On January 5, ABC News correspondent Amy Robach travels to Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri to interview Gypsy Rose Blanchard. In 2016, the young woman pleaded guilty to second degree murder in the 2015 stabbing death of her 48-year-old mother Dee Dee Blanchard. Gypsy says her mother forced her to pretend to be seriously ill (with leukemia and muscular dystrophy, among others) and unable to walk. Gypsy claims her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn, stabbed Dee Dee to death. Godejohn, who is charged with first-degree murder, has pleaded not guilty.
Gypsy Blanchard is currently serving her 10-year sentence at Chillicothe. Godejohn’s trial was postponed in January 2017 when prosecutors requested a second psychiatric exam. Psychologist Kent Franks, who examined Godejohn in jail, testified at a hearing that the 27-year-old has an I.Q. of 82 and is on the autism spectrum. Godejohn’s trial has been set for November 13, 2018. Godejohn tells 20/20 that Gypsy Rose was the mastermind behind the killing. According to KTTS, “The state says that his mental disease affected his capability to plan and fully understand a murder.” 20/20 airs Fridays at 10pm on ABC.
