The murder was planned by 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. 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 , Blanchard had pleaded guilty in to second-degree murder and was sentenced to ten years. After a brief trial in November , 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.
Nicknamed Dee Dee, she grew up with her family in nearby Golden Meadow. They later speculated it was a form of retaliation when "things didn't go her way". Her mother Emma died in In later interviews, her family expressed suspicion that Dee Dee was neglecting Emma and might have killed her by denying her food. Shortly before Gypsy's birth in July , the couple separated. Rod said he realized that he "got married for the wrong reasons". According to Rod Blanchard, by the time Gypsy was three months old, Dee Dee had become convinced that Gypsy had sleep apnea and had begun taking her to the hospital.
However, repeated overnight stays with a sleep monitor and other tests found no sign of the condition. In her book, Gypsy claimed that when she was five years old, her grandfather made her and Dee Dee take a bath with him. Dee Dee told Gypsy that doctors had given her a wheelchair she would need to use. Gypsy often went with her parents to Special Olympics events. In , Dee Dee claimed Gypsy was eight she was actually ten. The apparently disabled girl was named the honorary queen of the Krewe of Mid-City, a child-oriented parade held during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Dee Dee suffered a leg injury that Gypsy remembered resulted from a car accident, and required her being in a hospital for two months. At that time, Dee Dee and Gypsy were living with Gypsy's maternal grandfather, Claude, and stayed there for 10 months. In her book, Gypsy accused Claude of having abused both her and her mother when they lived with them. During that year, Dee Dee began to take her daughter to science fiction and fantasy conventions.
