Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard
Blanchard, c. 2010 | |
| Date | June 10, 2015 (murder) June 14, 2015 (body discovered) |
|---|---|
| Location | Springfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 37°16′00″N 93°19′06″W / 37.2668°N 93.3182°W |
| Type | Murder by stabbing, matricide |
| Motive |
|
| Deaths | 1 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 1 (alleged) |
| Convicted | Nicholas Godejohn and Gypsy-Rose Blanchard |
| Verdict | Gypsy-Rose Blanchard: Pleaded guilty Nicholas Godejohn: Guilty on both counts |
| Convictions | Gypsy-Rose Blanchard: Second-degree murder Nicholas Godejohn: First-degree murder, armed criminal action |
| Sentence | Gypsy-Rose Blanchard: Ten years in prison; paroled after eight 1/2 years Nicholas Godejohn: Life imprisonment without possibility of parole plus 25 years |
Clauddinea "Dee Dee" Blanchard (née Pitre; born May 3, 1967, in Chackbay, Louisiana, United States) was a 48-year-old woman who was found stabbed to death in her Springfield, Missouri, house in June 2015. She was murdered by Nicholas Godejohn. The murder was planned by Godejohn and her daughter, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard.
Police discovered the body of Dee Dee five days after the murder, upon residents seeing alarming Facebook posts written by Gypsy-Rose Blanchard the day prior. Hours later, both Gypsy-Rose and Nicholas Godejohn were arrested in Godejohn's native Big Bend, Wisconsin, and both confessed to the murder. The media revealed that Dee Dee had forced Gypsy-Rose Blanchard to pretend to have severe physical and mental disabilities for financial and social advantage, a condition known as factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA).
Shortly before trial in 2018, Blanchard had pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder and was sentenced to ten years. After a brief trial in November 2018, Godejohn, who had committed the attack on Dee Dee, was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Blanchard was paroled at the end of 2023. The case has been the subject of several films and television series.