him.

Once all of those plans
seemed to fall apart,

I just got desperate.

Gypsy:
He took a Greyhound bus.

I managed to scrape up
enough money

to pay for him a ticket.

And the next day,
we went to the grocery store,

came back home.

She went to sleep
very, very late,

and I was up texting Nick.

( voice breaking )
We painted each other's nails.

And I acted like
everything was fine.

We had just recently
got into an argument,

and we had made up.

And I said I was going
to be a good girl.

And then she went to sleep

because I hurt her feelings
or something.

She said, "I'm starting
to feel more relaxed.

Don't hurt me."

The last words she said to me
was "don't hurt me."

I went into the bathroom.

I got kind of
in a fetal position

and I covered my ears.

And I heard my mom
wake up.

And then
she sounded startled.

And there was some noises
that I can't make out,

and I heard her say my name
a couple times.

And she said, "Help me."

And then there was
just silence.

Carr:
Did she scream?

Yeah.

Dean:
This is about as clear
a premeditated murder

as I've ever seen.

It's brutal.

And I think it would be
very hard for anybody

to not have a moment
of being taken aback.

Did you have sex
with Dee Dee?

- No.
- You didn't stick
your penis anywhere on her?

- Nope.
- Are you sure?

- Yep.
- Positive?

- I'm 100% positive.
- Okay.

Did you stick your penis
in her mouth?

- Nope.
- Okay.

Did your penis touch
anywhere on Dee Dee's body?

- Nope.
- Okay.

Did your mouth touch
anywhere on Dee Dee's body?

- My mouth? No.
- Okay.

- You didn't
kiss her or...
- Nope.

- ...lick her
or anything like that?
- Nope.

Okay.
What do you think
about people

that have sex
with dead bodies?

I mean,
it's quite disturbing,
honestly.

Okay, that's--
that would bother you?

Yeah. I don't like
necrophilia.

Okay, because I think
one of the things

that she might have said
was that you had mentioned

that you'd like
to rape her mom.

- Yeah, at one point,
I was thinking about it.
- Okay.

He had wanted
to rape my mother.

That's what he wanted to do.

He was like,
"I'm going to kill her,

but I'm going to do it my way,
and I'm going to rape her."

So what I did
was I made a deal with him.

I'd let him rape me,
and--

and then he wouldn't--
he wouldn't do that to my mom.

- So you guys have sex.
- Yes.

And what kind of sex?
What is sex like to you?

Well, to me,
the kind of sex
that it was

was pretty much
kind of con-- consensual?

Is that the word
I'm looking for?

Officer:
Like, are you biting her?
Are you punching her?

Godejohn:
No, no, I would never
lay my hands on her.

I didn't even bite her
at all, actually.

Not for a long time,
that is.

The very first time,
she whispered in my ear

that that was a turn-on
of hers is biting.

- I bit her twice.
- Okay.

The first time
I can't remember.

The second time I remember,
because I bit her
a lot harder.

However, she seemed
to still enjoy it

even though
it was really hard.

Gypsy:
Technically,
once we got to that point,

I screamed for him to stop,
and he didn't.

So I don't consider it
to be consensual.

Okay, all right.

Is there a reason
you didn't feel pleasure?

I don't know.
It's really hard to say.

I did make her have
an orgasm once.

- Okay.
- And then after that, I--
she might've blew me a bit.

And then after that,
I think we stopped
because we realized

there was a lot of packing
and stuff to do.

Okay, so you guys get
everything packed.

She wipes down
the fingerprints.

And then
what do you guys do?

We get in a taxi
and we get to the hotel.

- ( Gypsy giggling )
- ( Godejohn grunts )

( moans )

Hi, honey.

( both laugh )

I'm filming.

( laughing )

( vocalizing )

He's eating a brownie!

( muffled speaking )

Gypsy:
But later,
he will be eating me!

( laughs )

I loved Nick very much
at that time,

and being with him
felt exciting

because I was with
someone I loved

and someone I thought
cared for me.

We took a Greyhound bus
back to Wisconsin.

My mind wasn't thinking back
to what was at my house.

I just kept thinking,
"I'm free, I'm free,"

and that excitement
of being free and walking.

I always reference myself
to this little bluebird

that was trapped
in an invisible cage,

and I felt like
this bluebird was set free.

Did you guys talk
about your future?

What was your plans
for your future?

We wanted to have
a family together,

and we wanted to build
a life together and stuff.

We thought we really had
a chance to do it,

so we were happy
about that.

Does your mom and stepdad
know what you did?

No, they don't.

And this is the first time
they ever met Gypsy?

Yeah.
In person, yes.

Okay, and they agreed
to let her live there?

- Yep.
- Okay.

Officer:
What did you do think
about Gypsy?

You know, it was weird
because when I picked them up

from the bus station,
I even asked her,

"How's your mom doing?
How is your..."

'Cause I was told she was
in a homeless shelter.

Her mom kicked her out.

So I asked her
how her mom was doing.

This might have been
the first thing I asked her.

No big deal,
They acted like nothing.

What was your impression?

Did you feel like
there was anything wrong?

- Did you feel like
everything was good?
- Everything seemed normal.

The only thing
that freaked me out
is she was wearing a wig.

Okay.

Hancock:
Did you remember
getting in the mail

an envelope or anything
addressed to Nick or Gypsy
or anything like that?

There was one
that just came in--
hmm-- Saturday?

I have no idea
what was in it.

Hancock:
That was my next question.

- Charles: I don't
go through mail.
- Okay.

Charles:
Maybe I should have.

- That was the night that
he had stabbed her to death.
- What?

They mailed it
from their house there
to your house.

- Are you serious?
- Yes, ma'am.

- Oh, my God.
- And that was located
in your house.

Stephanie:
My God.

Officer:
I think there was a little--

around $4,000-5,000
of cash

that they had stolen
from her mom.

Stephanie:
My God.

Did you see
the Facebook post
where it says--

- No.
- Okay, that's right.

On Dee
and Gypsy's Facebook post
that they share,

there are some
horrible messages

that were posted on there
that said, like--

I believe, like,
they slashed her--

like, "I slashed her.
I killed her.

And then I raped the girl,
and the girl's dead, too."

Well, those all were
actually posted by Gypsy.

Dr. Feldman:
Startlingly with Gypsy,

who went online
to announce, you know,

"That bitch is dead,"
and to go even further

and describe a scenario
where she was raped

is just perverse.

It implies a fair degree
of sociopathy.

Just the way
the girl acted--

I mean, how can you
do something to your mother

and lose your mother,
and just act like that?

I was like--
I'm just trying to wrap
my head around it.

I mean, they acted
like two normal people.

- Yeah.
- That's what's
really freaky.

Yeah.

How can you do that?

Bobby:
Gypsy might have been
the mastermind herself.

I think it's most anybody's
instinct to,

"Oh, shit, you murdered
your mother," you know?

Watch that girl.
( laughs )

Don't turn your back.
You she might stab you.

Dean:
I do think Gypsy
is potentially dangerous.

Dee Dee
was a master manipulator,

and it's impossible
that Gypsy would not

have picked this up
and used it.

- Yeah.
- You know?

I know. I mean,
that's the way
it works, though,

when you have what he has.

Your mind focuses on one thing.
Do you know what I mean?

Yes, ma'am.

Do you think that
if Gypsy hadn't asked
you to kill her mom,

you'd have ever
killed her mom?

I know I wouldn't
have done it.

Okay. You just did it
because you loved Gypsy

and Gypsy asked you
to do it.

Is that what I'm thinking?

- Yes.
- Okay.

For him to ruin his life
over that,

I'm sorry,
but she's a beast.

Yeah.

She now doesn't have
a language

beyond manipulation
and retaliation.

I mean, is she taking
any sort of--

you know, is she like,
"Well, okay, it was me, too,"

or is she to trying
to put it all on Nick?

She...

takes some responsibility,

but not much.

Not much at all.

- Did you kill your mom?
- No. No, sir.

- Did you help?
- No, sir.

- No one else
killed your mom?
- No, sir.

( softly )
No, sir.

Did you have knowledge
that Nicholas

was going to kill your mom
before he did it?

No, sir.

Okay. Sit tight
for me, okay?

- It's okay.
- ( sniffles )

( crying )

( sniffles )

I wonder if people
feel that Gypsy

is telling them
the truth now.

Female voice:
Hello, you have
a call from...

Gypsy:
Gypsy Rose.

She was still in Wisconsin
when she called me.

Kristy on phone:
Hey, my sweetie.

Gypsy:
Hi! Is this Kristy?

Kristy:
Yes, baby.

Gypsy:
Hi! Oh, my God.

It's so good
to hear your voice.

At that time,
she still wasn't trusting,
really, anyone.

She was still
not telling Mike everything.

Gypsy:
I'm innocent.

It's a complicated
situation,

but what they say
on the news is not true.

Then we went
in the courtroom,

and that's when they showed
all the text messaging.

And when they said
they were presenting that,

she turned around
and looked at us

with fear in her eyes.

I guess she didn't think
that they were going to pull

all of those messages up.

Carr:

Yeah, I did.

They didn't get caught
red-handed,

but they got caught
red-handed.

You know, they have
a lot of evidence.

They have the murder weapon,
texts, videos.

I mean, no doubt they did it
or planned it and everything,

so it was just a matter
of why they did it,

you know,
and is that reasonable?

Carr:
Are you happy
that your mom

is not here
to abuse you anymore?

Yeah.
( sniffles )

But at the same time,
I'm not happy that she's dead.

You know,
I didn't want that.

I know it sounds strange
to plan something

and go through the steps
to make it happen,

and then--
but at the same time
not want it to happen.

One of the problems
with the legal system

is that it demands that people
have this one intention

and this one moment in time
and be certain about it,

and I'm not sure that
that really happens.

And especially in this case,
I'm not sure that it happens.

It's possible that Gypsy had
ultimately ambivalent feelings

about killing her mother.

I wonder what she was thinking
in the other room

listening to her mother
screaming sometimes.

I didn't think anything.

( sniffles )
I was scared.

I was shaking.

I just-- I didn't have
a thought in my brain.

It was like it was all
not real.

I was on a bunch of medications,
and I know that's no excuse,

but on Xanax, I felt
like I had no emotion

and I wasn't thinking right.

Munchausen by proxy victims
can lose contact

with reality at times,

and that may be
part of the defense

in Gypsy's case.

She may have trouble
distinguishing

what's real
and what isn't.

Is sickness real
or is it fake?

Is death real,
or is it exaggerated
or fake?

So, I think
she had limited capacity
for reality testing,

which just means
seeing what's normal behavior

and what's really strange
behavior.

Stanfield:
Gypsy grew up in essentially
an alternate reality

to what
the rest of us live.

By her mother isolating her
from the outside world,

she doesn't know or understand
what normal really is.

Hi.

Gypsy:
In so many ways,

I don't know what's right,
what's wrong,

but to say that,
yes, I did this.

I'm sorry for it.

I feel bad for it.

It just feels good
to be honest.

Gypsy:
The only thing that
I could've done differently

that I know better now
is reach out to my dad,

told my dad.

And he could have came
and got me,

and I would've went
and lived with him.

Rod:
There's a McDonald's
right here

where I'd visit with Gypsy.

At that time,
she was real young.

I remember one visit...

she was so scared
of me, man.

She was shaking.

I don't know what Dee Dee
told her about me,

but I probably
was the big bad wolf
or something, you know?

Gypsy must have been
so confused, you know?

She was probably telling her
the day before

that, you know,
I don't love her
and all this stuff,

and then here she is
visiting with me
and telling her,

"Look, that's your daddy.
Give him a hug," you know?

That's old history now,
so we're just going
to try to build

a real father-daughter
intimate relationship,

you know,
like we should have.

( dogs barking )

It's hard.

Thinking what
she had to go through

and that she didn't have
to go through all that.

- Woman: See this?
- Look at that.
( laughs )

She would probably have been
a perfectly fine kid

had it not been her mom
was Dee Dee.

Okay, y'all want to get
the table ready or what?

- Women: Yes.
- We're going to eat
off the trays?

Claude:
She could've had
a normal life.

I hope she gets out,
and I don't know what--

what she's going to do
when she gets out.

She was punished enough

to where they should
let her go free.

That's the way I feel.

'Cause that child's--
she's been through a lot.

Kristy:
Look at her.

- Woman: Is that Gypsy?
- Yeah, when she was normal.

I blame myself now
for not doing more.

I mean,
it is what it is.

I'm not a "blame yourself"
type of guy,

but who else is there
to look at, you know?

Okay.

This is-- sorry.

I didn't realize
they were going to bring
you out immediately.

This is the new charge--
class-A felony

of murder
in the second degree,

and then acting
in concert with another

who knowingly
caused the death
of your mother

by stabbing her,
okay?

( pen scribbling )

This is in the case
of State of Missouri

v. Gypsy Rose Blanchard.

Please raise
your right hand.

Do you swear and affirm
that the testimony

you're about to give
will be the truth,

the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?

Yes, sir.

Would you state your name
for the record, please?

- Gypsy Blanchard.
- And how old are you?

I'm going to be
25 years old, but 24.

Okay. And how far
did you go in school?

About the second grade.

How do you plead
to the class-A felony

of murder
in the second degree?

- Guilty.
- The court finds
that there is

a factual basis
for a plea of guilty.

The court accepts
defendant's plea of guilty

and finds the defendant
guilty thereof beyond
a reasonable doubt.

She's to be sentenced
to 10 years

in the Missouri
Department of Corrections.

She'll have to do
85% of her sentence

before she's eligible
for parole.

Let's go off the record.

There you are.

Patterson:
This case is unusual
and extraordinary.

Gypsy Blanchard endured
nearly two decades

of systematic,
purposeful abuse

at the hands of her mother
for the purpose of fraud.

And so, by amending to murder
in the second degree,

we were able to both hold
Gypsy Blanchard accountable
for the murder,

which was not justified
nor excusable,

but yet account for
those mitigating circumstances.

All of us involved are--
it's a relief.

You know,
at the very beginning of this,

there was the question
of the death penalty
on the table.

Ultimately,
it's the best outcome for her.

It's the best outcome
for the State of Missouri

and ultimately the right thing
to do for everybody.

That one's in this pocket.

Ooh.

I mean, it's a murder.

There's nothing
we can do about that,

so, you know,
that has to be dealt with.

But ultimately,
when you look at the fact

that at the end
of that 8 1/2 years,

when she's already done
a year of that,

she'll be 32 years old.

She'll be three years younger
than I am right now.

So, I mean,
she will actually be able

to enjoy just the world.

Carr:
Do you think 10 years
in jail is better

than 10 years of living
the way that you had to live?

Yes, it is.

I need to start over
like I'm newly born.

- Honey?
- Yeah.

- Green?
- Yeah.

White or green?

No, no, no, no, no.

It's my favorite hat.

No, other hat.

Kristy:
I'm holding on
to that girl.

You know, it's going to be
very emotional.

Yeah,
you're a big crybaby.

You're probably
gonna cry, too.

And then
when you're gonna cry,

I'm going to cry

because you're crying,

because it's hard
to see grown men cry.

I don't cry.

Bullshit.

You cry.

- Hello.
- Daddy.

- Oh...
- ( crying )

I've missed you.

- You're so big.
- I know!

I'm almost
as tall as you.

So how's everything going
with you health-wise?

- You good? You feel good?
- It's going good, yeah.

You've been exercising
and everything?

I've been
going to the rec yard,
been exercising.

That's good.

My tube site
is finally all healed.

It's gone?
That's good.

Looks great.
Looks good.

All healed up, so...

Every once in a while,
I get a little pain,

but I think it's just
phantom pain or something.

Yeah.

So, are you glad
that it's--

I'm happy
that it's over.

Yeah. We was-- honestly,
we was hoping for less.

I mean, I know
it was your decision
and everything.

- That's a gamble you take.
I mean--
- Yeah.

I look at it like
you could've got 30 years.

I look at it
that I could've got
life in prison, you know?

I was hitting
a really down point,

and it was before--
before the plea agreement,

before I knew
anything about it.

I was thinking
if I get life in prison

and that is what I get,

I'm committing suicide
right now, you know?

I was seriously
considering it.

- Well, baby--
- 'Cause I'm like,
it could just be over.

I just want to make sure
you know that

if I had done
anything wrong,
I'm sorry, baby.

No, I don't think
you did anything wrong.

I think it's just
Mom was very good
at what she was doing,

and I think you just
was completely in the dark.

And I don't--
I want you to know

I don't blame you
for any of it,
either of you.

- Thank you.
- I take blame on myself.

And I blame other people,
but I never once blamed y'all.

Don't blame yourself,
sweetie.

We blame-- I hold enough
for myself, you know?

Accountability, it's--

but, I mean, we're not
gonna dwell on that.

- No.
- No.

We're gonna go forward,
and when you get out..

- We'll heal together.
- ...you're still
gonna young.

We can have
a great relationship.

Look, God pulled you
through it.

- Rod: Yeah.
- You know?

The devil don't got you, baby.
God got you.

- Gypsy: Yeah.
- And we got you.

Give me a hug.

Hang in there, baby.

You need anything,
call any time, okay?

- ( Gypsy grunts )
- Oh, she knows.

We'll come see you again
over there, wherever.

Just hang tight.
Stay strong.

- We love you.
- ( softly) I love you, too.

( crying )
I don't want to go.

I don't want to go.
I don't want to go.

It's okay, baby.
You can do it, okay?

Just stay strong.

You got this far, okay?

The rest is gonna be easier.

- Okay. Okay.
- Okay?

You guys have
a safe trip back.

- Don't get in no trouble.
- I won't.

- Be good.
- I'll be a good girl.

- Follow the rules.
- I will.

Bye.

- Set a good example.
- I will.

( music playing )

♪ We were very happy ♪

♪ Well, at least
I thought we were ♪

♪ Can't somebody tell me
what's got into her? ♪

♪ A house, a home,
a family ♪

♪ And a man
that loves her so ♪

♪ Oh, say,
has anybody seen ♪

♪ My sweet Gypsy Rose? ♪

♪ Here's her picture
when she was my sweet Mary Jo ♪

♪ Now she's got rings
on her fingers ♪

♪ And bells on her toes ♪

♪ Say, has anybody seen
my sweet Gypsy Rose? ♪

♪ Oh, I got wind
my Jo's been dancin' ♪

♪ Here in New Orleans ♪

♪ In this smoke-filled
honky-tonk ♪

♪ They call
the Land of Dreams ♪

♪ Whoa, here she comes
a-struttin' ♪

♪ In her birthday clothes ♪

♪ Say, has anybody seen
my sweet Gypsy Rose? ♪

♪ Sweet Gypsy Rose ♪

♪ Sweet Gypsy Rose ♪

♪ So take those rings
off your fingers ♪

♪ And bells off your toes ♪

♪ Say,
has anybody seen my ♪

♪ Now you know
just what I mean by ♪

♪ Has anybody seen
my Gypsy Rose? ♪