Missouri Woman Who Convinced Boyfriend to Kill Mother Set to Be Paroled
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the woman from Missouri who convinced her online boyfriend to kill her mother after years of psychological and physical abuse, is set to be paroled on Thursday. The case garnered national attention after it was revealed that Gypsy Blanchard’s mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, had forced her daughter to pretend to be suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and other serious illnesses.
Gypsy Blanchard, now 32, was healthy and not developmentally delayed as her friends had believed. Her mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children, according to her trial attorney, Michael Stanfield.
The abuse was so severe that the mother and daughter received charitable donations, met country star Miranda Lambert, and even received a home near Springfield from Habitat for Humanity.
The story of Gypsy Blanchard and her mother has sparked numerous books and documentaries, including a 2019 Hulu miniseries and an upcoming Lifetime docuseries. Despite the media attention, the Missouri Department of Corrections has stated that no in-person coverage of her release on Thursday will be allowed “in the interest of protecting safety, security, and privacy.”
Gypsy Blanchard’s release has sparked discussion and debate, as many are still trying to make sense of the extraordinary and unusual case surrounding her mother’s tragic death.