Dee Dee Blanchard and her disabled daughter, Gypsy Rose, lived a simple but difficult life together. Gypsy Rose had been diagnosed with dozens of serious illnesses which had caused her to lose the ability to walk, along with needing frequent trips to the hospital. Dee Dee and Gypsy lived off of the kindness of others and government assistance, since Dee Dee couldn’t work and leave Gypsy home alone. But Gypsy Rose wasn’t actually sick.

Dee Dee Blanchard likely had Munchausen by proxy, a disorder where she convinced everyone that Gypsy was ill, and even caused Gypsy to become sick through different forms of abuse. Since Gypsy was a baby, Dee Dee had forced her to go through surgeries, treatments, and therapies which were completely unnecessary. The motive for this was likely the attention and sympathy she received for having and caring for a disabled child.

By the time Gypsy Rose was a teenager, she was tired of playing along with the farce and was looking for a way to escape. Through an online dating site, she met Nicholas Godejohn who she began a secret online relationship with. Three years into the secret relationship, Gypsy and Nicholas hatched a plan to murder Dee Dee and run away together.

Sometime before June 14, 2015, under the cover of night, Nicholas entered the Blanchard home. Gypsy Rose gave Nicholas duct tape, gloves, and a knife then hid in a bathroom and covered her ears while Nicholas brutally stabbed Dee Dee in the back. They took money that was hidden and left for Nicholas’ parents’ house in Wisconsin. Once arriving, Gyspy wrote a facebook post on the page she had shared with her mother - “That Bitch is dead”. The post prompted friends and neighbors to call the police, who would find her body and then arrest Gypsy and Nicholas for the murder.