Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who was convicted of helping to kill her mother in a murder that inspired an HBO documentary and a Hulu miniseries, was released from prison Thursday, authorities in Missouri said.
Ms. Blanchard was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center at 3:30 a.m. Thursday, Karen Baughman, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said in an email.
Her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, was murdered in June 2015 in Springfield, Missouri. At the time, Ms. Blanchard, who was in her early 20s, was using a wheelchair and appeared to be suffering from impaired mental capacity. Investigators soon realized that she could walk and that her medical problems were largely fictitious.
Investigators later suspected Ms Blanchard's boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, of stabbing her mother to death. They also found evidence indicating that the couple planned the murder together.
Ms. Blanchard, now 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison – Minimum count of second-degree murder – under a plea agreement that admitted to an abusive relationship with her mother.
Three years later, Mr. Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The Springfield News-Leader reported.
Ms. Blanchard's lawyer, Mike Stanfield, could not immediately be reached for comment.
“I'm ready for freedom,” Mrs. Blanchard said He told People magazine In an interview published on Thursday. “I'm ready to expand and I think that applies to every aspect of my life.”
In 2019, Hulu released an eight-part series called “The Act,” which was based on Ms. Blanchard’s life. The series is written by Michelle Dean, a journalist who has written widely read books 8,000 word story for Buzzfeed About the case in 2016. In the series, Joey King played Mrs. Blanchard, and Patricia Arquette played her mother.
An HBO documentary titled Mommy Dead and Dearest premiered in May 2017 and addressed the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard.
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