A Timeline of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Murder Case and Release From Prison (2024)

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is a free woman following her early release from prison on Dec. 28, 2023.

In 2016, Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to murder for her role in the killing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.

Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen by proxy, a form of abuse in which a guardian may seek attention or sympathy by making their child ill or exaggerating their illness. Throughout her early life, her mother controlled many aspects of her life, making her undergo years of intense medical treatments that she never needed.

Gypsy made headlines after her arrest and trial and the case has been documented through various projects, including the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest and Hulu’s series The Act starring Joey King as Gypsy and Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee.

Following her release from prison, Gypsy is telling her side of the story with the release of the Lifetime docuseries The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her ebook Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom.

Here’s a complete timeline of Gypsy’s trial and her life after prison.

July 27, 1991: Gypsy Rose Blanchard is born

Gypsy’s parents Rod and Dee Dee first met when he was in high school and married when Dee Dee found out she was pregnant. He was 17 at the time while Dee Dee was 24. They eventually separated shortly before Gypsy was born on July 27, 1991.

Speaking with Buzzfeed News, Rod recalled how his marriage to Dee Dee quickly deteriorated by the time he turned 18. “I woke up on my birthday, on my 18th birthday, and realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be,” he told the publication. “I wasn't in love with her, really. I knew I got married for the wrong reasons.”

1991: Dee Dee has Gypsy checked for sleep apnea

When Gypsy was three months old, Dee Dee believed her daughter had sleep apnea and began taking her to the hospital. Though doctors did several tests, they found nothing wrong with Gypsy.

However, Dee Dee became convinced that Gypsy was ill, eventually telling Rod that she believed their daughter had a chromosomal defect and her health issues stemmed from that. Her convictions about Gypsy’s illnesses spiraled as time went on, at one point falsely claiming that Gypsy had leukemia and muscular dystrophy.

August 2005: Dee Dee and Gypsy’s home is destroyed in Hurricane Katrina

As a result of Hurricane Katrina, Dee Dee and Gypsy’s home was left in ruins. They later went to a rescue shelter where Dee Dee claimed that all of Gypsy’s medical records, including her birth certificate, were destroyed in the hurricane, paving the way for more of Dee Dee’s lies about Gypsy’s health and age.

2008: Dee Dee and Gypsy relocate to Springfield, Missouri

Years after Hurricane Katrina, Dee Dee and Gypsy eventually relocated to Springfield, Missouri, when Habitat for Humanity built them a small home. Gypsy’s story got media attention, and the mother-daughter duo received an outpouring of support including many charitable contributions such as free trips to Walt Disney World and backstage passes to Miranda Lambert concerts.

June 9, 2015: Dee Dee Blanchard is murdered

In 2015, Gypsy and her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, whom she met on a dating website years prior, conspired to murder Gypsy’s mother, Dee Dee, who mentally and physically abused Gypsy throughout her entire life.

On June 9, 2015, Godejohn traveled to Missouri to meet up with Gypsy and waited until Gypsy gave him a signal that Dee Dee was asleep before entering their home. Gypsy said in Mommy Dead and Dearest that on the night of the murder, she and Dee Dee gave each other manicures and Gypsy put Dee Dee to bed, promising to be "a good girl." After Dee Dee fell asleep, Godejohn entered the residence, Gypsy recalled, and Gypsy hid in a bathroom while Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee to death.

June 14, 2015: Dee Dee Blanchard is found dead

On June 14, 2015, Gypsy wrote on Dee Dee's Facebook, "That Bitch is dead!" which immediately sparked concern from Dee Dee’s friends. When they were unable to get in contact with Dee Dee, they alerted the authorities. Police later found Dee Dee's body in her home.

June 15, 2015: Gypsy and Nicholas Godejohn are taken into custody

After finding Dee Dee’s body, police were also able to trace the IP address of the Facebook posts to Big Bend, Wisconsin, where Gypsy and Godejohn were staying. Police raided Godejohn's family home and arrested him and Gypsy on charges of murder and felony armed criminal action, per The Springfield News-Leader.

July 5, 2016: Gypsy pleads guilty to Dee Dee’s murder

Following Dee Dee’s death and Gypsy’s arrest, new details came to light about how Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen by proxy.

Calling the case "extraordinary and unusual," county prosecutor Dan Patterson said he decided not to seek a first-degree murder charge against Gypsy, per The Springfield News-Leader. In July 2016, Gypsy pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

May 16, 2017: HBO releases Mommy Dead and Dearest documentary

A year after Gypsy was sentenced to prison, HBO released a documentary titled Mommy Dead and Dearest, which further explored Dee Dee’s death and the abuse Gypsy endured from her mother.

The documentary featured a variety of interview footage from Dee Dee and Gypsy’s family, including from Gypsy’s father and stepmother. Gypsy also appeared in the documentary, and revealed details about the night of her mother’s murder.

November 2018: Gypsy testifies during Nicholas Godejohn’s trial

Godejohn's trial was held in November 2018. Gypsy testified that she came up with the plan to kill her mother because it was the only way she could escape her life of abuse, The Springfield News-Leader reported.

While no one disputed whether Godejohn killed Dee Dee, his attorneys had argued that he was manipulated by Gypsy to kill her mom and should have his charges reduced to second-degree murder, according to The Springfield News-Leader.

Days later, Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder in the June 2015 death of Gypsy’s mother. He was also found guilty of armed criminal action. Godejohn is currently serving a life sentence at Missouri's Potosi Correctional Center, per The Springfield News-Leader.

March 20, 2019: Hulu releases The Act

In March 2019, Hulu released their limited series titled The Act starring Joey King as Gypsy and Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee. The series dramatized the complex relationship between Gypsy and Dee Dee, including the abuse Gypsy Rose endured and the eventual murder of her mother.

Though the series received critical acclaim, earning various awards including Arquette’s Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a limited series, Gypsy and her family weren’t too fond of the show.

In an email statement to Bustle, Gypsy said: "I feel it is very unfair and unprofessional that producers and co-producer Michelle Dean has used my actual name and story without my consent, and the life rights to do so.”

She also stated that she would be taking legal action against the show’s creators, however, her family friend Fancy Marcelli later disputed that, telling Vulture Gypsy’s statement came “from her own place of anger and disappointment and frustration," adding, "Nobody is taking legal action."

April 2019: Gypsy reveals she’s engaged

In April 2019, Macelli revealed to PEOPLE that Gypsy was engaged. Though details about her fiancé's identity were kept private at the time, Macelli revealed the couple had known each other for a year and a half and started dating after meeting as pen pals.

“They are very happy,” Macelli said at the time. “You can hear excitement in her voice.”

August 2019: Gypsy and her fiancé reconcile after a brief split

Gypsy and her fiancé briefly called off their engagement before reuniting in August 2019. “They are back together,” Gypsy’s stepmother Kristy Blanchard told InTouch, who identified Gypsy’s fiancé as Ken. “[The] engagement is on, but [they’re] taking things slow and want to keep their relationship as private as possible.”

June 2022: Gypsy marries Ryan Scott Anderson

Gypsy and Ken’s reunion was short-lived as in August 2022 The Springfield News-Leader reported that Gypsy had married a man named Ryan Scott Anderson of Saint Charles, Louisiana, that June.

December 27, 2023: Gypsy tells PEOPLE she regrets her mother’s murder

In December 2023, Gypsy spoke with PEOPLE in a candid interview ahead of her release from prison. During the interview, she said she was deeply regretful about her mother’s murder, recalling how she was “desperate to get out of that situation.”

"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," said Gypsy, "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."

She added, "Nobody will ever hear me say I'm glad she's dead or I'm proud of what I did. I regret it every single day."

December 28, 2023: Gypsy is released from prison early

Though she was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison, Gypsy was released early on Dec. 28, 2023, serving 85% of her sentence. Prior to her prison sentence, Gypsy spent time in the Greene County Jail, and her time in the county jail contributed to her overall time served.

Ozarks First and the Springfield News-Leader previously reported in September 2023 that the Missouri Department of Corrections said Gypsy was granted parole.

"I'm ready for freedom," Gypsy told PEOPLE exclusively about her release. "I'm ready to expand and I think that goes for every facet of my life."

December 29, 2023: Gypsy shares “selfie of freedom” following release from prison

A day after her release, Gypsy returned to Instagram to share her first selfie as a free woman. “First selfie of freedom!” she captioned the pic. Gypsy's mirror selfie showed her smiling with a hand on her hip.

Following her release, Gypsy has continued to keep her followers updated on her life after prison, including sharing pictures of her homecoming party with her family and friends.

December 31, 2023: Gypsy speaks out for the first time since her prison release

On New Year’s Eve, Gypsy spoke out for the first time since her prison release, sharing a message with her followers.

"Hey everyone, this is Gypsy. I'm finally free," Gypsy said in a video posted to TikTok and her official Instagram. "I just wanted to send a quick video to thank everyone for the massive amount of support that I've been getting on social media, everyone has been really, really nice and supportive and I really appreciate that."

"It's nice to be home. I'm back home in Louisiana, enjoying a beautiful day outside and I've got a lot of great things happening really soon," Blanchard continued, mentioning her Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and book, Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom, which she said she's "super proud of."

She also revealed that she was excited to be spending New Year’s Eve alongside her family and husband. “We’re looking to ring in the new year together. It’s going to be really awesome to have some family time after so long,” she said.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.