Mommy Dead and Dearest

I remember the Sword and Scale episode on this case. What a bunch of creeps raking away resources from people that actually needed it.

^taking

The daughter was abused by her mother, think of the unnecessary operations she went through.

I can understand why she would feel like the only way out was to kill her mother. Seems like she should not have gotten that much jail time but the premeditation to kill is why she got that much time.

Hard to believe this fucked up tale hasn't been turned into some kind of filmed entertainment yet. Seems tailored made!

[quote]Seems tailored made!

Oh dear.

Judging this entirely superficially, the real dad was actually rather hot. That woman and the resulting daughter though, we! Terrible gene combination.

I read the magazine article about this not too long ago. Stumbled upon it on one of those longform journalism sites. Is the girl still in prison and is she still doing ok? Crazy story.

Agree with R6 that the dad is a hottie!

Ridiculous how long that girl has to be in prison. Fucking Missouri.

The dad is a hottie and the mother had him when she was 24 and he was in high school!

R10 Is there a picture of the mom from around then? Did she always look like a white trash Jabba the Hut?

r11 in that Buzzfeed article there is a picture of her with the ex where she is a bit younger but she is still heavy and her face is homely. I doubt she was ever a looker, he probably was a horny teenager when he screwed her, then he felt bad and married her when she got pregnant.

Sounds like a typical mother and daughter. Typical women. Who can be surprised. It's a sick sex.

I'm not saying this to be mean (for once), but is Gypsy developmentally delayed?

Whoops. Forgot to post the video.

R14, apparently not but she likely has PTSD or some other long term mental health issues as a result of all this.

The mom looked like the frauiest of fraus, who turned her daughter into a perverse special ed Precious Moments character.

Wow, this is a messed up case. You feel bad for Gypsy at first but then when she describes the murder and their antics afterwards, not so much. Also, she picked a real screwball... from a Christian dating website, no less.

I still feel bad for her r18, her fucking mom tube fed her and had her teeth pulled, she had some lost time to make up for.

Honestly, while prison isn't ideal, we don't really have any other social safety net for people who have spent their entire lives enmeshed in the psychodrama she was forced to live in and a forcefully structured environment, predicated on careful interactions and intolerance for boundary testing, full of fun new street smart facts is likely to give her the best crash course on reality that should hope for in this country.

It's on HBO now, started airing tonight!

This is the saddest fucking story ever. She should not be in jail, she should be in some kind of supportive housing with lots of therapy and life skills.

I feel terribly sorry for Gypsy, but, I'd trust her about as far as I could throw her. Gypsy's mother was a monstrous woman, little did she know she was creating another monster.

They are making this look like a Bonnie & Clyde story, more blame should be put on the crazy ass abusive mother.

Maybe r23 but she was created like you say, she does need therapy for sure but I also hope she sues the fuck out of doctors who failed her. Did you get a load of her mom's list of diseases she would give to doctors? Bitch couldn't even spell half of them which should be a huge red flag.

I agree. R25, this girl was failed by everyone around her ( other relatives, the medical community), however, I find it hard to believe that Gypsy couldn't escape her mother once she reached adulthood. What I want to is, how was the mother able to fool so many people? Dee Dee was receiving disability checks from Social Security, the mother would have to have medical proof from a doctor that her daughter had leukemia, muscular dystrophy, etc. Did any of Gypsy 's doctors ever test her for any of these diseases? I simply don't understand how this could've went on for years & years.

Boring old frau and mother of a disabled child with a complicated diagnosis. Dr's pretty much listen to mom and go with what I tell them. They are not experts on her condition and the experts can't do much more for her. So local doctors have taken over her care which is just maintenance. It's difficult to get doctors to transansfer records so They pretty much accept what I tell them. What Gypsys doctors did seems pretty standard to some extent. Altho it should have been obvious at some point. Then again Dee was doctor shopping so there's that. I also suspect whenever one doctor became suspicious she probably knew the gig was up on that disease and started new stuff with a different doctor. That sort of rambled sorry about that.

Not meaning to derail the thread, but I always like to give credit when overlooked.

Buzzfeed article (OP's link) has terrific illustrations. The artist's name is Corey Brickley .

Nice work.

Is watching this going to creep me out? Pulled out all her teeth and forced her to have multiple eye surgeries to look like she had Down Syndrome? Why does this exist! She shouldn't have taken the plea deal. And I can't believe the father and stepmother had no hints that something was amiss. They said they saw her a lot for first ten years of her life. Well, a kid within that age range is not going to be able to remember to be "paralyzed" when they get excited about something. Does more unravel in the film?

r29 No it won't creep you out, but then I am a murder hag. The problem with the dad is that he did start to catch on and the mom made shit up and then moved her far away. She was starting to get atrophied muscles and shit from sitting around but her mom was smart enough to claim it was MD so some days she could walk and some she couldn't. Also, they were together all the time and the mom had her believing it too so she wouldn't have even thought to see if she could really walk, etc.

I feel sorry for Gypsy but have a difficult time believing her.

I felt bad for Gypsy until reading the horrible texts between her and her BF. Gypsy was all "fucking kill her" and "the bitch is dead". I first had the idea that Gypsy may be a little developmentally delayed, but on the other hand, she is surprisingly articulate. It's hard to judge if she's mentally all there.

Unfortunately for the two women, that guy Gypsy hooked up with was so messed up; he was the worst person for this damaged girl to hook up with but she was so desperate for a "real life", she didn't see it. They both were so in their own world that they just left DeeDee in the bed and went to his parents house. Did they even have a plan or alibi for when/if DeeDee's corpse was found. I never understand why these young couples don't just run away - they frequently decide that the parent(s) need to die. They don't seem to think past the moment - murder ain't a quick fix.

The father was good looking but a lazy fuck, he was glad to be rid of the mother and daughter. Maybe if he would have involved himself more he could have helped the girl. Even the family member of the mother said she deserved what she got, they didn't even want her ashes and said to flush them down the toilet.

R33 I don't know why but that last line made me burst out laughing.

The stepmother and father of DeeDee (the mother) basically said she was a piece of shit and they said they didn't want her ashes and the sister said to flush them down the toilet.

Gypsy's father acted like he was afraid to be alone with her, he brought his wife along. Like I said he seems the lazy type who lets a woman run him. That's probably how he fucked up and got Dee Dee pregnant in the first place, he was 17 and she was 24 he must have been a horny teenager because DeeDee was never a looker. Then he felt like he had to marry her when she got pregnant.

The medical community has a lot to answer for.

What I don't get is how did DeeDee let Gypsy have a phone to text and to go online. At first I thought Gypsy must be really mentally delayed, but she was smart enough to be devious. I was taken aback that she was savvy enough to come up with the costumes that she took pictures of for her boyfriend.

But when I think of all the medical stuff and operations the mother made her go through and her mother was also physically larger than her, I can understand why she thought killing her was the only way out. I don't know if she is smart enough to think beyond escaping and the consequences of murder. But then again she probably is on par with a 12 year old and at that age you know killing is wrong.

I guess I am sympathetic to Gyspy because I was raised in a very strict religious home, I also went to a christian school that was tied into our church and I was taught to follow authority without question. I was not allowed to talk back to my parents and though my parents were tough they weren't abusive. Although when I look back at how the teachers treated us it could be considered abusive and these were supposed to be good christians. But if I would have gotten in trouble at school my parents would have taken the teachers side.

When I turned 18 and graduated from high school I told my parents I would choose if I wanted to go to church or not. You would have thought I committed murder, their friends would even say to my parents "how do you let him get away with that?". I was pretty much shunned (and no I'm not Amish). So I can understand how you can be trapped.

I need to get back to work and stop being a thread hog, but I enjoy discussing this and hope more people read about it or watch so they will add their 2 cents.

I'm 5 minutes into the documentary. Still can't believe no one saw through this.

R38 I'm not really sure what to think about Gypsy. Yes, I do feel sorry for her. But, on the other hand, she would've had to have been complicit in the scam past a certain age.

Gypsy may give the appearance of an innocent, child like victim but she had the cunning to try to lie to the police when she was being questioned by the detective; she was smart enough to try to get away with murder.

/Also, that video that she took after the murder in the motel giggling about her BF going down on her while knowing that her mother was lying dead in a bloody bed...sadistic. I'm not excusing him but I have more sympathy for the BF - he had some serious issues like Asbergers, etc.

Wow, she got 10 years. Not bad considering what she could have got. After watching the documentary it's obvious Gypsy and the ex boyfriend are extremely mentally ill. I wouldn't be surprised if the ex plead insanity.

You all seem to forget her mind was very much under the influence of medication of all kinds. Mixed with hormones battling lust and freedom. Bad combo.

Who will play the characters in the inevitable "ripped from the headlines" episode on Law and Order: SVU next season. Rosie O'Donnell as DeeDee, Meryl as Gypsy Rose (in one of her extraordinary "chameleon like" turns)? Who can do the Cajun accents for the daddy and the grandparents?

And then the musical--"Fun Home II"

Actually, Gypsy Rose reminded me of Mark McKinney (on Kids in the Hall) as Chicken Lady.

I think Gypsy had to screw up her courage and put on that bold face to get her mother out of the picture. Dee Dee so dominated Gypsy that she may not have been able to find any other way to get free, short of killing Dee Dee.

Interestingly, the people Dee Dee grew up with all said that when they heard she'd been killed, that she had it coming! And that includes her parents.

The goth Cajun cousin seemed the sanest one of them all--which is saying something.

R20, I agree 100%. It's a shame that this had to end in death, but there were few other possible scenarios.

Though an unhealthy relationship, Gypsy's relationship with her sick mother was her primary relationship, and pretty much all she knew. I don't know that she had the social skills and conflict resolution skills when faced with the problem of leaving her mother. As far as Gypsy could understand, her mother's lifestyle and survival were contingent upon Gypsy's unintentional cooperation. She truly believed she had cancer and other illnesses as well. What she did know for certain was that she could walk, and she could eat and digest food, and did not need a feeding tube.

Had Gypsy met and had fallen in love with a reasonable man, it may have been suggested that she report her mother to police and social services, and to walk away, since she was legally an adult. But she was probably confused as to her true age, and she probably saw killing her mom as the best possible action in order to get away from her. And her online boyfriend either germinated that idea, or thought it was a great option once Gypsy suggested it.

I hope she got laid before she got arrested. Small comforts.

R48 She did. She and the boyfriend had sex in the rest room at "Cinderella" while DeeDee was probably chowing down on a jumbo popcorn with extra bitter and nachos with cheese and a 128 oz. Coca-Cola (no Diet--those chemicals cause leukemia and retardation, ya know).

I feel bad for Gypsy to a extent .

I think in the movie the mother and daughter actresses from Gilmore Girls should play them.

Some of that Doc was a total PR for the family to get attention and have leverage over the justice system, for a lack of oversight.

If you notice the Buzzfeed writer questions the authenticity of what Gypsy is reporting. Basically the Doc had her be portrayed sympathetic in some light, but at the same time, show how much Gypsy is her Mother's Daughter. DeeDee was heavily implied to have killed her own mother through starvation, and allegedly poisoned her own Stepmom. Despite the shady family dynamics(I think her father legit had no interest in dealing with them two) - I think she's totally guilty and playing the system with this victim mentality and her father is trying to reduce the accusations of being complicit in the scams the two of them were doing. Even the final shot of Gypsy taking the blame was staged for the family's protection. They are a pack of grifters and liars through and through. Don't believe a word of innocence.

Basically, Gypsy was going to portray her mothers murder as someone who was obsessed and stalking her - thus reported a rape during the interrogation. I think the guy was duped into doing it, and was going to be sent down the river if Gypsy could. She was so tactically looking to reduce her charges, I think the accusation of abuse is greatly exaggerated. Her mother and her were both con artists and grifters. Gypsy was technically ignorant of how much evidence would be presented. She was dumb and got caught.

The guy was totally setup and left to take the brunt of the sentence. He should have been reviewed by someone at the Police force with the qualifications to determine whether they were lying and had serious mential problems.

Maybe some of that is true r51 but this was a path she was set on at an early age by her own asshole mom, I'm sure she'd rather go back and have had a normal childhood without a narcissistic bitch of a mom. She was taught to grift by the best grifter around and the world is a better place without her mom in it.

R41, her mother lied about her age and mental capacity in order to keep control over her. Plus she either had or was working on having Gypsy declared incompetent so she'd legally control her as an adult as well. Gypsy had already been dragged home after trying to escape once or twice and her mother fooled nearly every authority she came across. I could see why Gypsy (even wrongly) thought she had no way out so long as her mother was alive.

Then when you combine that with the fact that (as others here have pointed out) Gypsy had very little in the way of life skills, socialization or education except for the lying, grifting ways her mother taught her. She had something like a 2nd grade education and no friends she was allowed to spend time alone with (that her mother knew of). This case is perfectly illustrative why so many fundamentalist religious discourage education, especially for girls--keep them dumb and dependent on the same way of life generation after generation. Gyspy simply didn't have the knowledge or skills for how to get out and fend for herself other than what the doofus boyfriend was capable of helping her with. Had she met a guy who was decent and with a slight modicum of intelligence, she may have gotten out safely and to a much better place.

Her father seems nice enough now but any sympathy I have for him is undercut by anger that if he had been the slightest bit proactive, he could have saved his daughter. He let this happen through indifference and passivity.

Gypsy was 25 by the airing of the show. I'm sure DeeDee made it clear that they'd be arrested after a certain point. DeeDee even let Gypsy have the opportunity to meet guys, so I doubt that they were fooling each other about what was going on. Even the depictions of Gypsy's cosplay sex role stuff was pretty extensive and explicit. Gypsy was online and probably was seeking and outlet for her desires. I wouldn't be shocked if there were other guys online who she met on prior occasions. It's 2016, Gypsy was mostly getting laid anonymously. Gypsy had leverage over DeeDee and probably used it frequently to get out of having to play the part full time. LIkewise the power dynamics over the course of their relationship shifted greatly as Gypsy was manipulative enough. I am sure the guy's family was trying to stave off some of the penalty and gave over some of the communications online between them.

DeeDee was 24 dating a 17 year old, she probably was using the same tactics to get Gypsy to find a guy to take up with.

Harry Connick, Jr as older sexy Cajun dad, R45.

By R52 's standard, DeeDee wouldn't be held responsible because in the same interview her mother was depicted as a con as well. It's referenced that she steal people's clothes from laundromat dryers. So, like mother like daughter it holds true in her case as well.

The whole family is a bunch of grifters. The women were seducing younger guys and were trying to play fast and lose with the law. It was bound to catch up with them.

Stealing clothes and tricking dudes really isn't at the same level as purposely making your kid sick. It's not the same thing at all. I guess we disagree. Gypsy maybe manipulative, the world is still a better place without her mom in it. It's a matter of degrees.

Changing my opinion about Gypsy - she said she only has a 2nd grade education, but she learned enough to read and type and get onto the internet and visit chat rooms, dating websites, and meet at least 2 men. Another mystery how she was able to do these things w/o her mother finding out. Now I wonder if she was groomed by her mother because Gypsy was "aging out" of being the 'cute little sick girl'. to start a new level of con - catfishing. That maybe DeeDee taught Gypsy the ins and outs of using a PC and it turned into her doom when Gypsy found a wacko and fell in love.

I keep seeing people say that Dee Dee had Gypsy's teeth pulled out. I don't remember hearing that in the documentary.

I read it in one of the initial stories r59, I missed part of the doc but read before that the meds she was getting were rotting here teeth so her mom had them pulled.

R58 is nutty. I'd hardly say Gypsy committing murder of any kind is a social good. But that is just me. If she wanted to do some social justice she should have reported her mother and left her ass to the authorities. I mean she couldn't be prosecuted for anything at that point because she was a minor and didn't know any better - as well as, she'd be able to plea her way out of a crime for a lesser charge depending on what she did and when.

Gypsy's teeth have been fixed by the state so I guess she got something out of this.

R59 IS SEEING MY POV! Exactly. She's not some poor child that was illiterate, she had some sophistication to learn on her own to use the internet and communicate online. That is the part that is just funny, she's supposedly retarded, and using Facebook but could have cohesive statements clearly providing intent. She was being groomed by DeeDee to find a guy and venture out on her own. But DeeDee couldn't have foreseen what would transpire, Gypsy was very intent in getting her back for a lot of crap. BTW, Gypsy admitted SHE CALLED the cops on DeeDee, I think she was very retaliatory and ready to battle at all costs for control. No WAY the cops would have left them alone at that point, UNLESS Gypsy was willingly going to retract her earlier statements and play along. Gypsy was doing an implied threat.

Even though Gypsy is legally responsible for her mother's death, she is not responsible for being the product of her environment. The deceit and grifting were forced on her.

I think I remember reading that while some teeth were pulled, most of them were damaged like they were because DeeDee had her saliva glands shaved down and it could have been due to poor nutrition

That video of Gypsy and Nicholas in the hotel room giggling like nothing happened was chilling, as well as Nichloas confession tapes. Gypsy's feigned shock/horror when the cop told her that her mother is dead didn't sit well with me either. It's like watching a grown baby. Her movements, her voice... She's going to need a lot of help.

They even had a video of a full grown Gypsy getting bathed in a sink. That had to be humiliating although she laughs and giggles when she is on video. When she was bald she reminded me of Dopey from Snow White.

Agreed r65, she could have been on AHS.

Knowing what DeeDee did to her daughter was bad, but it was mind-boggling when I heard her horrible backstory; stealing, bad checks, starving elderly relatives. She was a creeper from a young age, like The Bad Seed. Those revelations really highlighted how heinous she was, all culminating with her own father not wanting her ashes.

DeeDee had this "puppet" to control and cart around to doctors until Gypsy's teen hormones hit. It was all downhill from there.

This is one of the most fascinating stories I've ever heard.

Both mother and daughter were characters out of a John Waters movie. I guess you can feel some sympathy for Gypsy Rose (God, what a white trash name) but she turned out to be as detestable as her mother. And how could this woman's abuse of her daughter go on as long as it did without anybody noticing anything was amiss? That is what I find incredible.

Are they Roma? Is that why she's named Gypsy?

R70 No, in the doc her father said DeeDee named her Gypsy after a Guns N Roses song.

r71 Jesus..that alone mitigates her actions. She should have said that to the jury and then done a mic drop.

R69 A lot of people have to answer for this in the medical community. Even Habitat for Humanity should review their applications process. I have a hard time believing this is the only time they have gotten scammed.

"Gypsy's teeth have been fixed by the state so I guess she got something out of this.'

What teeth? Did she get fitted with dentures? I thought her teeth were either gone or crumbling.

Its impossible to say how one would react after being raised by the Empress of Munchausen by proxy. To go most of your life believing you are genuinely ill then find out not only are you not ill,but that all the meds and treatments have MADE you ill. Gypsy's anger must have been all consuming. That fat bitch was evil to her core,and made a nice living off slowly killing her child.

What happened to the pink house that Habitat For Humanity so generously provided for them? Did it get given to some other weird, useless people? I lost all respect for Habitat For Humanity when I read an article about how they gave a house to a man who was a convicted murderer. Seems the killer had a wife and six kids and his situation fit all their criteria, so they gave him and his brood a house. Then the guy got caught trying to abduct a child; boy, did HFH have egg on THEIR faces! After he was arrested his tribe eventually had to move out. After hearing about that, my opinion of HFH is that it's made up of clueless idiots.

I hold the mother 100% responsible. She's still be alive if she hadn't fucked over her only child like she did. Gypsy Rose acted out in the only way she was taught to.

R76 Disgusting.

Funny they played the Tony Orlando song 'Say has anybody seen my Sweet Gypsy Rose?' at the end because that's what I thought of when I heard her name

When I saw that picture of them where they're cuddling the dog I thought it was a woman with her elderly mother. I thought Gypsy was her mother's mother. She looks 80 years old in that photo. What a repulsive pair.

r80 yes and her mom with her poodle perm looks special needs. It looks like a retarded mother and daughter.

You are all blind to the fact the whole thing is STAGGED and played by each woman. Look at the fucking pic at the top, how can you not look at that for being totally fake?

R82, I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you mean. You don't think these two women are mother and daughter?

She means it was STAGGED r83, duh!

What Gypsy and her boyfriend did is horrible, however DeeDee was such a disgusting piece of shit, ruined her daughters life, denied her all opportunites of ever having a normal upbringing and made her endure useless and painfull medical procedures. DeeDee even makes people like Joe Jackson look like parent of the year.

The father was a real mouth breather, grinning through the whole show like a retard.

Everyone in this extended family clearly have sub normal IQs.

WTF is in the water where they grew up?

*has

R86 Honey,have you ever been to missouri? The men are hot till the hit 30,the women all blow up into sows by the 1st kid,and they are all reprehensibly stupid. That being said,I got some great dick when I lived there back in the early 90s.

r88 Truth! That debutante ball or whatever she was in at 22 had her already fat and blowsy. Jesus..I'm twice that age and have never been that out of shape.

Gypsy looks like she smells

Gypsy is no doubt a sociopath like her mother. And that guy she hooked up with! He looks like the Gollum. His parents are trying to make it seem like he's "autistic" or has "Asperger's Syndrome" but it's plain to see he's a conscienceless psycho who is trying to blame his actions on "multiple personality disorder." It's easy to see how these two got together; people like this are drawn to each other. Both are loser scum.

Do we believe they met on "a Christian dating site"?

R92 I thought that too. It would make more sense for them to meet on some kind of niche role play site considering that's what they both seem to be into.

"Do we believe they met on "a Christian dating site"?"

Maybe they thought that people on Christian dating sites are more naive and easily manipulated and controlled. I think both of these freaks were up to no good and were hoping to find somebody that they could use for their own perverse aims. He wanted sex (who would want to have sex with HIM?) and she wanted somebody to help her kill her mother. They both got what they wanted. I don't believe for a minute that he "raped" her; little Gypsy Rose is as big a liar and manipulator as her mother.

The relatives of the horrible Dee Dee said they flushed her ashes down the toilet! Good for them. They did exactly the right thing.

At the time of her arrest, Gypsy had at least five Facebook accounts.

I wish that the documentary maker had an expert, like a psychiatrist/therapist or even a profiler give their opinions about Gypsy's mental development and how her upbringing/all the factors that turned into a murder. I want something other than the simplistic "her mother was horrible".

Interesting ,R95. Is there any more info about those accounts? Was she catfishing people like some people guessed, or was she just looking for a way to interact with the outside world?

Dee Dee and Gypsy were from Louisiana. Which I would argue is worse than Missouri.

I also think it's especially interesting that Gypsy said her mother's last words to her were, "Don't hurt me." Clearly like the previous poster said by this point Dee Dee (jesus these names) must have been afraid of her daughter, with good reason -- seems like a slip up to me, on Gypsy's part, revealing that. Seems to me that Gypsy was probably fully aware of the blackmail she had on her mother by this point and was probably giving back the torment her mother had given to her for so long.

R97 From watching the doc, I think there were accounts for each personality she created with her bf

r99 Yes, she did have good reason to be afraid, someone she tortured for years got the upper hand and since the mother was not one to show mercy, she assumed her kid would be the same way.

When did she say "don't hurt me"? Did she beg for her life when the guy was in the house and about to kill her? Was she tied up and being tortured before her murder? Or did she say those words to Gypsy before he even got there as a response to threats?

If only Natalie Wood and Roz Russell were still alive, they could reprise their roles of Gypsy Rose and her Mama. Albeit, in a very different story.

Bad parents raise bad children who grow into adults and don't know any better and raise bad children themselves. It's a vicious cycle.

Gypsy is a product of how she was raised. It's easy for outsiders to say "well, as soon she was an adult she should have left her mom and live her own, independent life!" but when you were physically and mentally tortured, for a very long time (like, since you were born) you don't perceive reality the same way others do. You're in a mental prison and most outsiders have no means to free you from said prison when both sides have no fucking clue about the other one's perception of reality (mental prison vs. freedom).

A person who practices Munchhausen by proxy usually kill. Often times diagnosed in adult women who've had a long history of abuse and Gypsy Rose was one of those rare children who survived. Being killed slowly yes but made it to young adulthood. While Dee Dee was embracing the pity of the world. Gypsy Rose was being guided in this performance her entire life. And it wasn’t all a performance. Her mother had been giving her medications for conditions she didn’t have that were actually making Gypsy physically ill from the side effects. One of many was her seizure medication, which had caused her to lose most of her teeth. Yet there are many other kinds of side effects. Losing a sense of conscious is a big one. And It's very important to understand this making it much easier to commit a crime.

Gypsy's abuse also came with emotional imprisonment by the mother of her mind. She was denied basic education and social interactions beyond displays necessary to keep up their charade. Someone in the HBO documentary claimed Dee Dee covered Gypsy's ears when she was very young at a physicians office so the child could not hear what was being said about her. Another example when Gypsy was much older, had once told a reporter: “We are a pair of shoes. Never good without the other,” an indication of how deeply Dee Dee was trying to convince her daughter to cleave to her, to never leave her. Gypsy Rose was a victim of child abuse period. In the documentary, they say Gypsy Rose was living a fairy tale nightmare. It was brutal what was done to the mother yes.. But her death was instant. Gypsy Rose on the other hand was being murdered slowly day in and day out for many many years.

R105 I've never heard of lost consciousness as a medical side effect. Care to explain?

[quote] a sense of conscious

Oh, dear.…

R105 Psychoactive drugs aid in altering the state of consciousness. (ASC) and can experience hallucinations and loss of mental control. And since Munchhausen by proxy victims usually are already suffering from what is real and what is not, ultimately on medication, can have no sense of feeling and may suffer harder from a state of consciousness on medication.

The real test will be her state of mind once she is released from prison as to how she will handle and function in a normal sense of society.

R107 lol- Oh dear is right. Thank you- my mistake.

There was a psychologist who weighed in on the situation and Gypsy's mental health. He's interviewed throughout. Gypsy discusses the boyfriend's alleged multiple personalities and says he wanted a girlfriend for each of his personalities so she created these multiple girlfriend personas so I guess each had a FB page like they each had a different look and different clothes etc.

Even with only a formal 2d grade education she could have picked up language skills etc in other ways. But it's a superficial skill. She does seem to possess a bit of insight during her interview after her conviction. Now whether that is parroting her therapy or true insight I don't know.

She got 10 years and has to serve 85% before being eligible for parole. She already had about a year in so she'll have a chance for release in about 7 years. He's due for trial this spring. Wonder if he'll end up with a plea. Personally considering it's Missouri she got a good plea offer.

R110 She is also I'm guessing not clouded in her mind bending meds these days-

Multiple personalities....what bullshit! "Multiple personality disorder", if indeed such a thing exists, is extremely rare. After "Sybil" it became a nationwide hoax; thousands of people were being "diagnosed" with it and the claims were becoming more and more ludicrous. Sometimes these poor souls were afflicted with dozens, or hundreds or sometimes even a few thousand, multiple personalities. But it was all a load of utter horseshit. Maybe he'll try to get off by saying one of his multiples committed the murder, not him. I think some guy actually did get off on some crime he committed by saying his multiple did it and not him. What insanity. Anyway, I don't think Gypsy's boyfriend is going to get off. And it will probably be revealed during his trial how much in control she really was and how much she was responsible for what happened. Little Gypsy Rose, is, like her gnome-faced boyfriend, a monster.

Can't get through a story of ugly freaks. Don't have to be gay to feel this way. Just human.

R113 What?

Reddit with the HBO documentary maker

Dee Dee was going to draw up papers to have Power of Attorney over Gypsy, she could have kept her a prisoner forever. Scary stuff.

....

This really should have been a multi-part documentary series like Netflix does. There was more to explore, like of the mother's life. I wasn't too clear who everyone was. They should have spent more time on certain elements, but I guess it would have been too long for a single film.

In the Build Series video, the director/filmmaker revealed that the mother conned her way into meeting the cast of Harry Potter. This is something else that wasn't in the film.

Just watched this. Insaaane!! Like WTF Dee Dee?

"In the Build Series video, the director/filmmaker revealed that the mother conned her way into meeting the cast of Harry Potter. "

How in the hell did THAT happen? I assume there pictures taken of the event, with Dee Dee and Gypsy grinning and mugging as usual. Or did just Dee Dee "con" her way into meeting them? I don't know how she would have been able to do that. She needed her little sick daughter to get freebies and perks. By the way, I wonder how all those charitable organizations she got free stuff from are dealing with being made fools of. I wonder if all the doctors who treated poor little Gypsy now feel like the idiots that they were. In the Buzzfeed piece about this case there were requests for commentary by the duped doctors and charity organizations but they pretty much all "did not reply to requests for comment."I guess not. They all must be feeling really stupid.

Dee Dee and Gypsy are Tinsley Mortimer's cousins. I wonder why Tinsley hasn't helped more and if Gypsy will be on RHONY

Thanks for the link r121, did the author know she was on camera because that hair...

[quote]The goth Cajun cousin seemed the sanest one of them all--which is saying something.

He's kinda cute in a trashy way.

He's got a pet squirrel and has set up a GoFundMe for Gypsy, which hasn't raised much so far.

The woman the mother was poisoning... who is she to them? I could get a handle on how they were related.

Bobby was picked up on CNN in 2010.

She was Dee Dee's step-mother, R125.

I think Gypsy has received enough hand-outs, R124.

I think this is the most insanely fucked-up story I have ever heard.

" Typical women. Who can be surprised. It's a sick sex."

No one is as sick as the male sex.

"He's got a pet squirrel and has set up a GoFundMe for Gypsy, which hasn't raised much so far."

What are the funds supposed to be used for? The little bitch is in prison. Are the funds to be used to provide her a comfortable life when she gets out? As someone else said, I think this little cunt has gotten enough hand outs.

The documentarian is the daughter of famed NYT writer David Carr.

This was a powerful and disturbing film and bizarre story. Glad it caught some attention here! I felt sympathetic to Gypsy, not that this crime should have happened at all, but because of all that had happened to her. The horror of her life... I don't think any of us can imagine her mental life at that point. And she was working off the manipulation tactics in her home. It's all she knew.

I wish the film had dwelled a little more on all the hack doctors who took the mother's diagnostics at face value and apparently had no evaluation tools of their own. The doctors should be on trial for missing all of this.

That dozens and dozens of doctors over more than two decades allowed this torturous charade to continue should make every American every (mis-/under/over)diagnosis they've ever been given and every medication and procedure they've been advised to take and undergo.

People, even doctors, can be very easy to fool. Dee Dee was a master manipulator and liar and she had a great scam going that tugged at the heartstrings of everybody: a poor, single mother with a deadbeat ex-husband (he was not a deadbeat and regularly sent child support money) and a chronically ill child. She and Gypsy both put on a mother and daughter act that a lot of foolish people found endearing and heartwarming. It was easy for people to be taken in, but it's still amazing that just about everybody could be fooled for so long. There was a doctor who put forth is opinion that something fishy was going on, but he never pursued the matter. Later he said he wished he'd done more. Anyway, I never found the mother/daughter team of Dee Dee and Gypsy appealing or touching; I thought they were both a couple of grotesques, always grinning and mugging for the camera. Someone said she wondered if behind closed doors they laughed it up, thinking: "SUCKERS!"

The dad seemed more interested in which cap to wear than his own daughter.

The dad did not want to be alone with Gypsy and brought his wife. He knows damn well he abandoned that girl for a new family and if he would have been around more maybe things wouldn't have escalated this far.

More on the Miranda Lambert aspect, please. I always knew that "singer" was trouble.

Watching it now. The boyfriend was arrested for jacking off at McDonalds for 9 hours!

Talk about extreme edging.

What stamina!

Not the only bizarre fucked up thing that's happened in Springfield, Missouri. Very strange place. Very strange energy.

Very interesting documentary. As others have noted, Gypsy was the victim of child abuse and is clearly a victim, but lord what a little monster she is. She seems quite the master manipulator. The business about the Disney story she told seems to indicate that she views herself as some fantasy victim that had to be saved.

I got the impression that the father was horrified by both mother & daughter and was likely happy they were living out of state, though it did seem like he tried own up to his part in the negligence. The step-mother just wanted to show up on camera and was a pretty clear indication that this guy's taste in women leaves something to be desired.

I felt bad for her creepy little friend, who I think she completely manipulated in to killing her mother.

LOL, the mental gymnastics some people will do here to blame the woman for everything. Gypsy's a monster, but the boyfriend is a victim? Good grief. He said he wanted to rape Dee Dee and he was just as cold and sadistic as Gypsy. Gypsy spent her entire life being essentially imprisoned and tortured by her monster mother so she was more than entitled to the hate she harbored for the woman that everyone described as "evil." The boyfriend was a creep. If Gypsy was manipulative, I say so fucking what? She had no opportunity to learn any other kind of survival skills. Her grifter trashy mother was the only role model she had.

I read the Buzzfeed article a few months ago and was so creeped/grossed out that I'm not sure I can watch the documentary.

It's not so bad, r141.

Actually, I read the BF article after watching the documentary and I think it does a better job of answering the question that you keep asking yourself as you watch the documentary - how did this women keep getting away with it? She was probably in Medicaid so she's probably seeing whoever she can/whoever will take her, not necessarily the same people all the time, she seemed knowledgeable because of her past medical knowledge and the article indicated that people did raise flags, but because she kept moving around, she moved on to a new place once they were on to her. She was smart enough to know how to play the charity system and boy did she milk it for all it was worth.

Also, the father and step-mother come across as such doofs in the documentary (maybe it's the accent), but the article indicates that he was a basically a well-meaning guy that got totally played by this woman.

In a similar vein, there's a film on YT about a mother who paraded her child around her small town, telling people that her daughter was dying of cancer and collecting donations. It's called "A Mother's Love". This one has a happier ending - no one dies.

Watched it yesterday. Thought it was poorly done.

Never clear on if the daughter was in on it later in life. She said she knew she could walk, so was she walking around the house when she was not 'on show' to the public ?

She wasn't even asked about the grift side of the story. But clearly she was mobile if she met two guys online and was able to meet them without her mother (she met the first guy on her own and then arranged a 'movie date' with her Mom).

" He knows damn well he abandoned that girl for a new family and if he would have been around more maybe things wouldn't have escalated this far."

Would YOU have wanted to be around Dee Dee the demented cow woman "more?" I think he was running for his life and who could blame him. I also think that he believed Dee Dee was totally devoted to Gypsy and would always take good care of her. The guy was clueless, but a lot of people with a lot more smarts than him were equally clueless.

I can't believe he actually fucked Dee Dee the cow. But in a way I can understand it. He was a 17 year old cluck; she was a 24 year old manipulative older woman. She wasn't good looking, and she was crazy, but at 17 he probably figured, hey, it's pussy, so he fucked her. And of course got her pregnant, the idiot. He said in the South if you get somebody pregnant you marry them, so that's how he got stuck with Dee Dee. Too bad he didn't keep his pants on. If he had, this whole sick, sordid tale never would have happened.

Wow, that was a creepy, sordid tale. Gypsy Rose reminded me of one of the pinhead girls from FREAKS.

I don't blame Gypsy Rose at all for doing what she did. For all of the reasons listed above. Plus, as some have mentioned, that sow of a mother was pumping crazy hardcore medication--steroids, anxiety and pain meds, antifungals, antibiotics, etc.-- into her g-tube around the clock since she was a small child. Her brain and body are probably irreversibly damaged. I wonder if she'll be able to live an independent life when she gets out of jail.

[quote]I guess I am sympathetic to Gyspy because... I was taught to follow authority without question. I was not allowed to talk back to my parents and though my parents were tough they weren't abusive.

My parents were not religious but were very abusive [although not as crazy as DeeDee] and I was so thoroughly beaten down by them that I could never have talked back. They were in control of everything, period.

I absolutely believe that poor Gypsy felt she had no other way of escaping from her mother -- every single medical and social services professional failed her completely, her family didn't help her, she had no way of confessing the truth to her friends or neighbours ... she was stuck!

Hell, that idiot psycho bf of hers was the best thing to ever happen to her -- how fucked up is THAT?

I have various questions after watching: I wonder how Gypsy got those outfits and wigs and that hot pink bikini she wore on those photos she sent to her boyfriend. That indicates that she had access to money and know how to get things from "the outside world" when she really wanted to. In that vein, why couldn't she contact some agency or organization and let them know what was going on in her home? Instead of trying to get out of that hellhole life, she goes to a dating site and hooks up with a guy with mental issues, likes BDSM and role playing and has no problem with murder.

Also, there was that young blond woman who Gypsy was friendly with -- she knew that Gypsy was unhappy and using the PC to hook up with guys. How much other stuff did she know? Wish she had been interviewed more in-depth.

The cousin was hilarious.

The mother looked like Chris Farley in this old SNL about reading from the Fodor's reviews of restaurants.

Better one

I wondered about that too R149; she indicates that her mother controlled her every move, so how did she get that Harley Quinn get up and all the other more provocative wigs? While I don't doubt that the mother called the shots, I wonder if as Gypsy got older (and clearly savvier) if she demanded certain things from her mother to continue to play along.

In the Buzzfeed article, the author indicates that the blonde girl (can't remember her name) was never allowed to talk to Gypsy without the mother present and was eventually banished (at some point) because the mother considered her a bad influence.

From reddit with the documentarian about the outfits:

She stole the outfits from WalMart in her wheelchair, her mom taught her how...

Little Gypsy Rose is just the latest in a long line of manipulative females who get some sap to do their dirty work for them. And they do it by pleading abuse:"oh this person is abusing me so bad, I can't stand it, please help me, please get rid of him (or her) for me." There have been lots of criminal cases like that. Karen Aparo and Dennis Coleman. Cheryl Pierson and Sean Pica. Jimmy Sue Finger and Michael Kettman. It happens a lot. The dumb cluck who killed Dee Dee Blanchard is due to have his trial in November, I think. No doubt his defense will be that he was just a pawn and Gypsy instigated the whole thing. And I think that is probably entirely true.

r155 I don't doubt that those other women used some guy maliciously to off someone for them, but I'm sure their reasons were very fucking trite, like life insurance. If anyone needed killing, it was Dee Dee. This was not a fucking working, independent woman who wanted her hubby out of the way.

"If anyone needed killing, it was Dee Dee."

Actually both she and her ugly, munchkin-voiced daughter needed killing. They were both monsters.

[quote]I don't blame Gypsy Rose at all for doing what she did. For all of the reasons listed above. Plus, as some have mentioned, that sow of a mother was pumping crazy hardcore medication--steroids, anxiety and pain meds, antifungals, antibiotics, etc.-- into her g-tube around the clock since she was a small child. Her brain and body are probably irreversibly damaged.

She's also extremely tiny. DeeDee only fed her with that damn g-tube, and she obviously had a vested interest in keeping Gypsy small, so the poor girl had her potential growth stunted.

[Although she's probably better off, if the alternative was to be a big moose like her mother!]

Interesting info from the filmmaker, via the Reddit AMA:

[quote]DeeDee was heavily medicated due to her own mental issues and so she would often "take naps," that is when Gypsy would play or talk to Nick.

[quote] I wonder how Gypsy got those outfits and wigs and that hot pink bikini she wore on those photos she sent to her boyfriend

The documentary maker said Dee Dee taught her daughter how to steal and hide things in her wheelchair. She stole that stuff from WalMart.

Anyone else watched this yet?

"Anyone else watched this yet?"

Of course people have watched it, duh! Look at all the comments here. Basically it was the story of a very evil, manipulative woman who had a child that she severely abused by forcing her to pretend to be retarded and chronically ill and paralyzed. It's also the story of the abused daughter, who grew up to be every bit as manipulative and evil as her mother. Of course she would be; the only person in her life was her mother. Her mother taught her everything. Like mother, like daughter. Both sociopaths.

No, but I sure seen it.

All joking aside, I'd probably have been a great friend to DeeDee. I'm a bit of a grifter myself.

R162, wtf?

I was simply trying to find other DLers to talk about this with, you friggin' psycho!

I don't think I would classify the daughter as a sociopath. The mother was going to get power of attorney over the daughter which meant she would have been trapped for life. She felt like murdering the mother was her only way out.

[quote]She felt like murdering the mother was her only way out.

It's a shame getting out of her wheelchair and telling someone there was nothing wrong with her wasn't an option.

Endlessly fascinating.

I view them as an extreme and dangerous pair of Edie Beales. They have the same symbiosis and codependency. And you never know who *really* had the upper hand. And the story isn't quite as clear-cut as you might think. I'm also seeing some parallels to "Carrie".

Did Gypsy envy the normal lives of her peers? Did DeeDee convince Gypsy that she had it better? For instance, the Roma and Travelers have contempt for law-abiding citizens. Regular people are stupid, and the cunning grifters are superior. I wonder if Gypsy sees everyone as a potential mark, ready to be exploited. Personally, I think her gee-willikers/Pollyanna demeanor in her prison interview is a manipulative facade. She's probably laughing at all the poor suckers who pity her. She'll make a fortune if she ever writes a book. (Hell, I'd buy it.)

DeeDee had to have convinced Gypsy that she needed to go along with the con. Sheer fear isn't enough of a crowbar. She'd have to appeal to Gypsy's greed and ego, too.

R167 gets it.

"I don't think I would classify the daughter as a sociopath.'

I think she is. Watch the documentary and look at her actions before and after the murder. She's evil, like her mother. And her evil is concealed in a harmless looking package: a skinny, homely girl with babyish voice. I think she's very dangerous. I think if she thought she could get away with it she'd probably murder somebody else, especially if she thought she could gain a lot of money doing it.

R169, I agree.

The story is interesting in a ghoulish way. I just wish the OP wouldn't link to Buzzfeed. That's Twitler's nasty little buddy's outfit. He's a right wing scumbag all day long.

They're so fucking hot though.

[quote] That's Twitler's nasty little buddy's outfit. He's a right wing scumbag all day long.

Uh, Buzzfeed was the outfit that revealed the existence of the Steele Dossier.

That poor dog in that photo

The mom on this reminded me of that woman from wife swap that was yelling about people being dark Sided! Marguerite..? Wow women from Louisiana are wacky.

The back story and the result was pretty f-ed up any way you looked at it.

She could have called her father one late night after Dee Dee was asleep and asked him to come get her. And she is dumb to not figure out that police would be searching for her after those bizarre postings on Facebook and then her and her mother not being seen for several days AND not going on the lam -- just going to the boyfriends house.

Who, R175?

Bump because I just watched this and need to kiki with someone about it. After seeing Making a Murderer and The Keepers, I didn't think anything could surprise me...but this truly was shocking.

[quote]She could have called her father one late night after Dee Dee was asleep and asked him to come get her.

He would most likely have made an excuse not to, he had moved on with his life with a new wife and family.

Agree with r179 - dad probably felt he dodged a bullet with dee dee moving with Gypsy to Missouri. Which is far away but still Driveable if dad really wanted to visit.

He was happy not to have to deal with any of this and just write the monthly check.

I hope more fucked up people do some more fucked up shit so that I can have more documentaries to watch.

[quote]Bump because I just watched this and need to kiki with someone about it.

"Kiki"?

Izzat a typo?

R182 is a lesbeen.

Not a typo. Not a top, either.

Where can I see the documentary?

Reminds me slightly of "Grey Gardens" - there was a DL poster, many years ago, who was a mental health professional and worked with the Beales, said that was some very weird shit going down in that already weird situation.

He was so reticent that it sounded plausible.

This is the weirdest case

[R186], are you thinking that the mental health professional who treated the Beales was referring to Munchausen by Proxy with one of the Beales or incest between them (or something else)?

(Wondering what the “weird shit” he was hinting at was?)

The dad and cousin are hot. The doc is on YouTube

This and the Aunt Diane documentary were interesting

UPDATE: Nicholas Godejohn found guilty of first-degree murder

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Wisconsin man was convicted Friday in the stabbing death of a Missouri woman who forced her daughter for years to pretend to be disabled as part of a fraud scheme.

Nicholas Godejohn, 29, of Big Bend, Wisconsin, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of first-degree murder. He will be sentenced in February.

Prosecutors and Godejohn’s attorneys agreed that he killed Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, 48, at her home near Springfield, Missouri, in June 2015. The trial centered on whether he committed first-degree murder or a lesser crime.

Defense attorneys argued that Blanchard’s daughter, Gypsy Blanchard, manipulated Godejohn into killing her mother in order to escape from an abusive home life. They argued Godejohn’s, who is autistic, didn’t have the mental abilities required for premeditation, The Springfield News-Leader reported.

Gypsy Blanchard testified Thursday that she persuaded Godejohn to travel to Missouri to kill her mother. She said it was the only way she could think of to get away from the woman who forced her to use a wheelchair and convinced her she suffered from several illnesses. Friends believed for years that Gypsy Blanchard had cancer and was developmentally delayed. Gypsy Blanchard testified that her mother beat her, chained her to a bed and controlled every part of her life.

Clauddine Blanchard’s body was found after her friends noticed a post on a Facebook page stating, “That (expletive) is dead.”

Prosecutors contended during the trial that Godejohn killed the woman so he could continue a relationship with Gypsy Blanchard, who he met in 2012 on a Christian dating website. They argued the death was premediated and pushed for a first-degree murder conviction.

The couple was arrested several days after the crime at Godejohn’s home in Wisconsin. Gypsy Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In closing arguments Friday, Godejohn’s attorney Dewayne Perry described his client as a “low-functioning person with autism” who was incapable of true deliberation. Psychologists testified that Godejohn has autism spectrum disorder.

“Nick was so in love with her and so obsessed with her that he would do anything,” Perry said. “And Gypsy knew that.”

Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson said Godejohn was motivated by sex and a desire to be with Gypsy Blanchard.

Patterson pointed to evidence that he said showed deliberation, such as Godejohn wearing a T-shirt with “evil clowns” to scare Clauddine Blanchard and later telling a journalist that he waited outside the bedroom door for a minute thinking about his decision. He also said the couple discussed killing Clauddine Blanchard more than a year before the homicide.

“Yes, he was asked to do it,” said Assistant Prosecutor Nathan Chapman. “But he took it from there.”

Chapman said Clauddine Blanchard deserved to face consequences for abusing her daughter but that should have happened in a court of law.

Jurors had the option of finding Godejohn not guilty or guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter. They deliberated for about two hours before returning with the verdict.

Here's the new thread with the update:

I finally watched this last night after finding an old thread in the Drag Race subreddit about Trixie Mattel getting called out for doing a show as Gypsy Rose.

What R22 said.

I hate the US justice system.