Mommy Dead and Dearest is HBO’s shocking-yet-quite-tragic true story of Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard. By Erin Lee Carr, the documentary uncovers light on the demented dynamic between mother and daughter that ultimately caused Dee Dee to get murdered in a case which had unraveled years of deception, manipulation, and torture. Slated to premiere on May 15, 2017, the documentary promises to unravel disturbing details in a case that shocked the nation.
The central figure is Dee Dee Blanchard, a very supportive mother who drew widespread sympathy with her ‘caring’ attitude towards her so-called chronically ill daughter, Gypsy. Dee Dee made one and all believe that Gypsy was suffering from a long list of grave health conditions which included leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and developmental delays. Gypsy had spent years confined to a wheelchair, went through countless unnecessary medical procedures, and depended on a feeding tube, based on claims made by her mother.
Reality, however, was very different from what Dee Dee presented. It was the case that almost all of Gypsy’s illnesses were fabricated by Dee Dee as part of a condition called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare form of abuse in which a guardian induces or fabricates illness in someone under their care for attention and sympathy. The victim of such protracted abuse, Gypsy was kept isolated, infantilized, and controlled by her mother.
It finally caught up with years of abuse, manipulation, and lies when Gypsy, along with her online boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, hatched a plot to murder Dee Dee back in 2015. The murder brought to light the full extent of Dee Dee’s abuse and unleashed a highly publicized debate about guilt, mental health, and shortcomings of those who failed to recognize the warning signs.
Presented by HBO, Mommy Dead and Dearest discusses this really chilling case in great detail, combining interviews, archival footage, and court records for an all-encompassing look at the tragic lives of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard.
Dee Dee Blanchard’s Wiki
Clauddinnea “Dee Dee” Blanchard was originally from Louisiana. She lived in Springfield, Missouri with her 23-year-old daughter, Gypsy Rose Blanchard before being stabbed to death by her daughter’s online boyfriend. For many years, Dee Dee Blanchard convinced everyone around her that Gypsy Blanchard was disabled with the mental capacity of a seven-year-old.
Authorities assumed that the mother-daughter duo feigned the physical disability to access easy money. While others believe that Dee Dee Blanchard was the one who was sick.
Apparently, Gypsy Blanchard could have suffered from Munchausen by proxy, a psychological condition and form of abuse caused by a guardian who exaggerates or induces symptoms of illness in their children for attention or sympathy.
Since her daughter was born, Dee Dee Blanchard claimed that Gypsy Blanchard was ill. She had even convinced Gypsy’s father, Rob Blanchard, about their daughter’s extreme health conditions. He believed that his daughter was fine until his wife started worrying about Gypsy’s “degrading” health.
Dee Dee Blanchard asserted that Gypsy was diagnosed with leukemia, various muscular disorders, and mental impairment and was soon confined to her wheelchair. Blanchard became a devoted mother and a full-time nurse to her daughter.
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According to her daughter, Blanchard forced her to take seizure medication that would make her lose her teeth and keep her head shaved to appear as though she had lost her hair from cancer treatment. Though she was 23 at the time, Gypsy Blanchard was kept at home and was being fed through a tube.
On June 14th, 2015, Dee Dee Blanchard was found stabbed to death in her bedroom, and her daughter was nowhere to be found. Gypsy Blanchard conspired to kill her mother with her online boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, who is said to have traveled across state lines to stab Dee Dee Blanchard.
They were found and arrested in Big Bend, Wisconsin after the murder. Gypsy Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Godejohn was charged with first degree murder.
