WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I have been staring 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.160 at this stack of files for the last three days, 00:00:05.299 --> 00:00:08.599 and I have to admit, I'm having a hard time organizing 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.460 my thoughts. I get that. Usually when we look 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:14.560 at a case, there's a clear villain, a clear victim, 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:17.039 and a timeline that, you know, it makes sense. 00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:19.179 There's a logic to it, even if it's a terrible 00:00:19.179 --> 00:00:23.640 logic. Exactly. But this, this file, the murder 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:25.739 of D .D. Blanchard and the case of Gypsy Rose, 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:29.100 it feels like looking into a funhouse mirror. 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:31.839 Every time you think you understand what you're 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:34.560 looking at, the reflection just it completely 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.840 distorts. It creates a profound sense of cognitive 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.960 dissonance. That's really the only way to describe 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.039 it. Yeah. You're presented with two realities 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:44.899 that absolutely cannot coexist. Yet for 20 years 00:00:44.899 --> 00:00:47.280 in this quiet neighborhood in Missouri, they 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:49.579 did. Side by side. On one hand, you have the 00:00:49.579 --> 00:00:51.539 saintly mother and the sick child, beloved by 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:54.000 everyone. On the other, a prison warden and a 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.899 hostage. And the really scary part is, to the 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:59.380 outside world, those two realities looked identical. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.579 And that's what we need to unpack today. We aren't 00:01:02.579 --> 00:01:05.180 just here to retell the true crime story that 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:07.599 everyone kind of knows from the headlines. I 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:09.459 want to understand the mechanics of this deception. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.079 Right. How did it work? How do you fake muscular 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:14.920 dystrophy for two decades? How do you fool actual 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.540 surgeons into removing healthy organs from your 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:19.780 child? And I really want to understand how a 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:22.420 community that prides itself on being close -knit 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:25.120 can look at a house of horrors and see a Disney 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:28.379 movie. It's a study in psychology for sure, but 00:01:28.379 --> 00:01:31.260 it's also about medical system failure and ultimately 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:35.579 about survival. And it all hinges on one incredibly 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:40.159 jarring catalyst. June 14, 2015. The day the 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.540 Facebook post appeared. Exactly. Up until that 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:44.620 precise moment, the illusion was perfect. It 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:47.299 was seamless. And then... On Dee Dee Blanchard's 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:49.299 own Facebook account, the same account where 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:51.079 she posted all these photos of charity trips 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:52.900 and medical updates. Right, the happy, brave 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:54.980 mom and daughter stuff. That's the one. A status 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:57.719 update appears. It's succinct, it's vulgar, and 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:00.560 it is absolutely terrifying. That bitch is dead. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:03.140 Just like that. I remember seeing the screenshots 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:07.709 of that in the case file. It's so visceral. It's 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:09.789 not a cry for health. It feels more like a scream. 00:02:09.969 --> 00:02:12.009 It is. And the comments underneath. I mean, you 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:14.110 can see the confusion unfolding. The neighbors 00:02:14.110 --> 00:02:15.849 are confused. They're asking, DeeDee, are you 00:02:15.849 --> 00:02:18.530 hacked? Some are even joking about it at first. 00:02:18.669 --> 00:02:20.969 Because the idea of violence associated with 00:02:20.969 --> 00:02:24.879 DeeDee and Gypsy was just... It would be like 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.400 seeing a profanity -laced tirade from Mother 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:29.699 Teresa. It just didn't fit the schema that they 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:32.919 had built up for years. But that post was the 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:35.039 crack in the dam. The very first one. And it 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:37.259 transformed what should have been a simple welfare 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:40.000 check into a full -blown homicide investigation. 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:43.039 So to understand how we got to that post and 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:44.780 to the body they eventually found in the bedroom, 00:02:44.900 --> 00:02:47.699 we have to go way, way back. Yeah. Because D 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:50.629 .D. Blanchard didn't just... spawn into existence 00:02:50.629 --> 00:02:52.550 in that pink house in Springfield, Missouri. 00:02:52.969 --> 00:02:55.650 She had a history. I'm looking at these records 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:59.590 from Louisiana, specifically Jack Bay. And the 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:03.409 family dynamic here is, well, it's dark. It is 00:03:03.409 --> 00:03:06.889 deeply troubled. Claudine Didi -Pitre grew up 00:03:06.889 --> 00:03:09.990 in deep Cajun country. And if you look at the 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:12.509 interviews with her family, her stepmother, her 00:03:12.509 --> 00:03:14.810 siblings, there was always something a little 00:03:14.810 --> 00:03:17.719 off. A manipulative streak. A manipulative streak, 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:20.080 yeah. But it goes beyond just being difficult. 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:22.659 There are allegations in the family history that 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:24.879 suggest Dee Dee was experimenting with poison 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.139 long before Gypsy was even born. You're talking 00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:30.759 about her own stepmother, Laura. Yes. The family 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.000 has gone on record more than once stating they 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.159 believe Dee Dee was poisoning Laura's food. With 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.840 what? With Roundup. Roundup. The weed killer. 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:42.900 The weed killer. I mean, that's not subtle. That's 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:45.159 like chemical warfare in the kitchen. It's brutal. 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.280 And the story is that Laura became chronically 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.099 mysteriously ill while Dee Dee was living with 00:03:51.099 --> 00:03:54.000 her. The symptoms, the vomiting, the weakness, 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.840 they were consistent with poisoning. And the 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:58.860 pattern, this is what we need to flag right away. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:01.199 Yeah. So when the family confronted Dee Dee about 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:03.659 her behavior or when she felt cornered in any 00:04:03.659 --> 00:04:05.860 way, she did not. She fled. She ran. And once 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:08.360 she was gone, Laura's health miraculously improved. 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:11.240 So it establishes a baseline right from the start. 00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:14.699 Dee Dee views illness not as a tragedy to be 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:18.199 overcome, but as a tool, a weapon. And then she 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:21.120 meets Rod Blanchard. Right. She's 23, working 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:24.540 as a nurse's aide. He's only 17. A kid. He's 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:27.540 a kid. They meet at a bowling alley bar. It's 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:30.379 this classic small -town whirlwind romance that 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:33.279 moves way, way too fast. They get married in 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:37.740 1990. But Rod, he seems to wake up pretty quickly. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.779 He realized he was in way over his head. I mean, 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:43.879 he was 17. He said later that he got married 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.139 for the wrong reasons. Which seems to be a theme. 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:48.319 Right. It was a pregnancy scare that wasn't real. 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:51.319 And then shortly after, a real pregnancy. But 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:54.019 by the time Gypsy Rose is born in July of 1991, 00:04:54.459 --> 00:04:56.740 they are already separated. Rod is out of the 00:04:56.740 --> 00:04:59.220 house. But, and this is a really critical distinction 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:01.790 we need to make early on. He wasn't a ghost. 00:05:01.949 --> 00:05:04.329 He didn't just disappear. No, absolutely not. 00:05:04.430 --> 00:05:06.529 He was not an absent father. The narrative Dee 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:09.129 Dee spun later was that he was a deadbeat, an 00:05:09.129 --> 00:05:11.949 alcoholic, this monster who abandoned them. But 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:13.889 the financial records, they tell a completely 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:16.250 different story. Rod Blanchard was paying $1 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:19.509 ,200 a month in child support consistently. Which 00:05:19.509 --> 00:05:22.550 in the early 2000s for one child is a lot of 00:05:22.550 --> 00:05:24.689 money. It's a significant amount of money. He 00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:26.810 was sending gifts. He was trying to call. He 00:05:26.810 --> 00:05:29.129 was trying to be involved. But Dee Dee was the 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:32.040 gatekeeper. She controlled all the access. There's 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.060 this one detail about the phone calls that just 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:38.000 breaks my heart. Rod calls on Gypsy's 18th birthday. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:40.759 Yeah. He wants to wish his now adult daughter 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:44.779 a happy birthday, a major milestone. And Dee 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:47.319 Dee just stops him cold. She tells him, don't 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:50.620 mention her age. She thinks she's 14. Justin. 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:54.959 Yeah. How does a father even process that? What 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.019 do you do with that information? It puts him 00:05:57.019 --> 00:05:59.779 in this terrible, terrible bind. Dee Dee tells 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:02.100 him that Gypsy is mentally delayed, that she 00:06:02.100 --> 00:06:04.579 has the mind of a child, and that reminding her 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:07.500 of her actual chronological age causes her immense 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:09.839 distress and confusion. So if he wants to be 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:12.120 a good dad? If Rod wants to speak to her, if 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:14.480 he wants to be a good dad and not upset his fragile 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:16.680 daughter, he has to play along with the lie. 00:06:16.819 --> 00:06:19.220 He has to participate in the infantilization 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:22.639 or risk being cut off from her entirely. So she 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.839 weaponized his own desire. not to hurt his daughter. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:28.459 Precisely. It's a masterclass in manipulation, 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:31.339 a really sick one. Let's talk about how the medical 00:06:31.339 --> 00:06:33.600 construction began, because this didn't start 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.120 with a wheelchair and a feeding tube. It started 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:39.019 much, much subtler than that. It started at three 00:06:39.019 --> 00:06:41.639 months old. DD became convinced that Gypsy had 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:44.120 sleep apnea. Which is, I mean, it's a common 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.620 fear, right? New parents worry about their baby's 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:49.379 breathing. It happens. Absolutely. But here's 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:51.500 the divergence point between a worried mother 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:54.420 and a dangerous one. She takes the baby to the 00:06:54.420 --> 00:06:57.319 hospital. They do the sleep studies. They hook 00:06:57.319 --> 00:06:59.399 her up to all the monitors overnight. And the 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:02.579 results? The data is clear. The baby breathes 00:07:02.579 --> 00:07:05.980 fine. There is no apnea. She's a healthy infant. 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:07.779 The normal parent would be throwing a party. 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:10.680 Well, thank God she's healthy. Exactly. Relief. 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:13.279 But Dee Dee isn't relieved. She's frustrated. 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:16.800 She rejects the diagnosis of health. And this 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.720 sets up the loop, the pattern we see for the 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:21.699 next 20 years. The pattern is when a doctor says 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:24.980 nothing is wrong. Dee Dee doesn't accept it. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:28.439 She finds a new doctor. She engages in this aggressive, 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.779 relentless doctor shopping. And the list of ailments 00:07:31.779 --> 00:07:35.879 just, it snowballs. I'm looking at this timeline 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:39.959 from the file. It goes from sleep apnea to unspecified 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:42.920 chromosomal disorders, then muscular dystrophy, 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:46.000 epilepsy, hearing problems, vision problems. 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:48.279 It's an escalation of visibility. What do you 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.019 mean by that? Well, sleep apnea is invisible. 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:52.819 Nobody can see it. But muscular dystrophy requires 00:07:52.819 --> 00:07:55.980 props. It requires a walker and then eventually 00:07:55.980 --> 00:07:59.079 a wheelchair. The wheelchair. That's the symbol 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:01.060 of this whole case, isn't it? When did that start? 00:08:01.470 --> 00:08:03.569 Very early. By the time she was a toddler, she 00:08:03.569 --> 00:08:05.490 was already being put in a walker. Then the chair. 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:08.769 Dee Dee told her she was too weak to stand. Can 00:08:08.769 --> 00:08:10.709 you imagine the conditioning? It's absolute. 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:12.769 If you are told from the time you are conscious, 00:08:12.870 --> 00:08:15.689 from your earliest memories, that your own legs 00:08:15.689 --> 00:08:17.670 will fail you, that they will collapse if you 00:08:17.670 --> 00:08:20.250 try to stand. You don't try to stand. You sit. 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:22.089 You believe it. You believe it's a fact of your 00:08:22.089 --> 00:08:27.129 existence. And then Katrina hits. 2005. And nature... 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:30.800 in all its destructive power, gave D .D. Blanchard 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:34.120 a gift. A horrible, perfect gift. They were living 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:36.720 in Slidell, Louisiana at the time. Right. Hurricane 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:39.440 Katrina just devastated the area. Their apartment 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.259 was damaged. But for D .D., the floodwaters were 00:08:42.259 --> 00:08:44.419 the perfect eraser. Because medical records don't 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:47.460 float. Exactly. When they were airlifted to a 00:08:47.460 --> 00:08:49.740 shelter and eventually relocated to Missouri, 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.500 D .D. had a completely clean slate. She could 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:57.059 walk into any new doctor's office and say, muscular 00:08:57.059 --> 00:08:59.460 dystrophy, epilepsy, and leukemia, but I'm so 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:01.799 sorry all the files were lost in the flood. And 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:04.019 who is going to challenge a Katrina refugee? 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:06.879 It would be monstrous to do so. The sympathy 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:09.399 factor was just off the charts. They were airlifted 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:11.740 out, and a doctor at a special needs shelter 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:14.220 was the one who suggested they move to the Ozarks, 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:17.100 first to Aurora, then to Springfield. And when 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:18.879 they land in Missouri, I mean, talk about rolling 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:20.860 out the red carpet, the community didn't just 00:09:20.860 --> 00:09:22.879 welcome them, they practically adopted them. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.940 They were the perfect victims. A tenacious, loving, 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:29.240 single mother who had lost everything. A frail, 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:32.779 sweet, sick child with this little squeaky voice. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.379 It just... triggered every protective instinct 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:38.379 in that entire community. And the material support 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:42.299 that followed is, frankly, staggering. Habitat 00:09:42.299 --> 00:09:44.919 for Humanity built them a house. The famous Pink 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.659 House, custom -built with a wheelchair ramp and 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:50.379 even a hot tub for gypsies' atrophied muscles. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:53.340 A hot tub. A hot tub. And it wasn't just the 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:55.740 house. I was reading about all the perks. They 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:57.720 were getting free flights to Kansas City for 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.590 medical appointments via charitable pilots. They 00:10:00.590 --> 00:10:02.509 went to Disney World multiple times. They got 00:10:02.509 --> 00:10:05.450 backstage passes to meet Miranda Lambert through 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:07.870 the Make -A -Wish Foundation. It was a lifestyle. 00:10:08.110 --> 00:10:10.809 The illness was the currency, and they used that 00:10:10.809 --> 00:10:13.750 currency to buy this life filled with gifts and 00:10:13.750 --> 00:10:16.389 attention and sympathy. And to keep the currency 00:10:16.389 --> 00:10:18.929 valuable, the illness had to be severe. But this 00:10:18.929 --> 00:10:21.190 required intense isolation, right? She couldn't 00:10:21.190 --> 00:10:24.149 let anyone get too close. No, because... Closeness 00:10:24.149 --> 00:10:26.789 breeds scrutiny. If anyone got too close, they 00:10:26.789 --> 00:10:28.669 might start asking questions. Like the neighbors. 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:31.809 Especially the neighbors. She told everyone in 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:34.269 Springfield the story about Rod being a deadbeat 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:36.590 alcoholic who was, you know, maybe even dangerous. 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:39.029 She effectively cut the supply line of information. 00:10:39.549 --> 00:10:42.370 Completely. If the neighbors had known Rod was 00:10:42.370 --> 00:10:45.009 this decent guy sending checks every month, they 00:10:45.009 --> 00:10:46.789 might have called him. Hey, Rod, just wanted 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:48.669 to let you know Gypsy looks a little better today. 00:10:48.730 --> 00:10:51.049 And Rod would say, what do you mean? She's not 00:10:51.049 --> 00:10:54.090 sick. The lie dies with one phone call. So she 00:10:54.090 --> 00:10:56.649 made sure no one ever had a reason to make that 00:10:56.649 --> 00:10:59.789 call. It was strategic isolation. OK, let's move. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:03.500 into what you call living the lie we've established 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:07.120 the setup now i want to get into the gritty day 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:09.000 -to -day reality of what was happening inside 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.740 that pink house yeah because medical abuse is 00:11:11.740 --> 00:11:14.879 such a sterile clinical term it is what was happening 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:18.149 to gypsy was torture It was systematic physical 00:11:18.149 --> 00:11:20.309 dismantling. I mean, let's just look at the physical 00:11:20.309 --> 00:11:23.570 reality versus the fiction she created. Gypsy 00:11:23.570 --> 00:11:25.690 was a healthy young woman. She was about five 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:28.370 feet tall. She had normal muscle tone, or she 00:11:28.370 --> 00:11:30.169 would have if she'd ever been allowed to walk 00:11:30.169 --> 00:11:32.450 and run and move. But Dee Dee shaved her head. 00:11:32.549 --> 00:11:35.470 Why? What was the logic there? She told Gypsy 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:37.429 and everyone else that her hair would just fall 00:11:37.429 --> 00:11:39.470 out anyway because of the powerful medications 00:11:39.470 --> 00:11:42.470 she was taking for her cancer and all her other 00:11:42.470 --> 00:11:45.129 ailments. So she shaved it to keep it clean and 00:11:45.129 --> 00:11:47.590 neat. But it was really about the look. It was 00:11:47.590 --> 00:11:50.450 100 % about the look. It was about stripping 00:11:50.450 --> 00:11:52.649 away her identity as a young woman and marking 00:11:52.649 --> 00:11:56.070 her as a patient. A bald head on a child or a 00:11:56.070 --> 00:11:59.769 young woman immediately reads as sick to everyone 00:11:59.769 --> 00:12:02.549 who sees it. It's a powerful visual cue. And 00:12:02.549 --> 00:12:04.590 the teeth. I remember the photos from the evidence 00:12:04.590 --> 00:12:08.070 files. Her teeth were just crumbling. They were 00:12:08.070 --> 00:12:11.960 gray and black and broken. It was horrific, widespread 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:15.220 decay. Dee Dee blamed it on Gypsy's poor hygiene 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:17.379 or said it was a side effect of seizure medication 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:19.879 she was supposedly taking. But the reality was 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:22.139 much simpler. The reality was she was feeding 00:12:22.139 --> 00:12:25.220 a healthy adult woman Pediasure through a feeding 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:27.799 tube. Pediasure is basically sugar water with 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:29.940 vitamins, right? For kids who need to gain weight. 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:32.940 It's very, very high in sugar. And that sugary 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:35.539 liquid would sit in her mouth and combined with 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:38.940 a total lack of proper dental care because Dee 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:41.909 Dee controlled the toothbrush, the toothpaste, 00:12:42.250 --> 00:12:45.669 everything. It just rotted her teeth right out 00:12:45.669 --> 00:12:48.029 of her head. And eventually they were all extracted. 00:12:48.269 --> 00:12:50.509 Most of them, yes. Let's talk about that feeding 00:12:50.509 --> 00:12:54.509 tube. She had a port, a G -tube, surgically installed 00:12:54.509 --> 00:12:57.690 in her stomach. A peg tube, yes. Surgically implanted. 00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:00.710 For a girl who could chew and swallow perfectly 00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:02.990 fine. And we know she could eat. We know she 00:13:02.990 --> 00:13:05.610 could eat because in secret moments, late at 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:08.389 night, she would sneak cupcakes or pizza that 00:13:08.389 --> 00:13:11.210 neighbors had brought over. But in public, D 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:13.529 .D. would hook her up to the bag of Pediasure. 00:13:13.970 --> 00:13:16.289 It was a prop that required invasive surgery 00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:18.570 to install. This is where I just get so stuck 00:13:18.570 --> 00:13:20.950 on the medical system, the salivary glands. This 00:13:20.950 --> 00:13:24.309 story, it keeps me up at night. Explain to me 00:13:24.309 --> 00:13:26.950 how a doctor, a surgeon, agrees to remove the 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:29.409 salivary glands of a child who doesn't have a 00:13:29.409 --> 00:13:32.059 drooling problem. This is perhaps the most damning 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:34.500 example of how Dee Dee learned to manipulate 00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:36.720 the mechanics of medicine. She played the game 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.919 better than they did. She did. She claimed Gypsy 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:43.559 drooled excessively, which, to be fair, can be 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.460 a choking hazard for someone with legitimate 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:50.659 muscle weakness. Now, Gypsy didn't drool. So 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:53.799 before the doctor's appointments... She created 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:55.799 the symptom. She created the symptom. She would 00:13:55.799 --> 00:13:58.629 use a topical anesthetic. Like... Like, original 00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:01.269 for a toothache. Something much stronger, most 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:03.970 likely. Something she stole from a hospital or 00:14:03.970 --> 00:14:07.429 hoarded from a prescription. She would numb Gypsy's 00:14:07.429 --> 00:14:10.809 mouth and gums completely. Oh, my God. Think 00:14:10.809 --> 00:14:12.450 about when you go to the dentist and you get 00:14:12.450 --> 00:14:15.049 a shot of Novocaine. You can't feel your lip. 00:14:15.149 --> 00:14:17.789 You can't control your own saliva. You drool. 00:14:17.809 --> 00:14:20.289 So she drugs the kid's mouth, drags her into 00:14:20.289 --> 00:14:22.330 the doctor's office, and says, Look, Doctor, 00:14:22.409 --> 00:14:25.049 see. She's drooling everywhere. And the doctor 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:27.210 sees the drool. He sees the wet shirt collar. 00:14:27.389 --> 00:14:29.690 He sees the exhausted mother constantly wiping 00:14:29.690 --> 00:14:31.970 her daughter's chin. He trusts the evidence in 00:14:31.970 --> 00:14:33.710 front of his own eyes. He doesn't think, did 00:14:33.710 --> 00:14:35.830 the mother just numb her child's mouth? Of course 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:38.049 not. Why would you think that? He thinks the 00:14:38.049 --> 00:14:40.389 salivary glands are overactive. So they trade 00:14:40.389 --> 00:14:43.429 it. First, they tried Botox injections to paralyze 00:14:43.429 --> 00:14:46.490 the glands. But Dee Dee, of course, claimed that 00:14:46.490 --> 00:14:48.909 wasn't working. So she pushed for the permanent 00:14:48.909 --> 00:14:51.350 solution. Removal. Complete surgical removal. 00:14:51.549 --> 00:14:53.600 They surgically remove. healthy organs based 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.799 on a theater performance. They did. And Gypsy 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.620 woke up from surgery with chronic dry mouth. 00:15:00.029 --> 00:15:02.549 Unable to produce enough saliva, which creates 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:05.450 a whole host of other dental and digestive issues 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:08.009 down the line. It is, and I don't use this word 00:15:08.009 --> 00:15:11.669 lightly, it is mutilation by proxy. And the control 00:15:11.669 --> 00:15:14.809 wasn't just physical. It was so deeply psychological. 00:15:15.309 --> 00:15:18.750 The hand holding. In every picture, every video, 00:15:18.929 --> 00:15:21.669 you see Dee Dee holding Gypsy's hand. It looks 00:15:21.669 --> 00:15:23.529 like affection. It looks like, oh, she's such 00:15:23.529 --> 00:15:25.509 a protective, loving mama bear. But it was a 00:15:25.509 --> 00:15:28.240 signaling system. It was a leash. gypsy explained 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.600 later that dd had a code a gentle squeeze meant 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.120 i love you or good job you're playing your part 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.379 well and a tight squeeze a tight squeeze meant 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:39.440 shut up right now and a really hard painful squeeze 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.759 meant you're gonna pay for this when we get home 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.919 so while she's smiling at the camera for the 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:47.179 local news she's physically threatening her daughter's 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:51.059 hand out of view and gypsy is terrified she knows 00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:54.139 that if she says the wrong thing If she uses 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:56.759 her big girl voice instead of the high -pitched 00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:59.379 squeak that Dee Dee insisted on, there will be 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:03.740 severe consequences. The voice. That high, cartoonish, 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:06.179 almost Mickey Mouse voice. That wasn't real. 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:08.820 No, that was trained. It was an affectation. 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.580 Dee Dee insisted she speak like a little child 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.220 to match the mental age Dee Dee claimed she had. 00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:17.039 If Gypsy's voice dropped into a normal register, 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.059 she was immediately harshly corrected. It was 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:22.789 all about performing helplessness. This leads 00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:25.049 to the question everyone asks. It's the first 00:16:25.049 --> 00:16:27.570 comment on every YouTube video about this case. 00:16:27.690 --> 00:16:29.950 It's always some version of, why didn't she just 00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:31.690 stand up? Why didn't she just walk out of the 00:16:31.690 --> 00:16:34.269 house and say, mom, I can walk? And that cordion, 00:16:34.269 --> 00:16:36.509 while totally understandable from the outside, 00:16:36.789 --> 00:16:39.470 it ignores the absolute totality of the conditioning. 00:16:39.649 --> 00:16:41.730 You have to try and put yourself in Gypsy's headspace. 00:16:41.970 --> 00:16:45.149 Which is almost impossible. It is. She has been 00:16:45.149 --> 00:16:47.690 told since birth that she is broken. She didn't 00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:50.210 go to school after the second grade. Her entire 00:16:50.210 --> 00:16:52.870 education came from Harry Potter books and her 00:16:52.870 --> 00:16:56.070 mother's lies. She was completely isolated from 00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:59.070 any objective reality. Completely. And Dee Dee 00:16:59.070 --> 00:17:02.149 told her lies that carried, in Gypsy's mind, 00:17:02.330 --> 00:17:16.579 the weight of law. She told Gypsy, So she believed 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:20.170 she had no voice. legally or otherwise she believed 00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:22.910 she had no legal standing as a person she believed 00:17:22.910 --> 00:17:25.490 she had cancer she believed she needed the oxygen 00:17:25.490 --> 00:17:27.890 machine to breathe at night it's a variation 00:17:27.890 --> 00:17:30.369 of stockholm syndrome but it's so much deeper 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:33.170 because she never knew a life before the captivity 00:17:33.170 --> 00:17:36.049 the captor was her creator exactly but there 00:17:36.049 --> 00:17:38.869 were cracks The facade wasn't bulletproof. There 00:17:38.869 --> 00:17:41.369 were these moments where the truth almost leaked 00:17:41.369 --> 00:17:44.150 out. And I want to spend some real time on Dr. 00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:46.349 Bernardo Flasterstein. This is the pivotal what 00:17:46.349 --> 00:17:48.970 if of the entire saga. It really is. It's 2007. 00:17:49.349 --> 00:17:52.710 Right. Dr. Flasterstein is a pediatric neurologist 00:17:52.710 --> 00:17:56.430 in Springfield. Dee Dee brings Gypsy in and she's 00:17:56.430 --> 00:17:59.390 doing her usual routine. She has muscular dystrophy. 00:17:59.569 --> 00:18:02.130 She has seizures. Here's the long list of ailments. 00:18:02.289 --> 00:18:05.589 But Flasterstein, he's different. He's diligent. 00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:08.190 He's a scientist. He doesn't just listen to the 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:10.049 mother's story. He looks at the patient. He runs 00:18:10.049 --> 00:18:13.230 the tests. The EMG, nerve conduction studies, 00:18:13.470 --> 00:18:17.029 blood work, and MRI. He is looking for the actual 00:18:17.029 --> 00:18:19.809 physical evidence of these diseases. And what 00:18:19.809 --> 00:18:22.589 does he find? Nothing. Zero. The tests are all 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:25.130 clean. There's no muscle atrophy consistent with 00:18:25.130 --> 00:18:26.829 a girl who has supposedly been in a wheelchair 00:18:26.829 --> 00:18:29.609 for a decade. And he saw her stand. He saw her 00:18:29.609 --> 00:18:31.750 stand up on her own two feet. He knows her legs 00:18:31.750 --> 00:18:33.430 were strong enough to support her weight. So 00:18:33.430 --> 00:18:36.210 he knows. He knows the diagnosis is false. He 00:18:36.210 --> 00:18:38.329 writes in his notes that Dee Dee is not a reliable 00:18:38.329 --> 00:18:40.769 historian. He even does something no one else 00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:42.890 seems to have done. He calls the previous doctors 00:18:42.890 --> 00:18:44.950 in New Orleans. The ones from before the flood. 00:18:45.069 --> 00:18:47.789 Yes. And he finds out the original muscle biopsy 00:18:47.789 --> 00:18:49.950 from when she was a little girl was also negative. 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:53.000 So he has proof that this is a longstanding pattern 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:56.019 of deception. So here he is. He has a child in 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:58.400 front of him who is being subjected to fake illnesses, 00:18:58.579 --> 00:19:01.839 unnecessary procedures. He writes in his notes, 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:06.519 factitious disorder imposed on another. He names 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:08.740 the monster. So why doesn't he call the police? 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:10.279 Why doesn't he call Child Protective Services? 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:12.519 This is the systemic failure that haunts the 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:15.319 medical community about this case. Flasterstein 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:17.700 later explained that he felt he wouldn't be believed. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.160 he was advised by his colleagues to use golden 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:23.859 gloves. Golden gloves? What does that mean? It 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:26.819 means handling the situation delicately to avoid 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:30.420 a blowout. The fear, the very real fear in the 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:33.299 medical and legal community, was that if he accused 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:36.400 Dede of abuse without a smoking gun -like... 00:19:36.569 --> 00:19:38.930 you know, video of Gypsy riding a marathon, Dee 00:19:38.930 --> 00:19:41.329 would turn around and sue the hospital for defamation 00:19:41.329 --> 00:19:43.650 and malpractice. Or just run. Or worse, she would 00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:45.970 just grab Gypsy and disappear to another state, 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:48.369 another hospital, and the abuse would continue 00:19:48.369 --> 00:19:50.930 under the radar. So the strategy was to play 00:19:50.930 --> 00:19:54.569 along. To appease her. The strategy was to keep 00:19:54.569 --> 00:19:58.269 them in the practice. To slowly, carefully peel 00:19:58.269 --> 00:20:01.569 back the layers of the lie. To say, hey, maybe 00:20:01.569 --> 00:20:03.609 we don't need this medication anymore. To try 00:20:03.609 --> 00:20:06.009 and wean them off the fiction. But Dee Dee is 00:20:06.009 --> 00:20:09.569 a predator. And a predator senses a trap. Exactly. 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:13.150 She somehow found his notes. She saw the words 00:20:13.150 --> 00:20:16.069 factitious disorder. She saw the doubt. And she 00:20:16.069 --> 00:20:18.930 did exactly what Dr. Flasterstein feared. She 00:20:18.930 --> 00:20:20.990 never went back. And because he didn't make an 00:20:20.990 --> 00:20:23.269 official report? No flag followed her to the 00:20:23.269 --> 00:20:24.849 next doctor. She just started fresh somewhere 00:20:24.849 --> 00:20:28.009 else. That is infuriating. Golden gloves implies 00:20:28.009 --> 00:20:30.190 you're trying to win some kind of delicate boxing 00:20:30.190 --> 00:20:32.990 match. But this wasn't a sport. It was a hostage 00:20:32.990 --> 00:20:35.529 situation. It highlights the extreme vulnerability 00:20:35.529 --> 00:20:38.490 of our medical system to a bad faith actor. The 00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:40.549 entire system is built on the assumption that 00:20:40.549 --> 00:20:42.890 parents want their kids to get better. It has 00:20:42.890 --> 00:20:45.329 no defense mechanism for a parent who is actively 00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:48.099 invested in their child staying sick. There was 00:20:48.099 --> 00:20:50.519 another missed signal, too. The anonymous call 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:53.940 in 2009. Right. Someone tipped off the police. 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:56.859 They called and said, hey, these people are using 00:20:56.859 --> 00:20:58.759 different names, different birth dates, and by 00:20:58.759 --> 00:21:01.079 the way, the girl looks perfectly healthy. So 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:03.119 the police go to the pink house. They knock on 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:07.240 the door. Dee Dee answers. And she spins the 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:09.700 narrative that she had prepared for exactly this 00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:12.779 moment. The abusive ex -husband story. She tells 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:16.339 them, my ex -husband is an abusive monster. We 00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:18.299 have to use different names and dates to hide 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:20.599 from him so he can't find us and hurt Gypsy. 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:23.220 And the police just buy it. Well, you have to 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:24.960 picture the scene. They look at the wheelchair 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:27.500 ramp. They look at the sick, frail -looking girl 00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:29.400 with the shaved head. They look at the terrified 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:31.480 mother who seems to be protecting her child at 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.140 all costs. And they buy it. They close the file. 00:21:34.339 --> 00:21:36.619 If they had made one single phone call to Rob 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.240 Blanchard. Just one. Mr. Blanchard, we've been 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:41.059 told you are hunting your family. And he'd say, 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:42.960 no, I'm at work. I'm sending them child support 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.910 checks. The whole thing ends right there. But 00:21:45.910 --> 00:21:47.849 they didn't make the call. Gypsy, meanwhile, 00:21:48.069 --> 00:21:51.069 is growing up inside this prison. She's a teenager, 00:21:51.230 --> 00:21:54.869 then a young woman in her 20s. Hormones, curiosity, 00:21:55.349 --> 00:21:57.829 the internet. You can't suppress that forever. 00:21:58.130 --> 00:22:01.410 She starts to rebel. It manifests as this desperate, 00:22:01.630 --> 00:22:03.750 desperate need for connection with the outside 00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:06.430 world. She sneaks online late at night. She goes 00:22:06.430 --> 00:22:09.509 into chat rooms. And she starts trying to find... 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:12.200 A boyfriend. Someone to rescue her. There was 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:14.319 the incident at the sci -fi convention in 2011. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.799 That was a major turning point. She met a man 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:20.660 named Dan online. They arranged to meet at this 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:22.920 local convention, and Gypsy actually tried to 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:24.960 escape. She snuck away and went to his hotel 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:27.380 room. This was her break for freedom. It was. 00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:29.980 But Dee Dee was always watching. She had a sixth 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:32.859 sense for it. She tracked Gypsy down. She intervened. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:35.519 She produced the fake birth certificate showing 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:37.440 Gypsy was a minor, even though she was actually 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.940 19 at the time. So she threatened the guy. Threatened 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:42.380 him with police action for kidnapping a minor. 00:22:42.779 --> 00:22:45.480 The man, terrified of being charged with a sex 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:47.839 crime, back off immediately. And the punishment 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.349 for that escape attempt. It was brutal. Dee Dee 00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:52.890 took a hammer and smashed Gypsy's computer and 00:22:52.890 --> 00:22:55.549 her phone right in front of her. And then the 00:22:55.549 --> 00:22:59.009 physical restraint escalated dramatically. Gypsy 00:22:59.009 --> 00:23:01.730 alleges she was chained to the bed for two weeks. 00:23:01.930 --> 00:23:05.970 Chained. Chained or tied. And starved. And threatened 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:07.849 that her fingers would be broken with a hammer 00:23:07.849 --> 00:23:10.250 if she ever touched a computer again. There's 00:23:10.250 --> 00:23:12.210 one detail I found in the deep dive research 00:23:12.210 --> 00:23:16.210 that really shocked me. The BB gun. It's often 00:23:16.210 --> 00:23:19.039 forgotten, but it's so important. Gypsy actually 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.519 shot her mother. With a BB gun? Yes. At some 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:24.980 point, she got her hands on a BB gun. And in 00:23:24.980 --> 00:23:26.980 her isolated world, she thought it was a real 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:30.480 gun. In a moment of absolute desperation, she 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:33.160 shot Dee Dee ten times with it. She was trying 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:35.119 to kill her. She was trying to end it. But of 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.119 course, the BBs just stung her. They left welts. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.359 Dee Dee didn't die. And what did Dee Dee do? 00:23:39.769 --> 00:23:41.789 Tellingly, she didn't go to the hospital. She 00:23:41.789 --> 00:23:44.089 didn't call the police on Gypsy. She told the 00:23:44.089 --> 00:23:46.609 neighbors it was a robbery attempt by a stranger. 00:23:46.789 --> 00:23:48.950 She spun it right back into their victim narrative. 00:23:49.309 --> 00:23:51.750 That shows that Gypsy was willing to use violence 00:23:51.750 --> 00:23:54.170 long before Nick Godejohn ever showed up on the 00:23:54.170 --> 00:23:56.849 scene. She was desperate. She was a trapped animal 00:23:56.849 --> 00:23:59.150 chewing off its own leg to get out of the trap. 00:23:59.410 --> 00:24:01.789 And when the BB gun failed, she realized she 00:24:01.789 --> 00:24:04.450 needed something stronger. Or, more accurately, 00:24:04.750 --> 00:24:07.450 someone stronger. And that's when Nicholas Godejohn 00:24:07.450 --> 00:24:10.069 enters the picture. Right. they met on a Christian 00:24:10.069 --> 00:24:14.210 singles dating site. Which is deeply ironic considering 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:16.730 where this all goes. Nick is not your typical 00:24:16.730 --> 00:24:19.509 suitor. He had a documented history of significant 00:24:19.509 --> 00:24:23.710 mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, a very 00:24:23.710 --> 00:24:26.230 low IQ, and a history of disturbing behavior, 00:24:26.549 --> 00:24:29.630 including an arrest for indecent exposure. He 00:24:29.630 --> 00:24:32.349 told Gypsy he had a dark side. And Gypsy, who 00:24:32.349 --> 00:24:34.690 was just starving for any kind of affection or 00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:37.150 attention, she latched on to him. They built 00:24:37.150 --> 00:24:40.490 this entire world online. Late at night, after 00:24:40.490 --> 00:24:42.390 Dee Dee passed out from her medication, they 00:24:42.390 --> 00:24:45.130 would video chat for hours. It became this intense 00:24:45.130 --> 00:24:47.650 feedback loop of fantasy. What kind of fantasy? 00:24:47.910 --> 00:24:50.650 There were BDSM themes, a lot of role -playing. 00:24:50.930 --> 00:24:54.029 Nick had multiple personas. A good side? and 00:24:54.029 --> 00:24:57.049 an evil vampire side named Victor. Gypsy played 00:24:57.049 --> 00:24:59.130 along with it. She created her own personas, 00:24:59.329 --> 00:25:01.789 like Ruby. They talked about eloping, about having 00:25:01.789 --> 00:25:04.069 babies, about this perfect life they'd have together. 00:25:04.349 --> 00:25:07.069 But it wasn't just online. They did meet once, 00:25:07.210 --> 00:25:10.950 right? The Cinderella date. March 2015. Just 00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:13.049 a few months before the murder, Nick traveled 00:25:13.049 --> 00:25:15.670 to Springfield. They staged an accidental meeting 00:25:15.670 --> 00:25:18.150 at a movie theater showing Cinderella, so Dee 00:25:18.150 --> 00:25:20.819 Dee wouldn't be suspicious. Oh, look, a nice 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:22.640 young man who likes the same movie as us. And 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:24.599 this is where the physical relationship started. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:28.160 In the movie theater bathroom, yes. Gypsy led 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:30.500 him to the bathroom. They had sex. It was quick. 00:25:30.579 --> 00:25:32.400 It was in a public restroom. But for Gypsy, it 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:34.980 sealed the bond. It made him real. He was tangible. 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:37.519 And if he was real, then maybe the escape plan 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.039 could be real, too. So the plan shifts from let's 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:42.579 run away together to let's eliminate the obstacle. 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:46.019 Yes. The murder plot begins to form. June 2015. 00:25:46.660 --> 00:25:50.420 Gypsy steals cash from Dee Dee's safe. Ironically, 00:25:50.460 --> 00:25:52.599 it was the child support money Rod had been sending. 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:55.859 She mails it to Nick for a bus ticket. He arrives 00:25:55.859 --> 00:25:59.180 in Springfield. The day of the murder. Walk us 00:25:59.180 --> 00:26:01.759 through the logistics of that night. It's chillingly 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:04.279 mundane. Gypsy and Dee Dee go to a doctor's appointment 00:26:04.279 --> 00:26:06.519 that morning. They go to a Dollar General to 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:08.559 buy nail polish. They come home, watch a movie. 00:26:09.059 --> 00:26:12.039 Dee Dee goes to bed. And Gypsy lets him in. She 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:14.119 unlocks the front door for him. She has the supplies 00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:18.029 ready. Duct tape. gloves, and a large serrated 00:26:18.029 --> 00:26:19.730 knife that she had picked out. Does she do the 00:26:19.730 --> 00:26:22.710 stabbing? No. She hands the knife to Nick. She 00:26:22.710 --> 00:26:24.829 tells him Dee Dee is in the bedroom. Then she 00:26:24.829 --> 00:26:26.630 goes and hides in the bathroom. She covers her 00:26:26.630 --> 00:26:28.549 ears so she doesn't have to hear her mother scream. 00:26:28.789 --> 00:26:31.410 And Nick goes into the bedroom. And he stabs 00:26:31.410 --> 00:26:35.170 Dee Dee 17 times. It's a brutal, messy, violent 00:26:35.170 --> 00:26:38.829 attack. Dee Dee screams for Gypsy. Gypsy doesn't 00:26:38.829 --> 00:26:41.269 come out until it's quiet. And what happens next? 00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:43.509 This is the part that disturbs a lot of people. 00:26:43.750 --> 00:26:46.910 The aftermath. inside the house. They didn't 00:26:46.910 --> 00:26:48.950 flee immediately. They stayed for a bit. There 00:26:48.950 --> 00:26:51.390 was sexual intercourse in the house, most likely 00:26:51.390 --> 00:26:54.170 in Gypsy's room, while her mother's body was 00:26:54.170 --> 00:26:56.349 cooling in the bedroom next door. Gypsy later 00:26:56.349 --> 00:26:58.789 claimed this wasn't consensual. She claimed she 00:26:58.789 --> 00:27:01.529 was in shock that she just did what Nick wanted 00:27:01.529 --> 00:27:04.490 to keep him happy and calm. Nick claimed it was 00:27:04.490 --> 00:27:06.829 a consensual celebration of their new freedom. 00:27:07.230 --> 00:27:09.630 It remains a major point of contention between 00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:12.460 them. Then what? They cleaned up some of the 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:15.960 blood, took about $4 ,400 from the safe, mailed 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:18.500 the murder weapon to Wisconsin to hide it, and 00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:21.240 then they took a Greyhound bus north. Leaving 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:24.660 the body to rot. For days. In the summer heat. 00:27:24.779 --> 00:27:27.119 Which brings us full circle. Back to the start. 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:30.799 The Facebook post. Why post it? They were in 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:33.559 Wisconsin. They were way clean. Why announce 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:36.660 the death? Gypsy explained this later. she said 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:38.680 she couldn't bear the thought of her mother just 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:41.660 lying there undiscovered for weeks she wanted 00:27:41.660 --> 00:27:44.259 her to be found she wanted a proper burial for 00:27:44.259 --> 00:27:46.720 her despite everything it's a bizarre remnant 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:48.759 of the bond they must have shared it is it was 00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:51.900 a digital flare gun a way to say look over here 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:54.099 something terrible has happened so the police 00:27:54.099 --> 00:27:56.710 finally go in They find the body. They see the 00:27:56.710 --> 00:27:58.450 empty wheelchairs. The community immediately 00:27:58.450 --> 00:28:01.390 goes into panic mode. Gypsy is missing. She's 00:28:01.390 --> 00:28:04.089 been kidnapped. She needs her meds. The manhunt 00:28:04.089 --> 00:28:06.849 was intense. The working theory was that a predator 00:28:06.849 --> 00:28:08.609 had killed the mom and snatched the disabled 00:28:08.609 --> 00:28:11.430 daughter. But then Aaliyah Woodmansey steps up. 00:28:11.549 --> 00:28:13.950 The neighbor. Aaliyah was a young neighbor who 00:28:13.950 --> 00:28:17.049 Gypsy had secretly confided in. She knew about 00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:19.210 the secret boyfriend. She goes to the police 00:28:19.210 --> 00:28:21.109 and says, look, I know this sounds crazy, but 00:28:21.109 --> 00:28:23.250 she had a boyfriend online. His name is Nick. 00:28:23.740 --> 00:28:26.019 Here are the printouts of their chats. And technology 00:28:26.019 --> 00:28:28.279 does the rest. They trace the IP address from 00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.079 the Facebook post. It pings to a house in Big 00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:34.180 Bend, Wisconsin. Nick Godigen's house. The police 00:28:34.180 --> 00:28:37.140 raid the house. They find them both. And the 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:40.099 moment of truth. Gypsy stands up. She walks out 00:28:40.099 --> 00:28:42.960 of the house in handcuffs. No wheelchair. No 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:45.599 oxygen tank. Just a normal, healthy young woman. 00:28:45.859 --> 00:28:47.920 Sheriff Jim Arnott holds that press conference. 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:50.640 I can still hear his voice in my head. Things 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.980 are not always what they appear. He had to warn 00:28:52.980 --> 00:28:55.599 the public, warn the people who are already setting 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:58.680 up GoFundMe pages for Gypsy's Rescue to stop 00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:01.579 donating. The reaction in Springfield must have 00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:04.589 been nuclear. It was absolute betrayal. You have 00:29:04.589 --> 00:29:06.690 to understand, these people felt duped on a massive 00:29:06.690 --> 00:29:09.150 scale. They had cried for this girl. They had 00:29:09.150 --> 00:29:11.130 given money, time, and resources. One neighbor 00:29:11.130 --> 00:29:14.130 said, how could I be so stupid? The Habitat for 00:29:14.130 --> 00:29:16.910 Humanity organization was publicly humiliated. 00:29:16.930 --> 00:29:19.890 It wasn't just a murder. It was a long con that 00:29:19.890 --> 00:29:22.190 made everyone in town feel like an accessory. 00:29:22.549 --> 00:29:24.450 And what about Dee Dee's family back in Louisiana? 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.980 The ones who suspected the Roundup poisoning 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:29.519 all those years ago. Their reaction speaks volumes. 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:32.019 They refused to take possession of Dee Dee's 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:34.279 remains. Her ashes were eventually mailed to 00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:36.279 her father, who flushed them down the toilet. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:39.039 He flushed her ashes. They said she got what 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:41.140 she deserved and that Gypsy had already served 00:29:41.140 --> 00:29:43.880 her time in that pink house. Wow. That is a final 00:29:43.880 --> 00:29:46.059 verdict if I've ever heard one. Yeah. So that 00:29:46.059 --> 00:29:49.180 brings us to the justice system. The legal system 00:29:49.180 --> 00:29:53.009 now has a nightmare on its hands. You have a 00:29:53.009 --> 00:29:56.009 murderer who is also a victim of unimaginable 00:29:56.009 --> 00:29:59.890 torture. It's an incredibly complex, legal knot 00:29:59.890 --> 00:30:03.009 to untangle. Gypsy was the mastermind in terms 00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:05.049 of the plot. There's no question. But she was 00:30:05.049 --> 00:30:08.190 also a victim of severe, prolonged, documented 00:30:08.190 --> 00:30:10.289 abuse. Her defense attorney did a great job. 00:30:10.430 --> 00:30:12.769 Her public defender, Mike Stanfield, did a brilliant 00:30:12.769 --> 00:30:15.430 job. He went back and got the medical records 00:30:15.430 --> 00:30:17.690 from before the flood. He proved the fraud from 00:30:17.690 --> 00:30:20.160 the very beginning. And the prison medical staff 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:22.359 proved the rest just by observing her. Right. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:25.559 Gypsy arrived in jail and she thrived. She gained 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:28.420 14 pounds. In jail. Most people lose weight. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:30.680 Because for the first time in her adult life, 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:33.920 she was eating real food, not pediatry. Her hair 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:36.680 started growing back thick and healthy. She didn't 00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:38.480 need a single medication they thought she did. 00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:41.859 The sick child just evaporated and a healthy 00:30:41.859 --> 00:30:44.000 young woman emerged. She ended up taking a plea 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:46.079 deal. Second degree murder. She was sentenced 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:49.259 to 10 years in prison. But Nick. Nick didn't 00:30:49.259 --> 00:30:51.819 fare as well. Nick went to trial. His defense 00:30:51.819 --> 00:30:54.920 team argued diminished capacity. They said, look, 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.599 this guy has diagnosed autism. He has a low IQ. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:00.599 He was completely manipulated by this girl he 00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:03.680 loved. He was a weapon that she aimed and fired. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:06.079 In the prosecution's argument. The prosecution 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:08.940 said he bought the knife. He traveled hundreds 00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:11.720 of miles. He's one who physically stabbed her 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:14.759 17 times while Gypsy hid in the bathroom. He 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:16.980 made a choice. And the jury agreed with the prosecution. 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:20.240 They did. First degree murder, life in prison 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:23.079 without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:26.099 25 years for armed criminal action. That disparity 00:31:26.099 --> 00:31:28.819 in the sentences bothers a lot of people. Gypsy 00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:32.150 is out living her life today. Nick will die in 00:31:32.150 --> 00:31:34.390 a concrete box. It raises really uncomfortable 00:31:34.390 --> 00:31:37.750 questions about agency and culpability. Was Nick 00:31:37.750 --> 00:31:40.450 a predator taking advantage of a vulnerable girl 00:31:40.450 --> 00:31:43.849 to live out a violent fantasy? Or was he a vulnerable, 00:31:43.990 --> 00:31:46.650 mentally ill man who was manipulated by a desperate 00:31:46.650 --> 00:31:49.549 survivor? The legal system decided he was the 00:31:49.549 --> 00:31:52.470 killer. But ethically, it's incredibly muddy. 00:31:52.789 --> 00:31:55.089 So let's talk about the aftermath. Gypsy served 00:31:55.089 --> 00:31:57.150 eight and a half years of her 10 -year sentence. 00:31:57.470 --> 00:32:00.069 She was released on parole in December 2023. 00:32:00.650 --> 00:32:02.910 She said in an interview, I feel like I'm more 00:32:02.910 --> 00:32:04.990 free in prison than I was living with my mom. 00:32:05.210 --> 00:32:07.609 That quote right there, it sums up the entire 00:32:07.609 --> 00:32:10.450 case. Prison was an upgrade. It was an upgrade. 00:32:10.609 --> 00:32:12.390 She had friends for the first time. She had a 00:32:12.390 --> 00:32:14.589 job. She learned about her own abuse. She got 00:32:14.589 --> 00:32:16.869 married while she was incarcerated. And now she's 00:32:16.869 --> 00:32:19.210 out and she's a celebrity, essentially. She's 00:32:19.210 --> 00:32:22.470 a media phenomenon. a reality TV star. She has 00:32:22.470 --> 00:32:25.349 millions of followers on social media. She married 00:32:25.349 --> 00:32:27.670 a man named Ryan Anderson in prison, separated 00:32:27.670 --> 00:32:30.190 from him very publicly shortly after her release, 00:32:30.410 --> 00:32:33.230 and is now reportedly with her ex -fiancé Ken 00:32:33.230 --> 00:32:35.720 Urker. It's a complete whirlwind. But what about 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:38.160 the medical community? Did this case change anything? 00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:40.839 Have there been any real reforms? There has been 00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:43.339 a lot of soul searching. Dr. Mark Feldman, who 00:32:43.339 --> 00:32:46.220 is probably the world's leading expert on factitious 00:32:46.220 --> 00:32:49.799 disorder imposed on another, or FDIA, calls this 00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:53.180 case unprecedented. It's the first recorded instance 00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:56.259 of an FDIA victim killing the abuser. And what 00:32:56.259 --> 00:32:59.119 about Dr. Flasterstein? He has faced very heavy 00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:01.720 criticism. The Golden Gloves approach is now 00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:04.359 viewed by many as a clear failure of the duty 00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:07.119 to report suspected child abuse. It's become 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:10.539 a cautionary tale for pediatricians. Trust your 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:12.920 tests and your gut, not just the parent's story. 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:14.880 If the evidence doesn't match the narrative, 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:17.640 you have to protect the child, even if it risks 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:20.859 a lawsuit. So here we are. We've unpacked the 00:33:20.859 --> 00:33:24.200 fraud, the torture, the murder, and the messy 00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:26.619 aftermath. When you take a step back, what does 00:33:26.619 --> 00:33:29.079 this all mean? To me, it means we have to rethink 00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:31.539 how we view victimhood. We're trained to see 00:33:31.539 --> 00:33:34.799 victims as passive as people things happen to. 00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:38.059 We're also trained almost instinctively to trust 00:33:38.059 --> 00:33:40.740 mothers. This case just subverts both of those 00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:43.079 assumptions. It shows a mother's desire for control 00:33:43.079 --> 00:33:45.880 can be lethal. It can. And it shows that a victim, 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:48.019 when pushed into a corner with no other options, 00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:50.140 can become dangerous. It's the pressure cooker 00:33:50.140 --> 00:33:52.279 analogy you hear a lot with this case. It's the 00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:55.119 perfect analogy. Dee Dee sealed the lid on that 00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:57.200 pot as tight as she could. She turned up the 00:33:57.200 --> 00:34:00.119 heat year after year for two decades. Eventually, 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:03.000 the metal shatters. And the shrapnel hit everyone. 00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:05.119 I want to leave our listeners with a final thought. 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:07.240 Because we all like to think we would have noticed. 00:34:07.769 --> 00:34:10.050 We think, if I was the neighbor, if I was the 00:34:10.050 --> 00:34:12.630 doctor, I would have seen the cracks. But would 00:34:12.630 --> 00:34:15.550 you? Really? That's the scary part, isn't it? 00:34:15.570 --> 00:34:17.590 If you look over your fence and you see a mom 00:34:17.590 --> 00:34:20.690 sacrificing everything she has for her sick kid, 00:34:20.949 --> 00:34:24.969 you don't see a crime. You see love. You see 00:34:24.969 --> 00:34:28.130 devotion. We are socially conditioned to equate 00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:32.989 intensive care with good parenting. Dee Dee Blanchard 00:34:32.989 --> 00:34:36.050 hacked that social code. She used our own empathy, 00:34:36.210 --> 00:34:39.170 our own desire to help against us. So the question 00:34:39.170 --> 00:34:41.510 I think you have to ask yourself is, in a world 00:34:41.510 --> 00:34:44.289 where we are taught to believe what we see, how 00:34:44.289 --> 00:34:47.150 do we ever distinguish between a caregiver and 00:34:47.150 --> 00:34:49.929 a captor? Because in this case, for 20 years, 00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:52.250 they wore the exact same face. Things are not 00:34:52.250 --> 00:34:54.469 always what they appear. Thank you for diving 00:34:54.469 --> 00:34:56.369 deep with us on this one. It's a heavy file, 00:34:56.510 --> 00:34:58.670 but a really important one. We'll catch you on 00:34:58.670 --> 00:34:59.409 the next deep dive.