Gypsy Blanchard to be released from prison on parole in December

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KOLR) — Gypsy Blanchard has been granted parole and is scheduled to be released in December, the Missouri Department of Corrections confirmed. 

Blanchard, 32, pleaded guilty to murder in 2016 for her role in the killing of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison but has been granted early release. 

The Greene County case attracted a national spotlight and inspired documentaries and an eight-episode miniseries on Hulu. Gypsy’s attorneys say her mother abused her and held her prisoner for years as part of an elaborate fraud scheme. 

They say the abuse included Blanchard’s mother isolating her, forcing her to use a wheelchair and subjecting her to unnecessary medical procedures. The Louisiana native advanced the lies by claiming they were Hurricane Katrina survivors and Gypsy’s medical records had been destroyed in the storm. 

In June of 2015, Gypsy arranged for her online boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to travel to the family’s home in Springfield to kill her mother. After the murder, Gypsy and Godejohn fled back to his home in Wisconsin where they were arrested days later. 

For his role, Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, but Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson struck a deal with Gypsy, taking into account the abuse she suffered. 

Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to the minimum of 10 years in prison. She will soon be released after serving 85% of her sentence, as required by state law. She was given credit for the time she spent in the Greene Couty Jail before pleading guilty. 

Gypsy’s expected release date is Dec. 28.