Featured Image Credit: HBO/ABC
Topics: True Crime, Life, Health
Emily Brown
Family friends of Gypsy Rose Blanchard have opened up about their concerns over her release from prison, which could happen as soon as this year.
Gypsy Rose was sentenced in November 2018 to 10 years behind bars following the death of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who was found dead at her home in 2015.
Gypsy Rose was nowhere to be found at the time, and neighbours raised concerns over her whereabouts after previously being told by Dee Dee that she suffered with numerous health issues and had the 'mental capacity of a seven-year-old'.
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Police were able to locate Gypsy Rose in Wisconsin without her wheelchair or medications, and discovered she actually didn't have any of the physical and mental health issues her mother had described.
A police investigation determined that Gypsy Rose had convinced her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, to come to her house and kill her mother after being subject to years of physical and psychological abuse.
Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, while Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Now 31, Gypsy is set to leave prison once her sentence ends, but could be released earlier as she's eligible for parole by the end of this year.
Fancy Marcelli and Titania Gisclair, family friends of Gypsy Rose, spoke to In Touch about their concerns for her release, admitting fear she could 'end up back in prison'.
Speaking in 2021, Marcelli explained: “Gypsy has served 80 percent of her sentence. She’s supposed to get out in 2025, but I worry about what’s going to happen to her. She doesn’t want counseling, which the prison offers. She doesn’t feel that she needs any help. She needs better people around her.”
Marcelli claimed at the time that Gypsy Rose needed to 'change her behaviour', but that she was 'not open to it'.
"[She is] still putting on a show for the parole board," Marcelli said.
Gisclair, who knew Dee Dee, said she 'never had any reason' not to believe the things the mother was telling her about Gypsy Rose and expressed belief the daughter 'learned a lot of bad stuff from her mama'.
Doctors believe Dee Dee had the mental disorder Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which causes a caregiver to either make up fake symptoms or cause and exaggerate real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.
After everything Gypsy Rose went through and what it led to, Gisclair commented: “She’s responsible for her actions, that’s why she’s in prison. You reap what you sow. We just want Gypsy to have as much of a normal life as possible when she’s released. And that’s going to take a lot of work.”