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Hello! Hello! Welcome back to another episode of Diagnosing a Killer, the regular

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regular episode. My name is Kenna. I'm Koelle.

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How's everyone doing today? I'm alright. It's going okay, right? I'm hella anxious again.

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Are you? All the time. 100% of the time. Well, I just killed a giant fucking roach

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before I sat down. Fucking disgusting. And it was twitchy. It was so twitchy. I was

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equestrated to our closet. Yeah, I stepped on it, but it's back leg. It was like a dog

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with our wet. It like shook its leg. I picked it up with a hairbrush. Put it in the toilet.

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It was a very traumatic moment. It was disgusting. And then Kulaw was like,

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oh, I'm so glad I was just in that bathroom with a cockroach. I was like, oh no, it came from the

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closet that we're fucking recording in right now. Great. So that is our day. I think the worst

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part is when you found the head. Yeah, the head was pretty gross. I was like, stop looking at me.

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Let me do this. Why won't you die? I don't know if anyone else is familiar with the,

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we call them roaches, but technically they're water bugs here in Texas. They're called palmettos,

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and they look like a giant roach, and they fly. And some people have roaches that don't fly.

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Ours roaches fucking fly. Yeah, they're terrifying. I would be fine with like a hissing cockroach.

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I would hold one of those. Those things gross. Yeah, I think it's their underbellies that are

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creepy too, but at least they're not unpredictable. Just got the full use silently. Give me the huge

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energies. So disgusting. Anyway, welcome back to another episode. This one's gonna be really fucking

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awesome. A lot of people, I'm sure you know when you clicked on the title of the episode,

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what we're gonna be talking about. But as always, Koel does not know what we're gonna be talking about.

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And of course on her episodes, I don't know. I didn't want to say as always, you don't know.

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So you broke the case. But yeah, we'll get into that in just a sec. Do it on the fly. Yeah,

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exactly. We just make up something in our minds and we think that it's accurate.

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No, we actually spent a lot of time doing research because we love you guys,

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and we want you to have the best content. I'm making pho today, and I tell you what,

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boiling bones isn't what it used to be after Dahmer. Oh god. That's all I thought about.

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That's so gross. Oh, I could totally pour this meat down the fucking sink, and it was gross.

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And I had to think about that. Thanks Dahmer. Do you want to talk about our handles before we get

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into the episode? Sure. You can check us out at diagnosingthekiller.com. There you will find links

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to merch and resources and some other cool awesome thingies. Click our link to get a discount on

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our tickets to come see us at the True Crime and Paranormal Podcast Festival in August,

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late August. I'm so excited to be right around the corner. I'm so excited too,

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and we just made plans to see Jennifer and Jonathan. I'm really excited about that. Jennifer told me

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that she messaged Jonathan and she goes, yeah, I've been shouted out on the podcast like three

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times where the hell have you been? I'm busy. You can see Hangout with Lens and Mer. Mer doth is

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moving. Oh, you're right. Oh my gosh, we're gonna have a great time. It's gonna be a great weekend,

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for sure. And we can see all of our Patreon members. Yeah, absolutely. And I think we made the

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decision yesterday that the three-day weekend is now gonna be turned into a five-day weekend for us.

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So it just makes sense. The schedule is gonna have to work that way. It really is. Just to be

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available at every minute for you guys to see you guys at our booth. Exactly. And we definitely

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didn't want to have to like wrap it up early on Sunday just to get home. So we're staying that night

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as well just to be safe. Sure. But we'll definitely have some things. We actually do have some things

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in the works for you guys if you do come and see us at the festival. We have some free goodies that

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we're gonna give out and maybe some other prizes if you will. And yeah, just come check us out.

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Really excited. And then of course, there's a bunch of other great podcasts that are going as well.

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For sure. I'm really excited to mingle with the other podcasts to be so fun. Oh my gosh,

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I want to meet Texas Wine and True Crime. I like that. So yes, you can absolutely use our coupon

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code, which is d-a-k-pod-d-o-d-a-k-p-o-d to get what, 15% off? Yes. Which is awesome. Check us out

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on social media everywhere at Diagnosing a Killer other than Twitter, which is at Killer Diagnosis.

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Subscribe to our Patreon. Yes. There you get, let's see, $5.00. Gives you ad-free episodes.

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And tier two and three, it gets you that bonus episode every month on the 29th. And I think it's

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about time for us to release who we're doing for the bonus episode because they will be coming out

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the Saturday after you hear this, but I'll wait till the end of the episode to announce who I'm

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doing. Ooh, I can't wait to hear. Let's just say J. Will's going to be really excited.

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That's a hint. I'll give you some time to think about that while we get into this case. So as you

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know, if you've clicked on the episode, you know who we're talking about, but well, it's going to

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come as a surprise. Okay. So today we are going to be talking about Nicholas Gotajon.

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Nicholas Gotajon, how do I know this? Is Nicholas Gotajon...

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Uh, Nicholas Gotajon... Is this Gypsy Rose? Content warning. No, is it Gypsy Rose? Yes.

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I was hoping you wouldn't catch on until I got to it. I'm so excited. I've wanted you to do this

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for so long. It's good. Oh, it's not good at all, but it's a lot. I'm so excited. Okay. Content

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warning. This episode contains depictions of graphic child abuse, extreme deception, and sexual

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assault. If this episode is not for you, we recommend you finding another episode. Remember,

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your mental health is very important to us and we love you. Love you. Bye. So yes, you

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fucking caught on like you always do. This is the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Dee Dee Blanchard.

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However, the killer in the story is Nicholas Gotajon. So we're going to talk about him first.

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Yeah. So Nicholas, Nick Gotajon was born on May 20th, 1989 in Big Bend, Wisconsin, to Stephanie

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Goldhammer. I actually could not find the name of his biological father and as far as I can tell,

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he didn't have any siblings. There's really not like a lot of info about his childhood.

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Just single mom. Yeah. So according to Nick, his parents split up around the time that he was three

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or four and he would state about this time, quote, from that time forward, I was different from

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everyone else, end quote. There's really not again, not much known about his childhood, mostly

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because he pretty much refuses to talk about anybody in his family when he's interviewed.

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Interesting. Is it just, do you think just out of the protection for them or?

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I don't know if it's out of protection or out of like selfishness, honestly. Like I don't think he,

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I think my personal opinion is that he is trying to play this innocent role. So he's like, I'm not

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gonna, you know, talk about that because that's not important because I deserve to be out or whatever.

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Yeah. I don't know. You can tell me at the end what you think. Okay. So while Nick was still

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growing up, his mother, Stephanie, would meet and marry a man by the name of Robert Bobby Gotajon,

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and Nick would ultimately take his last name. While Nick was still in grade school, he would be

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diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a diagnosis we now know as being on the autism spectrum.

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He would state about this diagnosis, quote, from the very first day when I was in kindergarten,

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all the way to 12th grade, every single one of those days I was in special education. The weird

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thing though, is that even though I was in special education throughout that entire time,

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I was considered one of the smarter kids in the classroom that I was in, just because of my high

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functioning autism, Asperger syndrome, end quote. Nick would go on to say that his childhood was

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very different from other kids his age, stating, quote, I was actually basically alone, end quote.

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So he felt really isolated. Yeah. And I can imagine so, you know, he is very high functioning on

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the spectrum. So he's probably in a classroom with kiddos that aren't as high functioning. So he

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probably feels isolated there. But he also feels isolated from other classmates of his that aren't

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in special education classes. Right. Yeah. And that's, oh, they child, you know. Yeah. And I really

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appreciate nowadays that every child has a unique education plan. Oh, yeah. You know, that's at

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least where we're at, where our district's at. Yeah, absolutely. And I would hope it would be that

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way across the board. Well, and it should, because everybody learns differently. Yeah. And I actually

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have a really good quote from one of my co-workers. She said, if they can't learn the way you teach,

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you need to teach the way they learn. Yeah. I was like, I really like that. So Bobby, again, Nick's

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adopted father would say about him during this time, quote, it was hard for him to make friends.

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He was always by himself, pretty much grew up by himself. He had friends, not many, one or two,

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but mainly family, we're his friends, and quote, like his family is his friends. Yeah. Oh, it's

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really sweet. Nick would recall being really into computers as a kid stating, quote, I tried to get

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into computer programming, but they weren't too happy with how long I was taking to grasp it all.

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Ever since then, I really wasn't able to pursue any other paths of any types of careers, end quote.

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Due to him being let down once again, Nick became increasingly isolated in his childhood.

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He would comment, quote, I kept to myself. The reason I kept to myself is because I didn't

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really have the social skills due to my mental disability, end quote. That's got to be like so

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frustrating, you know, you want to be, you know, you have all of these wants and goals and all this

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other stuff, and you see people that are neurotypical achieving these kinds of goals. And, you know, it

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might just not be his thing, but he probably feels like the only thing that's holding him back is

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that, you know. And it really does seem that way, like in interviews and stuff. But he's so frustrated.

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So Nick would continue to try to put himself out there, but in the wrong ways, unfortunately,

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when he was 23 years old in 2013, he would actually be arrested when he was allegedly

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caught masturbating while watching porn inside of a McDonald's. Okay, well that escalates.

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Okay, yeah. That doesn't seem like something that's specific to neurodivergent people. Oh,

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no, I definitely don't think that's the case here. But I think he, again, social skills might be a

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little different in his brain. He might not really think that that's as big of an issue as it is.

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Or maybe he doesn't realize how inappropriate that is. Yeah, it's pretty inappropriate, though.

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I don't know. I just feel like that's something that you don't just do. Yeah, exactly. So he was

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arrested for this, of course, and while the police were searching him, they actually located a large

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folding knife in his pocket. So he would subsequently be charged with carrying a concealed weapon

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and disorderly conduct. Oh, he only got disorderly? Yeah. Not a decent exposure? So he wouldn't serve

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any time for this as far as I know. How old was he? I'm sorry. Who's 23 at this time? Oh, so he's

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an adult. Yeah, not a lot about his childhood. So it kind of jumps quickly to adulthood. I mean,

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he could have been a registered offender. Yeah, he definitely could have. So because of the isolation,

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Nick was continuing to experience, he decided that he was now going to attempt to connect with new

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people online via the internet. Bobby would mention about Nick's new habits, quote, Nick,

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he was lonely. He loved the internet because he was able to connect with people. He could be himself

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on the internet. And quote, Dr. Mark Feldman, a psychiatrist who would later assist in a documentary

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about this story, stated that the internet quote, gives a lot of people, not just Nick and not just

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people with autism or other mental health issues, an opportunity to expand and play with who they are.

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And quote. So around the age of 25, Nick would not only pursue the internet to find friends to

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talk to, but he was also subconsciously looking for romantic connection as well. Because up until

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now he has not experienced that. Yeah. And I'm sure he's seeing people in his life experiencing that.

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Right, yeah. A connection, intimate connections, right? Yes. So because of this, he would join a

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Christian dating site. He was shocked when he ended up meeting somebody on this site that seemed to be

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the perfect fit for him. The two ended up hitting it off right away and began sharing secrets of

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their feelings with each other very quickly. This person that Nick had become close to very fast

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was none other than Gypsy Rose Blanchard. We already know that because, well, it ruined it.

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It ruined it for everyone. I was expecting that to be like a big dot dot dot moment,

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but it didn't really work like that. Anyway, so Nick would say that he was a quote recluse who

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was going nowhere before he met Gypsy. Awww. Going nowhere. Yeah, isn't that really sad?

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So that's like the pretty much most I could find about Nick's childhood and going into adulthood

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up until meeting Gypsy. Now we're going to switch around and talk about Gypsy a little bit as well.

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So Gypsy Rose Blanchard was born on July 27th, 1991, to parents Claudine, Pert, and Rod Blanchard.

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Claudine was just 17 when Gypsy was born, and Rod was 24 at the time of her birth.

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In 1991. Let's just remember that. Okay, 91. Yes, yeah. So the two decided to name their daughter

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Gypsy because Claudine really liked the name and Rose because Rod was a big fan of guns and roses.

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Oh, that's kind of cute. I like that. The couple would ultimately separate shortly before Gypsy

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was born when Rod realized he quote, got married for the wrong reasons. Was it because she was

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pregnant? I think so, yeah. Yeah. Once Gypsy was out in the world, Claudine begged for Rod to come

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back and be with them, but he would refuse, and Claudine would subsequently take newborn Gypsy to

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live with her family in Louisiana. Although Rod did not want to be with Claudine, he did want to be

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a part of his daughter's life, and he would be around for the first few months. When Gypsy was

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just three months old, Claudine became convinced that Gypsy had sleep apnea and almost immediately

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began taking her to the hospital and would spend multiple nights there so doctors could run tests

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while Gypsy slept. She like afraid of SIDS or something, you think? Like sudden death syndrome?

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I don't know. I don't know if maybe there was like one night where Gypsy like might have like coughed

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in her sleep or she's like, oh shit, you know what I mean? Alert. Oh gosh. So they actually had her

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stay in the hospital for several days while hooked up to a sleeping monitor, but the result would

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conclude that little Gypsy did not have sleep apnea or any signs of other sleep disorders at all.

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And she was like three months? Three months old. Okay, so already it's like, yeah, high alert mom.

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Claudine was still convinced that something was seriously wrong with little Gypsy and would quickly

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become convinced that she had an unspecified chromosomal disorder. Like it's very specific.

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But it's not. Well, it's unspecified. Okay, well, chromosomal disorder is-

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She had a general one. Yeah, that's true. So when Gypsy was still very young, Claudine had become

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convinced that Gypsy had muscular dystrophy as well and she would have Gypsy use a walker

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in order to alleviate her pain. Okay. So that was like, I want to say like three or four,

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probably. Yeah, because I was gonna say she has to be of walking age. Yeah. Just typically,

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you know, one or two. And as a child, you're not really gonna like question your mom when they

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tell you to use something. Yeah. But then she said to alleviate her pain. Do you think that

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Gypsy ever complained? I mean, not that that would be documented, but- No, I don't personally.

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Okay. When Gypsy was seven or eight, she was riding on the back of her grandpa's motorcycle

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when the two were involved in a very minor accident. In this accident, Gypsy would get a

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superficial wound on her knee. Okay. Due to this injury, though, Claudine would claim that doctors

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issued Gypsy a wheelchair that she would be required to use. After a minor motorcycle accident.

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So all she had was a superficial wound on her knee, but Claudine was pretty much trying to say

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like she got injured worse than that. And like doctors gave her this wheelchair, so she has to

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use it. And like everyone else was like, what? It was like a fendier bender. Yeah. Or some people

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didn't. She probably, oh, she's in a wheelchair because she was in a motorcycle accident. Yeah,

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that's true. That's all she has to say. So at this point, Gypsy and the rest of her family are all

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under the impression that she is now seriously ill and unable to walk. Okay. So again, muscular

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dystrophy, unspecified chromosomal disorder and wheelchair now. And sleep apnea, maybe. No, well,

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that's not been, you know, well, sometimes some type of a sleeping issue. Claudine would frequently

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take Gypsy to the Special Olympics to compete. And in 2001, when Gypsy was 10, she was entered once

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again. Okay. And she's still a wheelchair. Okay. So she could be part of the Special Olympics. Okay.

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But you know, that's how do I choose my words very carefully here? Yeah.

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She's, I don't know if any of our listeners have heard the story or not, but we're assuming that

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this is unnecessary. Yes. And so she's a, what we can kind of agree, you and I at least, in this

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moment, that she is a neurotypical able-bodied individual who is competing in the Special

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Olympics. Yes. But as far as she knows, because she's been told by her mother, yes, Gypsy,

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she is not able to walk. She's been told by Claudine her whole life that she has to be reliant on

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this wheelchair. I don't know what Claudine has told everyone else, the reasoning why Gypsy is

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still in the wheelchair even following the motorcycle accident. Right. However, muscular

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dystrophy, she might be trying to use that. Yeah. And especially if Gypsy is getting used to being

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in a wheelchair and using a walker, she likely isn't developing a lot of muscle in her legs.

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Yes. And yeah, could also appear like she has some type of a muscle issue. Yeah. And just to be

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like very clear, none of these have been diagnosed. None of these things that Claudine has claiming

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that Gypsy has has been diagnosed. Whoa. So again, what the judges didn't know was that Gypsy was

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allegedly able-bodied, like we would think, but she was entered as being eight years old,

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even though she was 10. And then the Special Olympics? Yes. So, okay. Let me just make it

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clear. 2001, Gypsy was 10, Claudine entered her in the Special Olympics, but put her age down as eight.

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Okay. Gypsy would not argue with this point because she actually believed that she was eight years

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old because her mother had told her differently when she was young enough to not realize a birth date.

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Right. You know. So she thinks she's eight when she's really 10. And this is a theme that we'll

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see. That's why I said to remember the birth date of 91. You have to be, yeah, you have to be confusing

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the crap out of your kid because, I mean, my kid was seven and since he was like four, he would say,

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I can't wait to be X. Yeah. Right. Like I can't wait to be five. I can't. And then once he was five,

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I can't wait to be six. He kept track of all that on his own. So what's interesting is that she would

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really have to at one point say, oh, you're not going to be five next year. You're going to be four.

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Yeah. And then really hammering that home. Or just gaslight the fuck out of her and be like,

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I don't know why you thought you were turning 10 or why you thought you were 10. You're eight.

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Like I don't know who told you that you were 10, but you're eight. And that takes like you say that

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enough to a child though. They're going to believe you because they don't have the,

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they don't have another the brain development. Yeah, to do that.

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Oh, that's nice. I know it's awful. So Gypsy would also be named the honorary queen of the crew of

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Mid City, a parade held during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It's cute. It is thought that Claudine

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took Gypsy out of school due to her quote illnesses around second grade, although some sources state

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that it may have been kindergarten. But even though either way, she had been homeschooled pretty much

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her entire life. Yeah, she ate or she 10. I mean, that's the difference. Sorry. So Claudine would

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do her version of homeschooling Gypsy from then on. And this was later believed to be a way for

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Claudine to further isolate Gypsy from anyone outside. Because she's getting older, right? She

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can tell people at school. Gypsy would actually later claim that the only reason she even learned

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to read at all was by reading the Harry Potter novels. So at this point, Gypsy's father Rod had

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remarried and Claudine would move her and Gypsy and herself in her and Gypsy and herself in with

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Claudine's father and stepmother. All three of them. She would move herself and Gypsy in

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with Claudine's father and stepmother. Okay. Shortly after they moved in, Claudine's stepmother

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became increasingly ill. What? It was later thought that while they were living there, Claudine was

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actually putting a weed killer into her stepmother's food, which was contributing to her illness.

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My jaw is on the floor just now. I haven't heard this. Yeah. During this time as well, Claudine

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would actually be arrested several times for minor offenses, including like writing bad checks,

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like really small amounts of like forgery. Yeah, it's like a felony.

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Whatever. That's the minor things. Just the minor things, you know, a felony here,

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felony there, felony there. Just felonies all the way. So when her father and stepmother began

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to frequently confront her about Gypsy's health, being Claudine, and now the stepmother's dwindling

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health, Claudine took Gypsy and the two of them moved to the New Orleans suburb of Slido. Okay.

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So she's like, as soon as someone questions me on my shit, I'm out. I'm out. Just like, not with Rod,

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but just like she did with, I guess with the doctors, like even before, like telling her,

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oh, I'm not giving you a diagnosis. Maybe the Special Olympics, they moved. Yeah. They moved

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in with her father and stepmother. And then as soon as they got a little inkling of something,

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she's like, nope, I'm out. Didn't she kind of keep Gypsy from Rod though after? Oh, yeah.

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And I'll get into that. She was, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, because he was like, no, like, why are you

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trying to say that she has all this stuff and it's not diagnosed? Yeah. Because he obviously has

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access to her medical records. So shortly after the two being Gypsy and Claudine moved away,

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Claudine's stepmother's health just happened to return to normal. She's totally fine. So yeah,

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like it was clearly something that she was doing. That is definitely something I did not know.

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Really? Oh, well, there you go. I taught you something. You did. And I feel like I know this

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case. In Slido, Claudine and Gypsy would live in public housing, living off of the child support

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Rod had been giving them and medical assistance from Gypsy's supposed medical conditions. So she's

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like claiming disability for Gypsy. I might have misspoken that she hadn't been diagnosed with anything,

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but I think up until this point she hadn't. And she will unfortunately get diagnosed with certain

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things that aren't accurate. Well, she's forging checks. She can forge medical records. Very true.

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If she's going to the pediatrician's office, she's getting a paper trail somewhere and she can totally

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white out that shit and make copies. That's very true. Now, during this time, Claudine and Gypsy would

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visit many different specialists, mostly at Tulane Medical Center and the Children's Hospital of

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New Orleans. Claudine was not only claiming Gypsy's current illnesses at these visits, but now that

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Gypsy was suffering from hearing and vision problems as well. And she's about how old? Because we

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probably don't know. I mean, she's probably like 12, 13. Yeah, 12 or 13. Okay. So doctors would perform

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a muscle biopsy, which determined that Gypsy did not have muscular dystrophy like Claudine insisted.

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Also like out. They did a muscle biopsy? Yeah. Like that's so painful for no reason. That's awful.

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Oh my gosh. Why would you put your child? I get that it's there's likely a mental disorder to be

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talked about here. But why would you put your child through that? So again, I just want to be clear.

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They said due to the biopsy, she did not have muscular dystrophy. Yeah. Although Claudine was

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not able to secure treatment for this disorder, she was able to get Gypsy diagnosed with multiple

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other illnesses that she had claimed that she had. She claimed to doctors that Gypsy was having

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seizures every few months and was able to get a prescription for anti-seizure medication for Gypsy.

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Just because she said my daughter's having seizures every single month. I mean, what are the

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doctors going to do? Like, no, she's not like, let's wait around for her to have a seizure in

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order to know. Yeah. Yeah. That's because I mean, they probably don't think that a mom is going to

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bring in their child and say that without it being true. Yeah, exactly. Over the next few years,

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Gypsy would undergo several surgeries due to medical complications that Claudine would tell

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doctors about. And it got so far that Gypsy would actually get a feeding tube inserted as well.

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Into her stomach? Yes. So Claudine was essentially like, she can't eat solid food. She needs a

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feeding tube. Like, she can't keep it down. Like, everything I give her, she can't even swallow it.

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That's torture. That's so torture. That's torture, that you're torturing your child. Yeah,

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it's very awful. This is going to make me mad. I forget about this case. This is going to make

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me mad. In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area. And as a result,

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Claudine and Gypsy were forced to move out of their destroyed apartment and relocate to another city

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with supplies set up for individuals with extra needs. When they arrived, Claudine claimed that

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all of Gypsy's medical records, including her birth certificate, had been destroyed in the flooding

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from the storm. How convenient. How convenient. A doctor from Missouri had suggested that this

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time that the two relocate there, and next month they were both airlifted, so September of 2005.

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That reminds me of that documentary, The Woman Who Wasn't There, that 9-11 lady. Oh, yeah. Oh,

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my gosh. She claimed that she lost her husband in 9-11 and that she was there. She was one of the

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survivors. Such a terrible story. Yeah, and it turned out not to be true at all, but that's the

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same thing with the- Go ahead. Sorry. I got excited. You got excited. With the Katrina thing, how

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convenient, right? Because who's going to question that? Of course. You used a natural disaster.

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Yeah. It's like, no, of course. Well, that makes sense. This poor woman with a disabled daughter.

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And they were there. And they were there. No, I was going to say the

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documentary that you're talking about, we should do that as a mental breakdown. That would be

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really interesting. That would be interesting. So when they first arrived in Missouri, based on

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the orders of that doctor, Didi Blanchard and Gypsy would live in the southwestern city of Aurora.

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Yep, you heard me right. Upon this move, Claudine would actually change her name

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and go by what most people refer to her as today. Didi. Didi. She also added an E to the end of

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their last name, so it's like Blanchardy. It's like Blanchard. Yeah, with an E. Blanchard-y.

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Yeah, she did it to both of their last names. So on every new paperwork, she's adding an E

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to their last names and her name is now Didi. Instead of legally changing her name, nobody would

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give a shit. Nobody would give a shit. So we are going to be referring to Claudine thus far,

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and we're going to now refer to her as Didi for the rest of the story.

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So while living here in Missouri, Gypsy would be honored by the Ole Foundation, which advocated

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for the rights of feeding two recipients. She would be awarded their Child of the Year award in

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2007. Gypsy was? Gypsy. The attention that was growing due to Gypsy's medical problems was something

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that Didi really seemed to revel in, and around this time, she would actually begin reaching out to

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media outlets and other organizations that would be willing to help them. Oh my gosh, you know who

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this reminds me of? Not Octamom, because I don't think that Octamom sought out media. I mean,

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after a while, I think she did. But Kate, do you remember Kate and John? Or John and Kate plus 8?

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Whatever. God, they were like that, right? I think so. They're just like so media obsessed.

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Yeah. They're like, listen to us, pay attention to us, give us free stuff. Even though like our,

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yeah, give us free stuff, people. So again, reaching out to media, the story of a single mother

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and her extremely ill child who were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina was a huge story. Yeah.

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That was all over the news, and multiple people began reaching out to assist the two. Yeah.

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The following year, in 2008, Habitat for Humanity would build the two a small home that included

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a wheelchair ramp and a hot tub. How does she feel? I'm sure she was like hot tub for physical

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therapy. How do you let people do that for you? And you're lying. She's a liar. She's a, you know,

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like a liar. I'm pretty sure everyone's figured it out by now that Didi is a liar. Yeah. Okay. That's

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not a secret anymore. Well, she again, she's ill. She's mentally ill. She is mentally ill. She is a

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disorder. But the fact that it continues, and she's raised her daughter to be this way, and Gypsy is

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brainwashed. Absolutely. It's just absolutely brainwashed. It's so awful. So on top of all the

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free stuff that they were getting, the two would also be offered free flights to and from a hospital

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in Kansas City, free trips to Walt Disney World, and even free backstage passes to see Miranda

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Lambert concerts via the Make-A-Wish Foundation. By Make-A-Wish? This is extreme. This is extreme.

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Miranda Lambert was actually noted as sending nearly $6,000 to Didi in order to further help

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with Gypsy's medical bills. Miranda, if you're listening, you're a kind lady. You're a kind

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lady, girl. I'm sure you're pissed. Gosh, that's incredible. So yeah. And you're just a kid. I'm

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sorry. I don't mean to interrupt you. You're just a kid, and you are assuming that this is happening

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because you're good people. And you're sick. And you're sick. Your mom's telling you that you're

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sick, and you're like, oh my gosh, all these people are being so nice, and they're helping me because

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I'm sick. There's no way she thinks that she's getting the attention because her mom's a good

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person, and she's a good person. She's like, they're helping me because I need help. Because I need

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being taught. And no one else is the wiser. It's only Didi that knows the truth. 100% of the time,

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being given things all the time. And she had to have been keeping it up at home as well,

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like when it was just the two of them, because that could very easily have changed. Older Gypsy

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gets, the more she'd be able to recognize things. Recognize what's normal and what's not. Exactly.

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So on top of all of this, Rod was also continuing to make his child support payments,

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which were totaling around $1,200 at this time. $1,200 a month. A month? Okay. And I looked it up,

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it's about the same as, I mean, it's like $1,400 today. So that was really that long ago.

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Rod would also frequently send Gypsy gifts and call her on her birthdays. On July 27, 2009,

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Rod called Didi asking to speak with Gypsy and wish her a happy birthday. Although she was

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turning 18 that day, Didi asked Rod not to mention Gypsy's real age, as Gypsy believed that she was

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just 14 at this time. What? She literally was like, hey, you can say happy birthday to Gypsy,

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but don't you fucking say that she's 18 because she thinks she's 14. And don't say that to her.

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Don't say that she's 18. You're gonna hurt her feelings. Literally.

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Has she not, I mean, the obvious question, has she not had a menstrual cycle?

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I don't know actually. I never read anything about that. Because in the show, I think that they

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like hinted that she had started, I can't remember because I only saw it once, but that they had

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hinted that she did start some type of a cycle or that because of the drugs Didi was feeding her,

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maybe that was the reason it was suppressed. Got it. Yeah, I'm not exactly sure. Honestly,

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with like being in a wheelchair and stuff, Didi probably handled like most of what was going on

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down there because she thinks she can't walk. Like she probably is not even letting her like

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maybe do anything, you know, like that. I'm not sure. You can definitely take medications that

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suppress that. I mean, birth control, you know, there are certain types of birth control.

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Then again, she would have to be taking her presumed 14 year old daughter to go get this.

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Yeah, that's true. To get that done. I'm not exactly sure. I really didn't read anything

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about that. But I'm sure that Didi has some sort of way to explain it away. Yeah, exactly.

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So again, she asked Rod not to mention that Gypsy was actually 18. So Rod and his second wife,

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now married, began to be worried that Gypsy was being treated like poorly at home with Didi.

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And they would actually often try to make plans to come visit.

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Did you hear that? Yeah. This is like sternum. This is that weird? That was loud that time.

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I thought that was your back. No, I think anybody that knows me personally knows that I can I can

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pop my sternum every once in a while. I do it. I do it. I do it. I do it on accident. Oh, really?

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All the time. Yeah. Yeah. So again, Rod and his now new wife have been trying to make plans to

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come visit. But every time they were getting close to the visit date, Didi would just change their

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plans last minute or tell them that, oh, something just came up. Can't do it today.

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Oh, can't do it today. Medical appointment. Sorry. So he has no custody agreement, I'm assuming with

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her. I don't think so because she essentially is like keeping Gypsy from him. Yeah. And I guarantee

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you she's telling Gypsy like your dad's piece of shit. You know what I mean? And he's like,

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I just want to see my fucking daughter. He never loved you. Yeah. So there are a variety of different

366
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:06,840
things that she would come up with to avoid Rod and his wife coming to visit. But on the other side

367
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,320
of things, Didi would frequently tell neighbors that Gypsy's father was an abusive drug addict and

368
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,240
alcoholic who had never been able to come to terms with his daughter's health conditions

369
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:20,200
and in turn was not sending them any money to assist. Even though he was sending her $1,200.

370
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:26,200
Oh yeah. She's like, he's a drug addict. He's an arse assist. He can't accept that his daughter's

371
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:30,600
very ill and he's not giving me fucking money because he doesn't believe it. Oh, she guaranteed

372
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:35,080
that Gypsy would never run to him for anything. Absolutely. That's her entire goal. That's so

373
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:40,760
fucked up. Like, imagine the hatred that like after the fact, like finding out that like your dad's

374
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:44,920
actually a fucking nice dude. A nice guy that really wanted to spend more time with you. Yeah.

375
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,160
So neighbors at this time didn't know any better than to believe the things that Didi was telling

376
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:54,280
them, obviously. In fact, when they met young Gypsies, she was missing teeth, talking in a very

377
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:59,480
high childlike voice, wearing big rimmed glasses and all around seemed like an underdeveloped

378
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:04,600
kid. She seemed much younger than she actually was. And of course the teeth thing is malnourishment

379
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:10,040
and, you know, nutrition, lack of hygiene. I had heard that even on that mommy dearest

380
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:16,920
documentary that Didi had insisted some of her teeth be pulled. Oh my gosh. Even though they

381
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:22,840
were semi healthy teeth. On top of all of these things, the appearance of Gypsy, when the two

382
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:27,560
would leave the house, Didi would bring along an oxygen tank and feeding tube for Gypsy. So

383
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:32,280
neighbors didn't think anything was amiss when they heard Didi's story about her medical conditions.

384
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:37,800
Yeah. They're like, oh, she's very clearly ill, you know. Talk about Gypsy, sorry.

385
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,840
On top of all the conditions that she had, Didi was known to have told Gypsy that all the

386
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:47,240
medications she was on were going to cause her hair to fall out. So she said it was best to just

387
00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:51,880
go ahead and shave it off before it fell out. She's not, she doesn't have chemo, she's not taking

388
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:57,160
chemo pills. Well, she eventually tells her that she has cancer as well. She told her that she had

389
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:00,920
cancer. She told her what she had leukemia or something. They think so, yeah. So she's like,

390
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:05,400
your hair's gonna fall out, like we might as well just shave it. So she would always like have a hat

391
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:11,240
on because she didn't have any hair. I'm sorry, but like that does something, especially to,

392
00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:18,040
you know, not to discredit anybody's experience. But, you know, I don't know,

393
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:25,320
I guess just like being femme, your identity can is like through your hair sometimes.

394
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:32,120
Absolutely. And that's gotta be really hard to be a young woman and not again, not to discredit

395
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:37,960
anybody else, anybody else's gender experience or anything like that. But just for in this specific

396
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:44,600
case, she's a developing young woman and now she can't even feel pretty. Yeah. And honestly,

397
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,200
like how fucked up is it that like, you know, Dee Dee, some people don't have a fucking choice in

398
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,720
their hair falling out and you're literally making your daughter do that because you're lying to her,

399
00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:55,800
like fuck you. Yeah. In this moment, fuck you. It's true. Like that makes me so mad.

400
00:35:56,520 --> 00:36:00,440
Dee Dee would actually tell neighbors and friends, however, that Gypsy was undergoing chemo and that's

401
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,360
why she had suffered her hair loss. So she told the neighbors and friends that I'm sure that she

402
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:11,720
told Gypsy as well. That's awful. Oh, I know. This is so infuriating. As Gypsy was getting older,

403
00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:15,880
Dee Dee would increase the ways that she would control her daughter. While in public, Dee Dee

404
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:20,840
would always hold Gypsy's hand. And anytime somebody would suggest that Gypsy was not as sick as she

405
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:25,640
seemed, or that she seemed older than they were saying, Dee Dee would squeeze Gypsy's hand tightly

406
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:31,800
to signal her not to talk. She's like, I got this. Don't say anything. Although she seemed very

407
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:36,360
sweet to neighbors and strangers, while the two were alone, Dee Dee was known as hitting Gypsy

408
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:42,280
with an open hand and a coat hanger. Inside the home? Mm-hmm. Like when they were alone. Oh my god.

409
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,520
Dee Dee would continue to give Gypsy certain medications that she did not need and lie about

410
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,840
specific illnesses that she did not have. She's probably wreaking havoc on this girl's body and

411
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:59,080
like, yeah, not just keeping her sick, like as in constantly coaching her mentally. Mm-hmm. But

412
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:04,280
a lot of those medications, they'll fuck up your kidneys, your liver. Oh yeah, absolutely. That's

413
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:09,480
just, and she's taking them for no fucking reason. Like, not, and she's probably losing a lot of weight

414
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:16,520
because her body is not having to work to, to, to keep any of that nutrients, right? Because she's

415
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:22,200
being fed through a tube. And she's in a wheelchair, so she's not getting any, any sort of exercise or

416
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:28,200
any of that. Ugh, I know. And she does, like in the photo, she looks gaunt and she looks pale.

417
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:33,960
She doesn't look like a healthy color. So get this, this is fucked up. Before most of their

418
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:39,320
frequent doctors visits, Dee Dee would put a topical anesthetic on Gypsy's gums in order to

419
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:46,200
make her drool while they were at the doctors. Due to this extreme drooling, doctors would inject

420
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:51,960
Botox into Gypsy's saliva glands and then eventually remove them all together to control it.

421
00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:57,720
What? They removed her salivary glands because they thought that she had an intense drooling problem

422
00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:03,320
because Dee Dee numbed her fucking mouth before they went to the doctor. Isn't that so fucked up?

423
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:10,440
This is torture. This is literal torture. You can, no wonder her, okay, at this point,

424
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,080
and I'm not trying to be heard, no wonder her teeth were so bad because she can't,

425
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,200
she doesn't have any fucking saliva anymore. Yeah, yeah. She doesn't need us to eat because

426
00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:24,200
she has a feeding tube. It's fucking nauseating. Like, it's so gross. How is this, I understand

427
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:29,800
that she is apparently a master of manipulation, but I don't understand how that's...

428
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,400
I guess the doctors are just doing what they think is right. They're doing what they think is

429
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:40,040
right and Gypsy's not saying that that's not happening and clearly she's old enough at this

430
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:45,480
point to tell doctors like, hey, like that's not happening and she won't because she's brainwashed.

431
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:50,760
So again, just being able, not being able to produce saliva obviously was harming Gypsy's

432
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:55,320
mouth as well as the anti-seizure meds and due to these things combined, the few teeth that she

433
00:38:55,320 --> 00:39:01,080
had left actually fell out as well. So she pretty much had her teeth replaced by a bridge at this

434
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:05,960
point because she didn't like have any teeth left. I know it like breaks my fucking heart.

435
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:11,480
This is so sad. Around this time as well, tubes were implanted into Gypsy's ears to control her,

436
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:18,600
quote, many ear infections. Like, she's not using her daughter as like a fucking cadaver.

437
00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:24,840
She doesn't see her as a person. She sees her as an object. She's like literally uses Gypsy as an

438
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:30,840
object to feed her own addiction to attention. Yeah, absolutely. And that's so gross. If you

439
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:35,720
want to just call it, call it like it is. It's just munchausen by proxy. Yeah, absolutely.

440
00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:40,360
So we were just kind of talking about like how people and doctors are just performing all these

441
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,440
procedures and not really questioning anything. Yeah. So some were suspicious but didn't have

442
00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:50,360
enough suspicions to report anything until a pediatric neurologist saw Gypsy Rose in Springfield.

443
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:56,360
Dr. Bernardo Flasterstein was seeing Gypsy when he became intrigued about her muscular dystrophy

444
00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:01,960
diagnosis. He took it upon himself to order additional MRI tests and a blood test, and these

445
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:06,920
concluded with no abnormalities. Again, she doesn't really have the diagnosis, but Didi is

446
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:12,040
claiming that she does and her medical records were lost. Remember, lost. Upon a follow up visit

447
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:17,640
with Didi and Gypsy, after seeing Gypsy hold her own weight while standing up, Dr. Flasterstein said

448
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:24,360
to Didi, quote, I don't see any reason why she doesn't walk, end quote. I bet Didi loved that.

449
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:31,160
I bet she was just over the moon. Yeah. Her child is a, is a miracle child who has just been cured.

450
00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:36,120
Yeah, absolutely. Immediately. Didi began to explain that Gypsy had gotten the diagnosis back

451
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:41,320
in New Orleans and that she was sure that Gypsy had the disease. Still having his suspicions.

452
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:46,440
She's like, bye, bad. Yeah, right. I assumed. Dr. Flasterstein would contact Gypsy's past doctors

453
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:52,600
in Louisiana who told him that Gypsy's original biopsy also had come back negative. No medical

454
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:59,480
records. So funny. Dr. Flasterstein was also very alarmed by the news that Gypsy did not have this

455
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:04,280
diagnosis and also shocked to find out that Didi had lied about all of Gypsy's medical records

456
00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:08,440
being destroyed at the flood. Because yeah, maybe all her medical records were destroyed. That doesn't

457
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:13,160
mean the doctors don't have medical records. Yeah, I was going to say, uh, yeah, they had computers.

458
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,760
They're legally required to keep them for 10 years, even if you're not a patient anymore.

459
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:22,280
So it's weird. So it was at this point that Didi became suspected of suffering from Munchausen

460
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:27,000
syndrome by proxy. So if you've not heard our mental breakdown on this topic, Munchausen

461
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:32,200
symptom by proxy or now known as fictitious disorder, it's a disorder in which a caretaker

462
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:37,240
intentionally makes their patient sick in order to maintain sympathy from others, financial gain,

463
00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:41,800
or the idea that they are needed to keep that person safe. This disorder has been classified

464
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:46,840
as a horrific form of abuse and mostly happens with caretakers of children, the elderly, or people

465
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:53,640
with extra needs. Unfortunately for Dr. Flasterstein and Gypsy, Didi was somehow able to get a hold of

466
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:59,640
the notes from the doctor and saw this suspicion written down in Gypsy's file. So I guess he like

467
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,480
left the room or something and she kind of looked over or looked or whatever and saw like

468
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:09,800
possible Munchausen fictitious disorder. Classic Didi, of course. So she and Gypsy would leave the

469
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:15,400
doctor's office and never return. She's just out in the ether. The doctor has no idea where she

470
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:21,320
fucking lives, which is probably totally untrue, but at the same time if there's no, you know,

471
00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:27,720
probable cause, I guess, to go attract them down then. Yeah. So get this, Dr. Flasterstein actually

472
00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:32,040
would not follow up with his reports of his suspicions of Didi. He would later state that the

473
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:37,320
other employees at his work encouraged him to treat the two with quote, golden gloves, which as

474
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:42,360
far as I can tell means like treat them like royalty and like be very careful. I'm not sure if they

475
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:47,240
knew like Didi and Gypsy from the media or if she had like made a big deal about something in the

476
00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:51,080
past and they thought it was like more trouble than it was worth to like kind of question her.

477
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:56,360
I wonder if it's not like if you're gonna, if you're gonna call them out, you better outproof

478
00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:01,560
because that's a very severe accusation. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I really don't know like

479
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:07,320
exactly why the people like the employees told him that, but clearly something had happened in the

480
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:11,640
past to make them say like, listen, you got to be really careful like around like either the

481
00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:17,560
situation itself or the people like Didi and Gypsy, especially Didi. And that's a good point that you

482
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:21,960
made, made because Dr. Flasterstein also stated that he didn't even think he would be believed by

483
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:26,040
authorities anyway, because they didn't really have a lot of medical records available. Yeah.

484
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:32,440
Kind of proved his point. It's just all like hearsay essentially. In 2009, however, police

485
00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:37,240
did receive an anonymous call stating that Didi was using different names and birth dates for

486
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:43,160
herself and her daughter. Sorry, she was trying to make herself younger too. Yeah, exactly. She

487
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:47,640
can do it. I can do it. Yeah. This caller also suggested to police that Gypsy was in much better

488
00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:52,920
health than she seemed on the outside. Due to this anonymous call, police would visit the Blanchard

489
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:58,360
home to do a wellness check. When questioned by police about the fake names and birth dates used

490
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:03,080
by Didi, she explained to police that she was just trying to make sure that her abusive alcoholic

491
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:07,960
ex-husband, Rod, could not find them. And she was changing their names to avoid him showing up.

492
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:13,800
Okay, sounds reasonable. It's a fucking annoying, like clever idea to like use that because she's

493
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,000
already told all the neighbors that. So you might as well like just say that to police. Why don't

494
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,720
you just legally change it though? Like why are you like falsifying? So police would actually

495
00:44:21,720 --> 00:44:26,360
not follow up with Rod about the situation. They were like, hey, are you an alcoholic? Yeah.

496
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:32,200
They would close the case stating that Gypsy was quote, genuinely mentally disabled. End quote.

497
00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:36,920
Like they were like, oh, it must be true. Like the ex-husband must be abusive and she must be

498
00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:43,080
mentally disabled. Check it out. Yeah. Instead of having an actual doctor's opinion. But then again,

499
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:47,160
I'm not saying that they did right or wrong. I'm just saying, imagine their like,

500
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:51,080
cautiousness and they're like, oh shit, like what if we follow up with the husband and all this is

501
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:56,360
true and then he finds out because we're from a police, you know what I mean? Like it's just a

502
00:44:56,360 --> 00:45:02,440
hard situation. So Didi was also known to have forged a new birth certificate for Gypsy because

503
00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:08,600
remember the other ones lost. This actually showed her birth year to be 1995 rather than 1991.

504
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:14,280
Okay, so she's still younger than. Yeah. At one point during a doctor's visit, Gypsy caught a

505
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:19,240
glimpse of her paperwork that was holding her original birth certificate stating 1991 as her

506
00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:24,200
birth year. I guess it was like a copy. She would bring this up to Didi who would brush it off as

507
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:29,880
a misprint. That was just a misprint. Oh, she's a typo. Yeah. On my fucking birth certificate.

508
00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:34,760
It's like typo. Yeah, it's like 2020, you know, like COVID, like that whole year didn't exist.

509
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:40,120
Yeah. 1991 didn't exist. Pretty much happening. Yeah, we went straight from 1990 to 1992. So.

510
00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:49,400
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516
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:21,480
Starting in 2001, Didi would take Gypsy to science fiction and fantasy conventions where

517
00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:26,360
Gypsy was able to dress up and mingle with people with similar interests. Your costumes are so cute.

518
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:32,280
I know. I remember seeing those photos. At one of these events in 2011, Didi and Gypsy became

519
00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:36,920
separated and the details are not extremely clear on how it happened. But ultimately, Didi would

520
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:42,920
find Gypsy in a hotel room with a man whom she claimed to have met online. So they had apparently

521
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:48,280
been talking, Gypsy had her own computer. They had been talking and he was like, I'm gonna be there too.

522
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:54,200
And she's like, let's meet up. I don't know if it was a sexual curiosity or just talk to somebody

523
00:46:54,200 --> 00:47:01,400
other than my fucking mom for once. Have an actual friend. Yeah. So Didi would produce a false birth

524
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:05,400
certificate telling the man that Gypsy was underage and threatening to call the police on him if he

525
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:10,280
did not leave immediately. Do you think that she told the guy like, well, my mom likes to pretend

526
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:16,680
I'm 14 or 15, but I'm actually 18 or 19? I don't know actually. I don't really think she was 100%

527
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:21,880
sure how old she was because she saw the the doctor's note that said she was 91. But yeah,

528
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:25,800
that's the only other evidence conflicting what her mom's been telling her. So I really don't know

529
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:30,680
if she knew that she was at this point that she was older. But again, like I keep going back to that.

530
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:34,440
I know we talked about the menstrual cycle thing, but even just developing as a young person in

531
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:41,400
general going through puberty and stuff, you have to know, at least think or you're at least a little

532
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:47,400
older than what you've been told. Yeah. You know, and Didi pretty much like brainwash Gypsy like we've

533
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:53,160
been saying into her saying like, yes, mom to like everything. Yeah. So questioning Didi about her

534
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:57,480
age was probably like way off the fucking table. Right. But I wonder, like I said, I wonder if Gypsy

535
00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:04,840
knew like I'm sure she knew in some like shape or form. Yeah, she had to have known this doesn't

536
00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:09,960
feel right. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. So after telling the guy to leave the hotel room, Didi

537
00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:15,320
would then turn her attention to Gypsy. She would smash Gypsy's computer with a hammer and threaten

538
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:22,440
to do the same thing to Gypsy's fingers if she ever tried to escape again. Escape? Escape? Oh,

539
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:28,920
God. So Didi thought that that was Gypsy trying to say like, save me, like get me the fuck out of

540
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:34,440
here. But I really don't think it was. I really think it was just a curiosity thing. Yeah. Talking

541
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:41,640
to a boy, you know. Right. Following this incident, Didi would also handcuff Gypsy to her bed for two

542
00:48:41,640 --> 00:48:48,280
weeks. What? And put her on a leash as well. Yeah. Like if you're gonna try to escape, like I'm

543
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:54,840
actually gonna hold you captive. Oh my gosh, that's a horrid. She would also begin to brainwash Gypsy

544
00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:59,880
by telling her often that she filed a police report stating that Gypsy was mentally unstable.

545
00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:03,640
So if Gypsy ever went to the police for help, they would not believe her because I think that she's

546
00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:13,560
mentally ill. Yeah. This is this is her mother. Her mom. Like the only one person that you're

547
00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:18,920
supposed to like be able to fully trust. The only person that she is able to trust. Yeah. Probably

548
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:25,400
the only person that she can talk to. That's so sad. And you know that Gypsy was probably in a

549
00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:30,520
situation where she was like you said earlier, yes mom, yes mom. Yeah. Like if that's what mom

550
00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:35,400
thinks, then I guess I must be mentally unstable. Okay, I guess if that's what mom thinks is best,

551
00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:41,480
I guess handcuff me to a post. Yeah, but you're right. She is getting older and she's not as gullible,

552
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:46,840
if you will, as she once was. So she's definitely starting to kind of catch on to

553
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:53,480
inconsistencies in like Dee Dee's story. Yeah. Especially like when it's just the two of them

554
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:58,360
at home. Right. So although her computer had been destroyed, Gypsy would actually continue to

555
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:02,280
sneakily use her mother's computer at home when Dee Dee went to bed. They had a home computer,

556
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:08,760
probably from a maturity. Sorry, it's not funny, but you know she just steals things.

557
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:14,280
During this time, Gypsy was frequently seeing, seeking a romantic connection online with various

558
00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:20,360
people. And it was in 2012 or 13, it wasn't clear that she would meet a man by the name of Nicholas

559
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:27,720
Godajon on christandatingforfree.com. Christian dating for free. So obviously we talked about,

560
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:33,400
everybody's so creative. Both of their storylines and now they meet and we're gonna go from there.

561
00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:40,440
So Nick and Gypsy would begin messaging back and forth relating on things from their childhoods

562
00:50:40,440 --> 00:50:45,160
and believing that they had found, quote, true love after only a few conversations. Oh,

563
00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:50,280
Gypsy opened up about her being in a wheelchair and the fact that her mother was very controlling,

564
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:56,680
but found it to be extremely sweet that Nick found her quote pure. Aw. The relationship would deepen

565
00:50:56,680 --> 00:51:00,280
and the two decided to make private Facebook accounts where they could each send each other

566
00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:06,040
messages when they had access. While Nicholas had his own previous criminal charges for the

567
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:11,320
masturbation and DD was at McDonald's, let's not forget McDonald's and DD was forcing

568
00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:15,960
unneeded medical procedures on her child. Gypsy was not without fault during this time.

569
00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:20,920
After feeling closer than ever with Nick, she would disclose to him that there was in fact

570
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:25,240
nothing wrong with her. She did not need a wheelchair and that her mother was forcing her to use one.

571
00:51:25,240 --> 00:51:33,480
So she knew. I think she knew towards this part. I don't think she knew for long before she met Nick.

572
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:38,600
I really think just because she was getting older, like you said, I think she kind of figured it out.

573
00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:43,480
Yeah. And you get older, maybe you lean too far forward on your wheelchair and you put weight

574
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:47,640
on your feet and you're like, oh, shit, hold on. Yeah. You try to stand up and you can and you're

575
00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:54,760
like, oh, shit, hold on. You know what I mean? Like she's more aware of her, like physically aware

576
00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:59,080
than she ever has been. I'm not going to try to equate it in the same sense, but I think that

577
00:51:59,880 --> 00:52:04,920
everybody, everybody, you know, has a parental figure of some kind that they know that they are

578
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:12,600
a particular way, right? Maybe Gypsy thought this is just the way that mom wants it. It doesn't

579
00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:18,360
necessarily have to be my reality, but this is the way that she prefers the house. This is the way

580
00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:24,040
that she prefers I dress. This is the way that she prefers I use a wheelchair or whatever. This is

581
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:29,560
just her preference and I'm being a good child by abiding by these things. It's a good point. And

582
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:35,640
not only that, but she clearly, you know, anytime that Gypsy's gone against that, it's been worse.

583
00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:40,600
So you might as well just, you know, stay in line and do what mom wants to do. So she could have

584
00:52:40,600 --> 00:52:46,440
known for a little bit or even a year or something. Yeah. And then just this is the first time that

585
00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:50,760
she's admitting it to somebody else. I completely agree. I think that's a really good point

586
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:54,840
because she also admitted to Nick that she was able to walk, but nobody else knew this and he

587
00:52:54,840 --> 00:53:01,800
needed to keep it a secret. I know. Being able to share this secret with Nick made Gypsy be able

588
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:07,080
to have a relationship like she'd never had before. Nick seemed like a very confident,

589
00:53:07,080 --> 00:53:12,360
experienced man who was domineering and intense and everything Gypsy thought she liked in a man,

590
00:53:12,360 --> 00:53:15,080
because again, she doesn't really know, right? She's never really had a relationship.

591
00:53:16,040 --> 00:53:19,240
On top of all of the things that Nick was portraying himself to be,

592
00:53:19,240 --> 00:53:22,840
he was also extremely adamant that the two meet in person very soon.

593
00:53:22,840 --> 00:53:26,760
So you think he wasn't being his authentic self? I think that he...

594
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:32,600
I'm not sure, actually. I was gonna say something and I'm like, wait, I don't know.

595
00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:41,800
He claims to have DID at some point and I'll talk about that, but he almost says like he has a really

596
00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:46,520
nice and amazing side, which is Nick, and then he has a dark and like demoness side,

597
00:53:46,520 --> 00:53:50,520
and he has a name for him, but I didn't put him in here, I don't think. But either way, I think that

598
00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:57,080
he's overly doting because he's never really had another relationship and it's not bad to be overly

599
00:53:57,080 --> 00:54:02,440
doting, but I think he thinks like being overly doting and like really intense like sexually is

600
00:54:02,440 --> 00:54:07,960
like what girls want almost. Well, and especially in her situation when she's already saying,

601
00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:12,360
my mom forces me to do these things and I bet he feels kind of like a knight, a knight with

602
00:54:12,360 --> 00:54:17,640
shining armor. Exactly. I'm gonna scoop you up and take you away. Exactly. And not to mention,

603
00:54:17,640 --> 00:54:23,480
he mentions himself a lot that his social skills are not fully developed because of his autism,

604
00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:29,720
his Asperger's, excuse me, diagnosis. So that is probably something as well that's affecting the,

605
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:36,120
you know, over kind of stimulation of verbiage. I don't know. Yeah, so maybe he's not necessarily

606
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:41,640
portraying a character, but maybe he's portraying an example that he's seen before, like in maybe in

607
00:54:41,640 --> 00:54:46,200
movies or television. Exactly. We know he watches porn because he got caught in it. That's true.

608
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:57,560
Anyway, so in 2014, was that funny? Yeah, yeah. Help me step brother. Oh my gosh. So in 2014,

609
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:02,520
Gypsy would confide in her 23 year old neighbor, Aliyah Woodmancy, I think is how you say it,

610
00:55:02,520 --> 00:55:07,000
Woodmancy? Woodmancy? That her and Nick had discussed a meeting in person and even a loping

611
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:12,840
together. Oh. She opened up about her and Nick's talks, including the names of their future children,

612
00:55:12,840 --> 00:55:17,240
and the fact that Gypsy had five separate Facebook accounts to keep in contact, like all the different

613
00:55:17,240 --> 00:55:22,200
names. Whoa. She would also mention that their conversations involved talk of BDSM, which she

614
00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:26,840
thought at the time was something she was really interested in. Gypsy, however, would later admit

615
00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:31,240
that Nick was the one who almost convinced her to talk about those things with him as it was like

616
00:55:31,240 --> 00:55:35,560
more of his thing, like the BDSM thing. Well, you said that he kind of internet spiraled, so I'm

617
00:55:35,560 --> 00:55:40,040
sure, you know, porn was probably a big thing of that. He probably saw a lot of shit. Yeah. Nothing's

618
00:55:40,040 --> 00:55:43,480
interesting, you know. They seem like they're having a great time. They look like they're enjoying

619
00:55:43,480 --> 00:55:49,400
themselves. So Aliyah, the neighbor, was very concerned. She believed that Gypsy was many years

620
00:55:49,400 --> 00:55:53,640
younger than her, although they were really close in age, and she told Gypsy that she was worried

621
00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:59,400
that she was being taken advantage of by an online sexual predator. Like an older person. Yes. She

622
00:55:59,400 --> 00:56:04,040
would later state about Gypsy's plans with Nick as quote, fantasies and dreams and nothing like

623
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:09,400
this would ever really take place. She was really worried about Gypsy. She was worried, but she was

624
00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:16,920
overly concerned, or she thought that it was so like it was too good to be true. It was too extreme

625
00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:21,080
that this is going to escalate in a way that's not okay. I think both. I think she was like,

626
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:24,600
Gypsy, like, if it's too good to be true, it probably is, and this guy's probably taking

627
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:28,040
advantage of you. Like, I don't think it's a smart idea to try to meet him in person. I see.

628
00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:32,360
So Gypsy would not take Aliyah's advice for long, and her and Nick would actually make plans to meet

629
00:56:32,360 --> 00:56:38,280
in 2015. So their plan was to both go to the same movie theater at the same time and dress up in

630
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:43,400
costume for the movie, sci-fi movie. They would just happen to bump into each other and strike up a

631
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:47,800
conversation about their costumes, and after becoming acquaintances they would watch the movie

632
00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:52,200
together, and hopefully he would be able to talk to DeeDee at some point during all this. Okay, so

633
00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:57,640
this is like we're coming up with this elaborate ruse to get to look like this is the first time

634
00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:01,720
we're ever meeting. Clearly can't come clean to mom about the fact they've been talking. Yes. Okay.

635
00:57:01,720 --> 00:57:05,480
So their plan actually worked, and they were able to run into each other at the movie theater.

636
00:57:06,040 --> 00:57:10,680
However, instead of simply going in to watch the movie, Gypsy took the opportunity to take a bathroom

637
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:16,440
break and insinuated that Nick meet her in there. He would, and the two would engage at Interchorus

638
00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:20,760
in the bathroom. What? A meeting that DeeDee would immediately find out about when she realized that

639
00:57:20,760 --> 00:57:26,680
Gypsy was taking way too long in the bathroom. Did you know that? I mean, I feel like I did,

640
00:57:26,680 --> 00:57:33,080
but that last thing you just said about that she's taking too long in the bathroom, it's like, well,

641
00:57:33,720 --> 00:57:38,040
I mean, you're the one that's portraying her as a disabled person. Well, yeah, I put that part

642
00:57:38,040 --> 00:57:42,040
taking too long. She didn't say that, but like, I would just assume that's why she was like,

643
00:57:42,040 --> 00:57:46,280
hmm, let me go check on her like I better go, you know, look. And I'm in no way gonna talk about

644
00:57:46,920 --> 00:57:54,040
speed here. Okay, but I'm just assuming it might not take that long. I mean, he's very excited

645
00:57:54,040 --> 00:58:00,440
to see her. So it might not have been that long. But after discovering this, DeeDee would forbid

646
00:58:00,440 --> 00:58:05,560
Gypsy to ever see Nick again. Oh, so she like straight up knew like she knew that they were

647
00:58:05,560 --> 00:58:08,440
in there together. I don't know how much she saw or how much she actually knew, but she knew that

648
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:12,280
they went to the bathroom together, maybe waited outside the bathroom and then they came. Yeah.

649
00:58:12,280 --> 00:58:17,160
And it was very clearly a very similar situation to the hotel incident in DeeDee's eyes, right?

650
00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:22,520
Yeah. So after the incident, the abuse DeeDee inflicted on Gypsy would continue to get worse.

651
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:28,040
And Gypsy would actually still secretly be in contact with Nick via social media. So of course,

652
00:58:28,040 --> 00:58:33,240
the abuse increasing after the movie theater situation and her current situation at home just

653
00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:38,200
like never being good. Yeah. Gypsy ultimately thought that the only way to get out of her

654
00:58:38,200 --> 00:58:43,880
situation was if her mother was no longer in it. So Gypsy stated about the beginning of this

655
00:58:43,880 --> 00:58:48,840
conversation, quote, me and Nick were talking one night and he said that he would do anything to

656
00:58:48,840 --> 00:58:55,240
protect me. And I asked him anything. And he said, yeah, from anybody I asked, he said, yeah,

657
00:58:55,880 --> 00:59:01,400
even my mom I asked, he said, yes. And that's when this plan kind of started to develop into a

658
00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:10,120
murder plot, end quote. I can't imagine feeling, well, first of all, like I can't imagine, you know,

659
00:59:10,120 --> 00:59:18,040
even that being a thought in my head. Yeah. But to feel so cornered and so defenseless

660
00:59:18,040 --> 00:59:22,840
that, you know, just backed up into a corner that you have to like plan to murder someone.

661
00:59:22,840 --> 00:59:28,200
Well, it literally reminds me of like Eric and my Almenendas. Yeah. Like the only way out of this

662
00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:32,760
situation is to kill the person that's causing the situation. And it's such it has to be such a

663
00:59:32,760 --> 00:59:38,360
helpless feeling. Yeah. And like, what do I do? Like, do I continue to live in this hell? Or do I

664
00:59:38,360 --> 00:59:42,280
stand up for myself and do something about it? Right. Because in reality, I'm not going to speak

665
00:59:42,280 --> 00:59:46,920
for any of the listeners or even you all speak for myself. If it's my life against yours, it's mine

666
00:59:46,920 --> 00:59:51,480
every time. Yeah. And I feel like that's probably how she felt. Right. Like at this point, it's

667
00:59:51,480 --> 00:59:56,360
gone on for far too long. I know the truth. And I know that this is abuse. And she's never going

668
00:59:56,360 --> 01:00:00,360
to let me go. Exactly. She's never going to let me go. And she's never going to let me blow this

669
01:00:00,360 --> 01:00:06,600
up ever. Exactly. Something has had to give in her mind. Yeah. So after a little while of talking

670
01:00:06,600 --> 01:00:11,880
back and forth, Nick decided that he would be the one to kill DD for Gypsy in order to get Gypsy

671
01:00:11,880 --> 01:00:18,920
out of her situation at home. On June 12, 2015, Nick would arrive in Springfield while DD and Gypsy

672
01:00:18,920 --> 01:00:23,480
were at a doctor's appointment. He would hang around the area and wait until nightfall. And then

673
01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:28,600
he would make his way to the Blanchard home. With DD asleep, Nick would sneak into the home with the

674
01:00:28,600 --> 01:00:33,800
help of Gypsy, who provided him with duct tape, gloves, and a serrated knife. Oh, she like handed

675
01:00:33,800 --> 01:00:39,960
the stuff to him? Yes. She already, she was, she's an accomplice. Yeah. I'm not just speaking, but

676
01:00:39,960 --> 01:00:45,400
isn't an accomplice. Nick would make his way to DD's bedroom shown to him by Gypsy, and Gypsy would

677
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:50,040
have taken it upon herself to hide in the bathroom. She was actually noted as like covering her ears

678
01:00:50,040 --> 01:00:56,200
so that she didn't have to really hear anything. Oh, cool. I know. Oh, heaps. Nick would sneak into

679
01:00:56,200 --> 01:01:01,960
DD's room and begin stabbing her in the back, hitting her a total of 17 times. That's not even

680
01:01:01,960 --> 01:01:07,960
like a just a quick. That's like overkill. That is overkill. 17 is a lot. That's a lot of times.

681
01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:12,920
Nick would later claim that DD actually woke up during this attack stating, quote,

682
01:01:12,920 --> 01:01:18,840
she ended up asking me, who are you? I said, I'm your effing nightmare. End quote. Like,

683
01:01:18,840 --> 01:01:27,880
cringy as fuck, but also like that's scary. And Lord. She's so fucking scary. After Nick was sure

684
01:01:27,880 --> 01:01:32,520
that DD was deceased, he would go grab Gypsy from the bathroom and take her into her bedroom,

685
01:01:32,520 --> 01:01:39,000
where the two proceeded to engage in sex. Like right after? Yeah. Oh my god. That's not that's

686
01:01:39,800 --> 01:01:45,320
yeah. That's something else. That's something tangled up in there. One source actually stated

687
01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:49,800
that Gypsy was already undressed before the murder took place. I'm not really exactly sure the timeline,

688
01:01:50,360 --> 01:01:56,760
but Nick said that the reason he was like, we have to have sex right now is because he had like cut

689
01:01:56,760 --> 01:02:03,640
himself, I guess in the process of the murder. And she like wiped his like the blood off his

690
01:02:03,640 --> 01:02:07,400
finger and apparently he got like super aroused because of it. It said it was like one of his

691
01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:13,400
sexual fantasies. And I'm like, your mom helping you put a bandit on a cut is one of your sexual

692
01:02:13,400 --> 01:02:21,000
fantasies. Like what? Anyway. Yeah, that that's like I said, that's tangled up in something else.

693
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:27,480
That's not just like, oh, thankfully we can be together now. No, yeah, it's like love. It's

694
01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:32,360
intense. Yeah, that's something else like in the next fucking room. Like, I can't even imagine that.

695
01:02:32,360 --> 01:02:37,480
That's horrific. That's horrific. Nick would later state about this murder quote, the very

696
01:02:37,480 --> 01:02:41,400
second I put my foot down, I had one of those moments that you might have only had once in

697
01:02:41,400 --> 01:02:47,560
your lifetime. It was an angel and the devil. First the angel spoke, it actually said, take her and

698
01:02:47,560 --> 01:02:57,320
run. And then you had the other part of me that darn devil. What he cringe. Go on quote. What he

699
01:02:57,320 --> 01:03:03,160
ended up telling me was this bitch is dead. I got so darn enraged that something inside of me clicked.

700
01:03:03,160 --> 01:03:07,160
Unfortunately, that part of me wanted to come out for a very long time and the very first

701
01:03:07,160 --> 01:03:12,600
opportunity I got it didn't waste any time. The dark shadow part of me that really trick is triggered

702
01:03:12,600 --> 01:03:19,400
by anger. Once that anger clicks, I see red end quote. So this is something that he's maybe thought

703
01:03:19,400 --> 01:03:24,760
of before maybe thought of before has had a known that he has capabilities of being enraged that

704
01:03:24,760 --> 01:03:30,920
badly. I think so. Yeah. So although he commented on the fact that he may have multiple personalities

705
01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:36,360
or a DID, Nick also stated about the murder quote, I would have done it again. I might have done it

706
01:03:36,360 --> 01:03:40,440
differently, but I would have done it again. I couldn't see Gypsy suffer anymore, end quote,

707
01:03:40,440 --> 01:03:47,560
which is like really sad, but like, yeah, because then it's I mean, it's essentially victim blaming,

708
01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:56,040
you know, which we've I mean, you just told us the history of it. It's it's very, it's very messy.

709
01:03:56,040 --> 01:04:00,600
This whole situation is very hard. Like it's very difficult to kind of pinpoint like who's the

710
01:04:01,880 --> 01:04:06,600
the real victim here. I think both of them are honestly, I think all of them are honestly,

711
01:04:06,600 --> 01:04:11,960
all of them, all three of them, even him, because I feel like, you know, in a way,

712
01:04:13,640 --> 01:04:17,160
and I don't know what Gypsy's participation in the conversations that they had,

713
01:04:17,880 --> 01:04:25,160
but so to really want to go murder someone for someone that you love, there has to be some kind

714
01:04:25,160 --> 01:04:29,480
of manipulation there. I'm sorry. Yeah. You know, all she was showing her whole life was

715
01:04:29,480 --> 01:04:34,040
manipulation. So it's a wonder that she would be good at it. Yeah, it's true. It's not a wonder.

716
01:04:34,040 --> 01:04:39,400
I mean, she's a pro. So the duo being Gypsy and Nick were so engulfed in Facebook during this time

717
01:04:39,400 --> 01:04:44,840
as well. Their immediate thought was to post on Gypsy and Dee Dee's shared Facebook account

718
01:04:44,840 --> 01:04:51,880
quote that bitch is dead end quote on on Dee Dee's Facebook. Dee Dee and Gypsy's joint account.

719
01:04:51,880 --> 01:04:55,800
They posted this as a status. It makes sense. They would have a joint account, right? Yeah.

720
01:04:55,800 --> 01:05:02,440
But on both of theirs, it said that bitch is dead. Yes. Okay. So Gypsy allegedly was saying like,

721
01:05:02,440 --> 01:05:08,920
I didn't want her to not be found. So I think like posting something like that like would have raised

722
01:05:08,920 --> 01:05:13,960
concern a little bit, but also gave us like time to like get away. Yeah. So she's like, I want

723
01:05:13,960 --> 01:05:17,320
someone to find her, but like, I don't want to be there when it happens. And I also want to make

724
01:05:17,320 --> 01:05:23,400
it ominous sounding so that it sounds like it's not someone hacked. So after posting this, Nick

725
01:05:23,400 --> 01:05:28,920
and Gypsy took $4,000 in cash that Dee Dee had collected from Rod's child support. The two would

726
01:05:28,920 --> 01:05:32,680
then leave the home and head to a hotel in Springfield where they stayed for a few days while

727
01:05:32,680 --> 01:05:38,120
planning their next move. So obviously the Facebook post concerns some people who would phone the

728
01:05:38,120 --> 01:05:41,560
home and try to get a hold of either Gypsy or Dee Dee, but probably just Dee Dee because Gypsy

729
01:05:41,560 --> 01:05:45,880
probably didn't have a phone. She wasn't allowed. Several friends and neighbors actually went to

730
01:05:45,880 --> 01:05:49,880
the home on multiple occasions, but knowing that it was not unusual for the two to leave the last

731
01:05:49,880 --> 01:05:53,720
minute for out of town doctor's appointments, they didn't really think much of the home being

732
01:05:53,720 --> 01:05:59,160
seemingly unoccupied. However, with Dee Dee's car in the driveway, neighbors and friends gathered

733
01:05:59,160 --> 01:06:03,240
in order to phone 911 for at least a wellness check. I was going to ask, so how did they get

734
01:06:03,240 --> 01:06:06,760
away? Because Nick drove, so they were driving Nick's car. I guess so, yeah. Okay. They just

735
01:06:06,760 --> 01:06:10,760
went in his car. Okay. Meanwhile at the motel, Nick and Gypsy were running errands to get some stuff

736
01:06:10,760 --> 01:06:14,920
together. And in the multiple days they were planning, they were caught on security cameras

737
01:06:14,920 --> 01:06:20,280
at several different stores. Gypsy would later state that at this point she really believed

738
01:06:20,280 --> 01:06:25,160
that the two had managed to get away with their crime. Yeah. They're in love. They're not geniuses.

739
01:06:26,840 --> 01:06:31,560
What is it? Bonnie and Clyde kind of shit? Yeah, yeah. Or the fucking Ken and Barbie,

740
01:06:31,560 --> 01:06:36,280
whatever, killers. She thought that if and when her mother's body was discovered, it would look

741
01:06:36,280 --> 01:06:40,520
like she had been kidnapped, Gypsy, Gypsy, and she would be able to blame the crime on another

742
01:06:40,520 --> 01:06:45,000
perpetrator. Like, oh, they killed my mom and they took me, you know? Yeah. She stated, quote,

743
01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:48,840
we thought we would never get caught. I felt like this is a fairy tale and I was going to be the

744
01:06:48,840 --> 01:06:53,560
princess that got rescued. But what started as a fairy tale ended as a horror movie. And quote.

745
01:06:54,280 --> 01:06:58,280
That's the thing is like, she's like, oh, I thought this is going to be a fairy tale, but it's like,

746
01:06:59,160 --> 01:07:03,960
but like, you're like, you helped kill your, kill your mom. That's not a fucking fairy tale.

747
01:07:04,920 --> 01:07:10,760
Well, shit, have you ever seen like Entangled? Does mother go, oh yeah. Well, she doesn't really

748
01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:16,920
die. She just turns it back into ash. She was already ancient. But the fact that she's still,

749
01:07:16,920 --> 01:07:21,080
that's what I was just wrote actually, she still thinks that this started as a fairy tale is wild.

750
01:07:21,080 --> 01:07:25,560
Like, yeah. The murder plot was what started this, like, that's a fairy tale. I think that's funny,

751
01:07:25,560 --> 01:07:29,480
we had the same thought. Like, I wrote that down. I was like, what? Well, I think that maybe she

752
01:07:29,480 --> 01:07:35,080
thought like just the communication online and so like that. And then even like, yeah, you know,

753
01:07:35,080 --> 01:07:40,760
that that would be, that's romantic, you know, type of a thing. And then it's really like a knight in

754
01:07:40,760 --> 01:07:44,600
shining armor kind of thing. Yeah. And who knows how many times they actually talked about this.

755
01:07:44,600 --> 01:07:48,040
It's not like they talked about it once and he's like, I'll be right over, you know.

756
01:07:48,040 --> 01:07:52,120
Yeah, that's true. They probably talked about it a few times. I completely agree.

757
01:07:53,160 --> 01:07:58,520
So get this, you said they're not geniuses. The two would actually mail the murder weapon weapon

758
01:07:59,480 --> 01:08:04,920
back to Nick's home in Wisconsin in order to avoid being caught with it. But they mailed it to his

759
01:08:04,920 --> 01:08:09,160
house. You couldn't have mailed it to a random address? Like, you could have just changed one

760
01:08:09,160 --> 01:08:12,280
number to what it got into. It would have gone to a different address. But then that person would

761
01:08:12,280 --> 01:08:17,160
have picked it up. Why wouldn't you just discard it? Because he wanted to keep it. Of course he

762
01:08:17,160 --> 01:08:21,960
fucking did. He probably wanted to keep the murder weapon, which is even grosser. After this, they

763
01:08:21,960 --> 01:08:25,320
boarded a bus back to his home as well. So they were going to go to Nick's house. Okay, so he

764
01:08:25,320 --> 01:08:29,160
didn't drive. It was a bunch of buses. Oh yeah, I guess you're right, yeah. Several witnesses saw

765
01:08:29,160 --> 01:08:33,480
the two on their journey back to Wisconsin and stated that Gypsy was wearing a blonde wig and

766
01:08:33,480 --> 01:08:39,000
walking all on her own. He just said walking and I forgot about what we were talking about for a

767
01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:44,200
second. And then I thought you were going to say on all fours. He just breaks down into a sprint.

768
01:08:45,400 --> 01:08:49,960
Back at the Blanchard home, police arrived but had to wait for a search warrant before entering.

769
01:08:49,960 --> 01:08:54,040
This is so funny because this next sentence makes no sense. Okay. They did however allow a neighbor

770
01:08:54,040 --> 01:08:59,000
to enter the home through a window. But they had so the neighbor can break and enter but the police

771
01:08:59,000 --> 01:09:04,120
can't. I mean, kind of. Kind of though. They're not going to charge the neighbor for that. They're

772
01:09:04,120 --> 01:09:09,160
not. You know, obviously cause for concern. Yeah. But the neighbor kind of, I don't know if he like got

773
01:09:09,160 --> 01:09:13,240
all the way in the home. He obviously, I think he just leaned in maybe through a window. I'm pretty

774
01:09:13,240 --> 01:09:18,440
sure it was a female neighbor. I'm sorry. Well, the neighbor, whether it be male or female, saw

775
01:09:18,440 --> 01:09:22,280
that the inside of the home was not really disturbed but all of Gypsy's wheelchairs were there. They

776
01:09:22,280 --> 01:09:28,360
noted that. So they were like, if she was kidnapped, she was scooped. Yeah, exactly. So once the warrant

777
01:09:28,360 --> 01:09:33,000
was present, police entered the home and located Dee Dee's body. Police along with neighbors and

778
01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:36,600
friends immediately thought the worst when they noticed Gypsy was not only not there but was

779
01:09:36,600 --> 01:09:41,640
clearly without her wheelchair as medications and oxygen tank. Right. Aliyah, Gypsy's neighbor and

780
01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:45,960
friend told police immediately that she knew about an online boyfriend of Gypsy's and that she had

781
01:09:45,960 --> 01:09:50,280
actually saved some information about him and Casey was needed. Good girl. I know. I was smart.

782
01:09:50,280 --> 01:09:54,840
Oh, she got chills. Police got in contact with Facebook in order to trace the IP address of the

783
01:09:54,840 --> 01:09:59,480
account with the posts, which turned out to be in Wisconsin. Again, they're in love, not geniuses.

784
01:09:59,480 --> 01:10:04,360
Yeah. Over 60 people would attend a candlelit vigil for Dee Dee in downtown Springfield the

785
01:10:04,360 --> 01:10:10,200
night after the body was discovered. So sad. The following day, police in Wakesha County

786
01:10:10,200 --> 01:10:14,680
raided the Go to John's home in Big Ben after locating Gypsy and Nick, who both surrendered

787
01:10:14,680 --> 01:10:19,880
immediately. They would both be taken in on charges of murder and felony armed criminal action.

788
01:10:20,760 --> 01:10:25,080
And I'll explain what that means in a second because I didn't know. Gypsy was reluctant to confess

789
01:10:25,080 --> 01:10:30,040
her part in the crime, but Nick allegedly told authorities almost immediately, quote, the truth

790
01:10:30,040 --> 01:10:35,480
is, okay, I'll admit it. I did actually stab her mom and quote. So he like pretty much immediately

791
01:10:35,480 --> 01:10:40,840
was like, I did it. Yeah. Well, there's no sense in lying. And it's kind of funny watching interrogation

792
01:10:40,840 --> 01:10:44,360
videos when people do when they try to lie. I have no idea what you're talking about. I have no idea

793
01:10:44,360 --> 01:10:48,040
who that is. Yeah. Oh, really? Because literally we're just, I mean, there's, here's a photo of the

794
01:10:48,040 --> 01:10:53,800
two of you together. Photo of you killing her. We literally were there with the murder weapon.

795
01:10:53,800 --> 01:10:58,040
With the murder weapon. Yeah. This is you signing your name over and just saying,

796
01:10:58,040 --> 01:11:01,880
that's me with the with the murder weapon in that photo. Yeah, exactly. Because of video

797
01:11:01,880 --> 01:11:08,120
recording of you stabbing her and simultaneously shouting your name. It's me, James, and your

798
01:11:08,120 --> 01:11:13,720
birthday. Okay. Just kidding. So when friends and neighbors heard back in Springfield that Gypsy was

799
01:11:13,720 --> 01:11:18,440
safe, they were extremely relieved. But this was short lived when they realized that not just Nick,

800
01:11:18,440 --> 01:11:24,840
but Gypsy as well, we're both being held on a $1 million bond. Green County Sheriff Jim Arnett

801
01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:29,320
announced the news of the arrests stating, quote, things are not always what they appear,

802
01:11:29,320 --> 01:11:35,160
end quote. He would also comment, quote, Springfield is a going growing community. We surround people

803
01:11:35,160 --> 01:11:39,880
with love and finances that we believe that needs it. However, a lot of times we are deceived. And

804
01:11:39,880 --> 01:11:44,920
I think this is not so true in this case at hand, end quote. So this was the press conference. I

805
01:11:44,920 --> 01:11:51,640
remember this. This is the press conference when they had already had Gypsy and Nick in custody

806
01:11:52,280 --> 01:11:58,360
and had already begun to interrogate and all that other stuff and then confess. And he had this press

807
01:11:58,360 --> 01:12:04,840
release, but didn't specifically say her name or his name and just said, things aren't always what

808
01:12:04,840 --> 01:12:11,960
they seem. And it was like, oh my God, what? What does that mean? Yeah. The media would soon

809
01:12:11,960 --> 01:12:16,760
announce the truth of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard's lives stating that Gypsy had indeed

810
01:12:16,760 --> 01:12:21,080
never been sick and had always had the ability to walk, but her mother had made her pretend otherwise.

811
01:12:21,880 --> 01:12:25,720
They mentioned that Dee Dee used physical abuse to control her and he urged people to

812
01:12:25,720 --> 01:12:30,520
seize all donations to the family's GoFundMe page that had been opened shortly after Dee Dee's death.

813
01:12:30,520 --> 01:12:35,480
Oh, could you imagine like donating to the GoFundMe after her death? For like, for Gypsy's medical

814
01:12:35,480 --> 01:12:40,120
expenses and for the funeral expenses. Yeah. Like we got to keep this young girl alive if they find her.

815
01:12:40,120 --> 01:12:45,720
Yeah. A spokesman from Habitat for Humanity, the charity who built the Blanchard home,

816
01:12:45,720 --> 01:12:50,520
stated, quote, we are just really deeply saddened by the whole situation. End quote.

817
01:12:51,480 --> 01:12:55,640
After news spread about the treatment of Gypsy, the sympathy changed from a victim of a violent

818
01:12:55,640 --> 01:13:01,000
murder to a victim of horrific decades-long child abuse. While the charges of first-degree

819
01:13:01,000 --> 01:13:05,800
murder can come along with the death penalty, due to the circumstances, county prosecutor Dan

820
01:13:05,800 --> 01:13:10,520
Patterson would announce that he would not seek it for either Gypsy nor Nick due to the case being,

821
01:13:10,520 --> 01:13:16,200
quote, extraordinary and unusual. Yeah. Gypsy's attorney would receive her medical records from

822
01:13:16,200 --> 01:13:21,880
Louisiana, the ones that didn't exist apparently, and use that to help her case and would ultimately

823
01:13:21,880 --> 01:13:27,480
seek a plea bargain for second-degree murder. At this point, Gypsy was so malnourished that her

824
01:13:27,480 --> 01:13:32,680
lawyer had informed the media that she had actually gained 14 pounds from being in jail,

825
01:13:32,680 --> 01:13:37,640
a situation in which most would lose weight due to stress. Wow. That was like a really,

826
01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:44,440
really key component of this. Like, look, very clearly, she's malnourished. Yeah, she was actually

827
01:13:44,440 --> 01:13:52,120
able to eat using her mouth. Yeah. In July of 2015, at the age of 24, and just a month after the

828
01:13:52,120 --> 01:13:57,720
murder, Gypsy Rose Blanchard would accept the plea bargain arrangement and be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

829
01:13:57,720 --> 01:14:04,120
She was 24. Yeah. She was 24. And she was made to act like a child. She was probably thinking she was

830
01:14:04,120 --> 01:14:10,040
like 20. Yeah, at most. Gypsy's plea bargain did not require her to testify at Nick's trial,

831
01:14:10,040 --> 01:14:14,040
who was facing a more severe charge due to prosecutors knowing that he initiated the murder

832
01:14:14,040 --> 01:14:19,880
plot, and both him and Gypsy had actually agreed that he was the one who killed Dee Dee. In January

833
01:14:19,880 --> 01:14:24,760
of 2017, Nick's trial was postponed when prosecutors requested a second psychiatric exam.

834
01:14:24,760 --> 01:14:30,680
This exam found that Nick had an intelligence quotient or IQ of 82 was on the autism spectrum

835
01:14:30,680 --> 01:14:35,160
and suggested that he had diminished capacity, which that was my first time ever realizing

836
01:14:35,160 --> 01:14:41,160
that IQ stood for intelligence quotient. I didn't know that. That's my IQ. Probably not that.

837
01:14:41,160 --> 01:14:53,480
You're in love, not a genius. 82, though, I think that the line as far as

838
01:14:53,480 --> 01:14:59,480
as far as what is considered below average is like what, 78? 76?

839
01:14:59,480 --> 01:15:03,960
Well, I'm not sure. I think it's 80. You think so? Yeah. Gonna gobble.

840
01:15:03,960 --> 01:15:08,200
So you're right. This is from hrw.org. Quote,

841
01:15:08,200 --> 01:15:14,440
the vast majority of people in the United States have IQs between 80 and 120, with an IQ average,

842
01:15:15,320 --> 01:15:20,840
100 considered average. And to be diagnosed with having mental retardation, a person must have

843
01:15:20,840 --> 01:15:27,720
an IQ below 70 to 75, which would be considered significantly below average. End quote. So that

844
01:15:27,720 --> 01:15:33,320
is from hrw.org. Well, I'm glad you looked that up because I didn't really know exactly what that

845
01:15:33,320 --> 01:15:36,920
average was. I really thought that 100 was average. I didn't realize it was like a spectrum of average.

846
01:15:36,920 --> 01:15:41,080
A spectrum of average. Yeah, that's a great way of putting it. Yeah. And so he was an 82,

847
01:15:41,080 --> 01:15:46,600
that would be considered average. So it's kind of interesting that they would use that as a defense

848
01:15:46,600 --> 01:15:51,160
of some kind. So Nick had actually initially waived his right to a trial by jury, but would

849
01:15:51,160 --> 01:15:56,520
change his mind in June of that same year. So in December 2017, the judge set Nick's trial for

850
01:15:56,520 --> 01:16:02,120
November of 2018. In their opening statement, the prosecutors alleged that Nick had deliberated for

851
01:16:02,120 --> 01:16:06,440
over a year before the crime on whether or not to commit it, showing his malice forethought,

852
01:16:06,440 --> 01:16:11,160
because they had been talking for a while. The defense suggested that Gypsy had formulated the

853
01:16:11,160 --> 01:16:15,160
crime, and Nick was just so love struck that he's simply done as she had asked.

854
01:16:15,160 --> 01:16:19,960
The following day, text messages were shown by the prosecution to the jury, some being very sexually

855
01:16:19,960 --> 01:16:25,080
explicit, and from the week leading up to the murder. The knife used to commit the murder was

856
01:16:25,080 --> 01:16:30,280
also shown to the jury. In some of the text messages, Nick is seen as asking Gypsy about the

857
01:16:30,280 --> 01:16:35,880
layout of the home, Dee Dee's sleeping habits, etc., things like that. And following the showing

858
01:16:35,880 --> 01:16:40,040
of the text, the jury were shown a video of Nick's interview after his arrest, where he

859
01:16:40,040 --> 01:16:45,640
admitted to having killed Dee Dee Blanchard. While she was not required to, Gypsy did ultimately

860
01:16:45,640 --> 01:16:50,360
testify on the third day of the trial. She stated that she had indeed suggested that Nick

861
01:16:50,360 --> 01:16:55,320
killed Dee Dee to end the abuse she was enduring at the hands of her mother. She had also suggested

862
01:16:55,320 --> 01:16:59,480
that the two of them try to get Gypsy pregnant so that Dee Dee had no choice but to accept Nick

863
01:16:59,480 --> 01:17:04,600
into the family. That was another option. Along with the knife that she would give to Nick at

864
01:17:04,600 --> 01:17:09,000
the home, she also stole baby clothes from Walmart so that either plan was ready to

865
01:17:09,000 --> 01:17:15,080
launch, essentially. Her reasoning for going through with giving Nick the knife that night

866
01:17:15,080 --> 01:17:19,800
was that he never told her how he felt about the pregnancy plan. She's like, okay, I guess we're doing this then.

867
01:17:19,800 --> 01:17:25,400
You never told me. You never told me whether or not you actually want a baby. Even though these are all the

868
01:17:25,400 --> 01:17:30,840
wrong reasons why I should have a baby. But if they had a baby, who knows, it might have saved Dee Dee's life.

869
01:17:30,840 --> 01:17:36,760
That's true. You know. It might have saved hers, honestly, too. Of Gypsies, I mean, because how are you

870
01:17:36,760 --> 01:17:42,360
gonna... I don't know. You did that to your fucking child. Why would you do it to your grandchild?

871
01:17:42,360 --> 01:17:47,400
Well, that's not essentially what I'm thinking. I'm thinking if she knew that Gypsy was pregnant,

872
01:17:47,400 --> 01:17:53,000
she might have done something to Gypsy and the baby. That's true. So after four days of trial,

873
01:17:53,000 --> 01:17:57,720
the case was sent to the jury who had multiple options for the fate of Nick. They could either

874
01:17:57,720 --> 01:18:03,320
find him guilty of one of three murder charges, so those being involuntary manslaughter, second

875
01:18:03,320 --> 01:18:08,920
degree murder or first degree murder, or they could find him not guilty of anything. After only about

876
01:18:08,920 --> 01:18:13,880
two hours of deliberation, the jury returned with the verdict of guilty of first degree murder and

877
01:18:13,880 --> 01:18:18,840
armed criminal action. After two hours? So if you don't know what this is, because I didn't, armed

878
01:18:18,840 --> 01:18:24,840
criminal action is the intent to commit a crime while carrying a loaded weapon. Okay. So honestly,

879
01:18:26,120 --> 01:18:30,120
a lot of people that get charged with first degree murder probably get this charge as well. They

880
01:18:30,120 --> 01:18:33,480
just don't really mention it because it's like first degree murder, like that's the biggest charge.

881
01:18:33,480 --> 01:18:38,520
Yeah. But they mention it in this one. But he didn't have a gun. A loaded weapon though,

882
01:18:38,520 --> 01:18:42,520
knife that's pointed somewhere is technically loaded. You know what I mean? He's ready to go.

883
01:18:44,040 --> 01:18:48,440
In February 2019, Nicholas got a John was sentenced to life in prison for the murder

884
01:18:48,440 --> 01:18:53,880
conviction. Prosecutors had declined to seek the death penalty and Nick asked Judge David Jones

885
01:18:53,880 --> 01:18:58,760
for leniency on the armed criminal action charge. This charge carries a minimum sentence of only

886
01:18:58,760 --> 01:19:03,400
three years. And Nick actually wanted to not serve any additional time for this, citing that he had

887
01:19:04,120 --> 01:19:10,040
been quote, blindly in love with Gypsy. The judge did not buy Nick's speech about being a sucker

888
01:19:10,040 --> 01:19:15,720
for love and would sentence him to 25 extra years for that charge. Concurrent with his life sentence.

889
01:19:17,000 --> 01:19:21,480
Nick's lawyer, Dwayne Perry, requested a motion for a new trial, which was denied by Judge Jones.

890
01:19:22,360 --> 01:19:25,800
Perry argued that the jury should not have been allowed to hear that Nick had considered

891
01:19:25,800 --> 01:19:31,320
raping Dee Dee on the night of the murder. And he also argued that the state psychologist should

892
01:19:31,320 --> 01:19:35,320
not have been allowed to testify and Nick's psychologist should have. When did that come up?

893
01:19:35,320 --> 01:19:38,760
Yeah, fucking monkey wrench in there. Just throw that in there. Yeah, just throw that in there.

894
01:19:38,760 --> 01:19:44,520
Yeah. So apparently they had told the jury that at some point. And I think that was one thing that

895
01:19:44,520 --> 01:19:49,640
Nick like might have said to Gypsy. And that's why it was in like it was in those text messages.

896
01:19:49,640 --> 01:19:55,240
Yeah. But it really like arguably had nothing to do with like the case because like there was no

897
01:19:55,240 --> 01:19:59,320
evidence of that. Like he clearly just killed her. So I think he was really just trying to like

898
01:19:59,320 --> 01:20:04,680
sound like a badass honestly. Like maybe he told Gypsy either way that he was like the jury shouldn't

899
01:20:04,680 --> 01:20:08,840
have been allowed to know that like that was completely irrelevant to like what happened.

900
01:20:08,840 --> 01:20:14,280
But it also shows like if he I mean he's clearly capable of murder, who's to say he's not capable

901
01:20:14,280 --> 01:20:20,280
of that. Right. And arguably that makes him like a worse perpetrator. Do you think that, okay,

902
01:20:20,280 --> 01:20:28,840
I had two thoughts. Let me see. Do you think that he would have tried to rape her or make it seem

903
01:20:28,840 --> 01:20:34,680
like that like it was a another perpetrator that came in and that's why the murder occurred was

904
01:20:34,680 --> 01:20:41,960
because it was a sexual assault first. I don't know. I really think that I haven't read the

905
01:20:41,960 --> 01:20:46,760
text, but I would assume that they might have gone back and forth a little bit on like ways to like

906
01:20:46,760 --> 01:20:51,560
play this out. Yeah. And maybe that was something that he just suggested like oh I could do this

907
01:20:51,560 --> 01:20:54,680
and then it would look like this or whatever. Yeah. I don't think it was like

908
01:20:55,400 --> 01:20:59,240
plant like he was going to because I said he had considered it like he didn't it wasn't part of the

909
01:20:59,240 --> 01:21:03,960
plant he just decided not to last second you know. Yeah. I don't know. That's weird. What was your other

910
01:21:03,960 --> 01:21:09,880
point? I don't remember. Yeah. That one that one took over. Oh I also said that the argument as well

911
01:21:09,880 --> 01:21:15,000
for the retrial or not retrial but yeah like as retrial was that the state psychologist shouldn't

912
01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:19,800
have a lot shouldn't have testified and next psychologist should have. Oh okay. So it's like

913
01:21:19,800 --> 01:21:23,560
this guy obviously knows him more than a state psychologist that just interviewed him once you

914
01:21:23,560 --> 01:21:29,720
know. So why is he testifying on behalf of the defense? Yes. Oh I see okay. So in denying the

915
01:21:29,720 --> 01:21:33,960
motion Judge Jones stated that the court could find the point about the psychologist's testimonies

916
01:21:33,960 --> 01:21:39,720
as significant and consider it a reversible error. Hmm. Although he has no possibility of parole,

917
01:21:39,720 --> 01:21:43,960
Nick is still holding out hope that quote there is something better waiting for me. There's a

918
01:21:43,960 --> 01:21:49,000
better verdict waiting for me end quote. Of course the Blandshard's neighbors were shocked to learn

919
01:21:49,000 --> 01:21:54,600
that Gypsy's illnesses were false. Aliyah was noted as crying out in disbelief upon hearing that Gypsy

920
01:21:54,600 --> 01:21:58,840
had never been sick or disabled. Because they spent quite a bit of time together. Yeah and like can

921
01:21:58,840 --> 01:22:03,800
you imagine feeling like so betrayed by your friend. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Aliyah's mother would recall that

922
01:22:03,800 --> 01:22:07,960
nobody really ever asked for proof of Gypsy's ailments but like who would you know what I mean?

923
01:22:07,960 --> 01:22:11,800
That's kind of like fucked if you're like yeah let's see proof. Yeah. No fact. Oh you can't walk,

924
01:22:11,800 --> 01:22:17,240
show me. Show me. Like no. Do it. Do it anyways. Dee Dee's family in Louisiana who had tried for

925
01:22:17,240 --> 01:22:22,120
many years to confront her about Gypsy's health were not broken up about her death at all. Her

926
01:22:22,120 --> 01:22:27,080
father, stepmother, and nephew would later state that Dee Dee deserved her fate and Gypsy had been

927
01:22:27,080 --> 01:22:32,200
punished as much as she needed to be for the murder. So they were like Dee Dee deserved it and Gypsy

928
01:22:32,200 --> 01:22:37,560
needs to be released. Because she's had a lifetime of suffering. Exactly. None of them would pay for

929
01:22:37,560 --> 01:22:42,600
Dee Dee's funeral, her family, and her father and stepmother would ultimately flush her ashes down the toilet.

930
01:22:42,600 --> 01:22:48,840
No they did not. Yeah. It's fucking nuts. That's horrific. I know. It's not funny. It's not funny.

931
01:22:50,040 --> 01:22:56,360
Only kind of funny. It's not. It's really not. But I know that the stepmom was like oh shit you tried

932
01:22:56,360 --> 01:23:00,680
to kill me. You know what I mean? They're just ashes but you know but still like I mean that's

933
01:23:00,680 --> 01:23:08,360
that's I mean that is that's not something that one typically does. It's more of like a to prove a

934
01:23:08,360 --> 01:23:11,880
point kind of thing. It's like a significance kind of thing. Right. You know it's not like really

935
01:23:11,880 --> 01:23:16,680
disrespectful. It's for the livings. It's not for her. Yeah. So Rod Blanchard Gypsy's father was a

936
01:23:16,680 --> 01:23:21,640
little bit less aggressive with his approach. He stated quote I think Dee Dee's problem was that

937
01:23:21,640 --> 01:23:26,360
she shared started a web of lies and there was no escaping after. It was like a tornado got started.

938
01:23:26,360 --> 01:23:31,480
Yeah. He also admitted to being extremely happy when he first saw a video of Gypsy walking on her own.

939
01:23:32,600 --> 01:23:36,680
Oh. You know it's really sweet. Even though it was in prison. Yeah. Dr. Flasterstein,

940
01:23:37,320 --> 01:23:41,480
the pediatric neurologist who believed from the beginning that Gypsy was fully capable of walking

941
01:23:41,480 --> 01:23:45,720
stated that this was only the second case of Munchausenberg proxy had ever come across.

942
01:23:45,720 --> 01:23:50,360
It's very rare. It is. He learned of the murder of Dee Dee when a former nurse emailed him the

943
01:23:50,360 --> 01:23:56,520
news story. He stated about this quote poor Gypsy. She suffered all those years and for no reason.

944
01:23:56,520 --> 01:24:00,680
End quote. It's really interesting and I think that's what makes this case so

945
01:24:02,840 --> 01:24:08,120
highly publicized and talked about is because it's probably the most extreme

946
01:24:10,120 --> 01:24:15,960
the most extreme case of Munchausenberg proxy that's ever been you know hit by media or anything.

947
01:24:15,960 --> 01:24:19,800
The doctor would also admit that he wished he had done more to help Gypsy.

948
01:24:20,760 --> 01:24:24,920
Mark Feldman I mentioned him earlier. He's an international expert on fictitious disorders.

949
01:24:24,920 --> 01:24:29,080
He stated that this was the first case he had experienced in which a child killed an abusive

950
01:24:29,080 --> 01:24:34,120
parent. He had a very strong opinion on the fact that Dr. Flasterstein was made out to be the hero

951
01:24:34,120 --> 01:24:39,320
in a documentary about the case later on and he would say about this quote. He had a gross

952
01:24:39,320 --> 01:24:43,640
misunderstanding of his obligations as a physician as well as the legal requirements to report

953
01:24:43,640 --> 01:24:49,480
suspected abuse or neglect. This conundrum arises in case after case where innumerable doctors have

954
01:24:49,480 --> 01:24:54,280
evaluated the patient perhaps had questions they kept to themselves and just proceeded to treat or

955
01:24:54,280 --> 01:25:01,160
make referrals and ditch the case that way. End quote. While a formal diagnosis of Munchausenberg

956
01:25:01,160 --> 01:25:05,880
proxy for Dee Dee is technically impossible due to the fact that she is deceased Feldman stated

957
01:25:05,880 --> 01:25:12,120
that after Gypsy is guilty plea he was confident that Dee Dee had it. He stated quote Gypsy was

958
01:25:12,120 --> 01:25:16,520
infantilized and kept away from her peers. She was a little more than a tool for Dee Dee to

959
01:25:16,520 --> 01:25:21,880
navigate through the world the way she wanted to end quote. He also stated that it was quote

960
01:25:21,880 --> 01:25:26,600
unprecedented in the 24 years that he had been researching the disorder for an abused child to

961
01:25:26,600 --> 01:25:31,480
kill the parent which is really interesting because she was 24 when when when Dee Dee died

962
01:25:31,480 --> 01:25:34,840
yeah or maybe when she was arrested but either way like that's how long this guy's been studying

963
01:25:34,840 --> 01:25:40,040
this. Right. So Gypsy Gros Blanchard is still in prison her sentence actually being up in

964
01:25:40,040 --> 01:25:46,520
2026. Wow. However she is eligible for parole next year in 2024 and I personally think that she

965
01:25:46,520 --> 01:25:52,040
has a really good chance of getting out. Yeah. Nick will never be eligible for parole. Gypsy has made

966
01:25:52,040 --> 01:25:56,440
it very clear multiple interviews that her and Nick are no longer together. She stated about this

967
01:25:56,440 --> 01:26:01,560
quote he was very much like my mother in certain ways both of them were very controlling and I

968
01:26:01,560 --> 01:26:06,040
feel like I was trained my whole life to do as I was told and I feel like he wanted that for a

969
01:26:06,040 --> 01:26:12,760
girlfriend end quote. Nick had his own things to say about Gypsy in his interview quote unfortunately

970
01:26:12,760 --> 01:26:17,800
because of how far I went I feel as if she's betrayed me I feel that she's abandoned me end quote.

971
01:26:18,920 --> 01:26:23,800
He's probably still in love with her. Oh yeah in an interview in 2018 Gypsy was quoted as saying

972
01:26:23,800 --> 01:26:28,440
quote I feel like I'm more free and present than when living with my mom because now I'm allowed

973
01:26:28,440 --> 01:26:35,640
to just live like a normal woman end quote. Her idea of living like a normal woman is having to

974
01:26:35,640 --> 01:26:41,480
make about eight choices a day. In the real world you make about like what two to three hundred or

975
01:26:41,480 --> 01:26:46,280
something choices a day and prison I think it's like an average of like eight to twelve because

976
01:26:46,280 --> 01:26:50,440
you don't have a say in a lot of things that happen. That's still more than that's still better than

977
01:26:50,440 --> 01:26:56,680
what she had. Like I literally have full body heaps like that's just so fucking sad because she

978
01:26:56,680 --> 01:27:01,080
can choose to eat what she wants and what she doesn't want. She can choose to do her hair or not she

979
01:27:01,080 --> 01:27:07,320
can choose to who she wants to speak to and who she doesn't want to speak to. Exactly that's just

980
01:27:07,320 --> 01:27:12,600
incredible. While serving her sentence in Missouri in Missouri Correctional Center Gypsy said that

981
01:27:12,600 --> 01:27:17,080
she had been able to research Manchaz and send him by proxy syndrome excuse me stating that her

982
01:27:17,080 --> 01:27:22,520
mother had every single symptom. She mentioned quote I think she would have been the perfect mom

983
01:27:22,520 --> 01:27:30,280
for someone that was actually sick end quote. Oh I know oh my gosh that is heartbreaking. They're

984
01:27:30,280 --> 01:27:36,680
like actually choked me up like I have like a little bit of tears. Gypsy stated that she believed

985
01:27:36,680 --> 01:27:41,560
her mom's claims that she had cancer even though she knew she could walk and eat solid food. However

986
01:27:42,200 --> 01:27:45,960
she always found herself secretly hoping that doctors would see past her mother's acts and they

987
01:27:45,960 --> 01:27:51,960
never did. When asked by a reporter what made her want to escape her situation Gypsy said that during

988
01:27:51,960 --> 01:27:57,000
the 2011 incident at the science fiction convention she wondered why she was not allowed to have friends

989
01:27:57,000 --> 01:28:02,360
her age or really at all. It wasn't until she met Nick and he had become very serious about the

990
01:28:02,360 --> 01:28:07,560
murder that she thought she would actually be able to get out of her situation. She also stated that

991
01:28:07,560 --> 01:28:11,720
she accepts that she committed a crime and she has to live with the consequences of her actions but

992
01:28:11,720 --> 01:28:18,600
she also hopes that she has helped other abuse victims. According to Gypsy's family and reports

993
01:28:18,600 --> 01:28:24,840
she also exhibits at times the same sociopathic manipulative behaviors as her mother. Mark Feldman

994
01:28:24,840 --> 01:28:30,120
commented on this quote she is already psychologically really compromised and she's going to need as

995
01:28:30,120 --> 01:28:36,520
much family underpinning and support as she can get end quote. He also stated that PTSD is likely

996
01:28:36,520 --> 01:28:42,040
to be an issue in her continuing development stating quote I hope they find someone wherever

997
01:28:42,040 --> 01:28:46,280
she chooses to settle who who is willing to provide supportive psychotherapy end quote.

998
01:28:48,920 --> 01:28:53,480
You want to hear some good news? I was gonna say yeah just touch on that just a little bit. I was

999
01:28:53,480 --> 01:29:00,840
gonna say I hope that she is able to get the help that she needs not only like you said for the PTSD

1000
01:29:00,840 --> 01:29:07,960
that she experienced but furthering you know her her mental needs that she's gonna need

1001
01:29:07,960 --> 01:29:12,760
structured she's gonna need that support if she does get out or when she gets out because you

1002
01:29:12,760 --> 01:29:21,960
said it's up in 2026. Yeah I mean it's just such a traumatizing case like it's so traumatic like

1003
01:29:21,960 --> 01:29:29,000
both horrific like both ends you know and I feel so bad for a for a DD one because she was struggling

1004
01:29:29,000 --> 01:29:34,520
with this mental disorder yeah and she obviously got murdered and I feel so bad for Gypsy too because

1005
01:29:34,520 --> 01:29:39,880
she didn't struggle with this mental disorder and she suffered from it as well and she felt like she

1006
01:29:39,880 --> 01:29:44,120
really didn't have any other choice. Who's to say that if either of them had gotten help that

1007
01:29:45,480 --> 01:29:50,520
DD would have been able to regulate herself get the mental help that she needed and the Gypsy could

1008
01:29:50,520 --> 01:29:55,640
live a full-fledged life and not you know and they both could have lived through this you know.

1009
01:29:55,640 --> 01:30:01,400
Who's to say that if Gypsy tried to ask someone for help out in the real world DD wouldn't have

1010
01:30:01,400 --> 01:30:07,160
harmed her further potentially killing her you know. It's true it's just every all the times

1011
01:30:07,160 --> 01:30:11,080
you were talking about certain situations with them I just imagined the scenarios in my head and

1012
01:30:11,080 --> 01:30:16,920
it's always this very dark feeling like a very dark color palette you know when I when I think

1013
01:30:16,920 --> 01:30:22,520
about these scenarios with them it's just yeah. Now while in prison Gypsy was using a pin pal program

1014
01:30:22,520 --> 01:30:27,000
to talk to some gentlemen and she would ultimately meet and get engaged to a man by the name of Ken

1015
01:30:27,000 --> 01:30:32,680
in April of 2019. They would reportedly call off their engagement in August of the same year

1016
01:30:32,680 --> 01:30:37,160
but Gypsy would meet another man by the name of Ryan Scott Anderson and the two would actually

1017
01:30:37,160 --> 01:30:42,280
marry on June 27th 2022 and are still together today. Oh wow okay so she's recently married.

1018
01:30:42,280 --> 01:30:47,720
Yes Gypsy is working toward her GED last where I saw the source it she might have already

1019
01:30:47,720 --> 01:30:52,600
accomplished it and apparently she's thriving. Her stepmother Kristie Blanchard told the news

1020
01:30:52,600 --> 01:30:57,240
quote despite everything she still tells me that she's happier now than with her mom and that if

1021
01:30:57,240 --> 01:31:01,880
she had a choice to either be in jail or back with her mom she would rather be in jail for Gypsy it's

1022
01:31:01,880 --> 01:31:07,080
a lot of freedom end quote. So obviously there's been a lot of documentaries and shows about the

1023
01:31:07,080 --> 01:31:12,040
case and the Blanchard family especially on DD's side are not too pleased with the shows

1024
01:31:12,040 --> 01:31:18,520
yeah and they feel like it's probably glorifying well just a very like a stain. Yeah her cousin

1025
01:31:18,520 --> 01:31:23,160
Bobby stated quote DD's sisters think it's pretty fucked up they hate all of it they don't know why

1026
01:31:23,160 --> 01:31:28,360
people keep making stories about it end quote. So just lastly if you would like to learn more about

1027
01:31:28,360 --> 01:31:32,520
Munchausen's syndrome by proxy or now known as fictitious disorder check out our mental breakdown

1028
01:31:32,520 --> 01:31:37,880
episode because we did do that episode but yeah that is the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard,

1029
01:31:37,880 --> 01:31:45,240
DD Blanchard and Nicholas go to John and cut. That isn't it wild? It's wild. I heard the story but

1030
01:31:45,240 --> 01:31:51,240
even hearing it again it's just yeah it's I forget again like I you you heard me seething earlier I

1031
01:31:51,240 --> 01:31:56,440
was just like I'm just fucking pissed I just want to you know go back in time and punch this woman

1032
01:31:56,440 --> 01:32:03,560
in the face yeah man it's a really hard one like sorry but just to say again she suffered from a

1033
01:32:03,560 --> 01:32:08,280
mental disorder a very severe mental disorder yeah absolutely. So you know what do you how do you

1034
01:32:08,920 --> 01:32:13,640
where's the blame yeah I know it exactly like that's why it's such a hard one it's like who do you

1035
01:32:13,640 --> 01:32:18,200
put the blame on like do you put it on her for starting it do you put it on her parents or maybe

1036
01:32:18,200 --> 01:32:22,120
causing her to have trauma that DD's parents I mean for cause you're gonna have trauma that

1037
01:32:22,120 --> 01:32:28,440
developed that mental disorder or you know you never know and you know I again speak for myself

1038
01:32:28,440 --> 01:32:33,080
I'm not speaking for anybody else I personally think that Gypsy will not be a danger to society

1039
01:32:33,080 --> 01:32:37,960
if she's released. Isolated case that's the way I feel about Menendez. I think that Nick needs to

1040
01:32:37,960 --> 01:32:42,920
serve the remainder of his life in prison like he's going to but I definitely think that every

1041
01:32:42,920 --> 01:32:49,960
single person in this story was mentally ill yeah and not to say that Gypsy was but I think that her

1042
01:32:49,960 --> 01:32:56,280
mother kind of put so much trauma into her life that she almost like caused one to develop. She

1043
01:32:56,280 --> 01:33:01,880
was saying you know you're sick you need to protect yourself from other people germs diseases

1044
01:33:01,880 --> 01:33:09,480
um she she used scare tactics in order to get Gypsy to do what she wanted to do because of

1045
01:33:09,480 --> 01:33:15,240
her mental disorder and she's there creating mental disorders you know I mean whether or not

1046
01:33:16,040 --> 01:33:22,040
DD would have gotten help you know the damage was done is what I'm saying and and had either of

1047
01:33:22,040 --> 01:33:30,280
them lived through this and unscathed if you will um with even then with therapy and stuff like

1048
01:33:30,280 --> 01:33:35,560
Gypsy would still have some of the things that she's exhibiting now. I completely agree. If you guys

1049
01:33:35,560 --> 01:33:39,560
are interested in looking at any like documentaries or anything on this case I know that Mommy Dead

1050
01:33:39,560 --> 01:33:44,040
and Dearest is like an actual documentary and then there is a reenactment like kind of like

1051
01:33:44,040 --> 01:33:49,000
docu- not docu-series but like a series called The Act. It's a reenactment but just gonna shout

1052
01:33:49,000 --> 01:33:52,760
out my girl Joey King. She's like one of my favorite actresses and she plays Gypsy. Yeah and

1053
01:33:52,760 --> 01:33:58,920
Patricia Arquette who is like one of my queens and she plays DD so yeah. It's a really great

1054
01:33:58,920 --> 01:34:04,280
great show and it honestly like kind of gives you a little bit more and I'm sure they like fabricated

1055
01:34:04,280 --> 01:34:08,040
a couple of things you know like minimal like detailed conversations probably not completely

1056
01:34:08,040 --> 01:34:11,560
accurate but it's really really good show and right and I watched it like as soon as it came out

1057
01:34:11,560 --> 01:34:16,600
I was like oh my god but yeah um I think that's all I have that was uh that was a whopper there.

1058
01:34:19,000 --> 01:34:26,600
Oh but I think it's time for me to announce I think my oh yeah okay so not to be confused with

1059
01:34:26,600 --> 01:34:32,280
the first case that I did for our bonus Patreon episode the Toybox Killer. Okay. I will be doing

1060
01:34:32,280 --> 01:34:40,440
the Toolbox Killers for my next Toolbox Killers. Toolbox Killers. Not Toybox Killer. Yes okay.

1061
01:34:40,440 --> 01:34:46,280
Toolbox Killers and that is Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris. Interesting. And they are some

1062
01:34:46,920 --> 01:34:53,400
ruthless sons of bitches they were some ruthless sons of bitches and when I tell you Patreon members

1063
01:34:53,400 --> 01:34:58,040
we never get a content warning I almost still want to put one in but I'm not going to because

1064
01:34:58,040 --> 01:35:02,520
you know what you're getting yourself into with the Patreon MIP episodes. Just get ready

1065
01:35:02,520 --> 01:35:07,960
because it's fucking gnarly. If you are interested in listening to the Toolbox Killers episode that

1066
01:35:07,960 --> 01:35:13,480
Kena is going to bring on the 29th of this month which is July depending on when you're listening

1067
01:35:13,480 --> 01:35:19,960
to. Boyfriend's breakey. We will be releasing that for our tier two and tier three Patreon members

1068
01:35:19,960 --> 01:35:26,760
only on that Patreon exclusive. You get no content warning no ads hardly any editing and that's

1069
01:35:26,760 --> 01:35:31,640
going to be like sometimes we're leaving coughs honestly. Honestly. You guys love us already.

1070
01:35:31,640 --> 01:35:36,760
Just raw stuff because we know what you guys are into if you become a Patreon member and don't forget

1071
01:35:36,760 --> 01:35:43,320
that even arts tier one which is the five dollar tier also gets ad free episodes as well. Yeah

1072
01:35:43,320 --> 01:35:48,920
absolutely. Well thank you guys so much for joining us I'm really glad that we were able to do that

1073
01:35:48,920 --> 01:35:52,280
case honestly because I know that we've talked about it in like probably eight of our other episodes.

1074
01:35:52,280 --> 01:35:56,520
I told you I was never going to do it. Yeah. Can I and I sometimes like we we talked to each other

1075
01:35:56,520 --> 01:36:00,520
like oh okay you know what I heard about this case but I really want you to do it. Yeah I'm not

1076
01:36:00,520 --> 01:36:04,840
going to do it. I want to listen to it. Yeah exactly. I want you to tell me about it. Yeah.

1077
01:36:05,640 --> 01:36:09,240
Okay well we will see you guys on Monday with another Minty Breakey.

1078
01:36:09,240 --> 01:36:20,040
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1079
01:36:20,040 --> 01:36:24,920
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