Gypsy Rose Blanchard has stated that she believes she didn't deserve as many years in jail as she was sentenced to for the murder of her mother.
The 31-year-old took part in an interview from prison with Dr. Phil, with small snippets of it recently resurfacing online amid news of her imminent release in 2025. She was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in November 2018 after her late mother Dee Dee Blanchard's lifeless body was discovered at their home in 2015.
At that time, Gypsy Rose - whose mother stated that she suffered from physical and mental health issues - was missing and presumed kidnapped as all of her wheelchairs, medicines, and equipment were still at their property. However, once police officers located her in Wisconsin, they noticed that she didn't possess any of the lifelong psychological issues Dee Dee had described.
As it turns out, Dee Dee was suffering from a condition known as Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA) - also known as Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy - meaning that she had become obsessed with creating fake health problems in her daughter. This included confining Gypsy Rose to a wheelchair, maintaining she was mentally delayed, and giving her prescription pills she didn't need.
A police investigation followed immediately after Dee Dee's death, and determined that Gypsy Rose had persuaded her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, to murder her mother at their home after she was subjected to years of physical and mental trauma. Officials found that she was involved in the killing of Dee Dee as she brought duct tape, gloves, and a knife for Godejohn to carry out the murder, as reported by The Sun.
However, Gypsy Rose doesn't believe she should have received the years in prison she was sentenced to. Speaking to Dr. Phil, she said that she received "10 years incarceration for second-degree murder."
Dr. Phil then asked her if she believes that she should be in prison, to which she responds: "To be honest, I have complicated feelings about that. I believe firmly that no matter what murder is not okay. But at the same time, I don't believe I deserved as many years as I got."
He then pressed again: "But for you initiating the sequence of events she would still be alive? So in that sense you are responsible for her death? What would be a just punishment?"
Gypsy Rose ultimately agreed that she was responsible, saying: "I'm not really certain on that. I do believe that I do deserve to spend some time in prison for the crime, but also, I understand why it happened and I don't believe I'm in the right place to get the help that I need [...] At the time I knew I was being abused but I didn't know exactly what kind of abuse it was."
She continued: "I just knew that I wasn't allowed to do a lot of things and my mother was the reason. She would force me to be in a wheelchair and forced me to go to doctors appointments that I didn't need. I just wanted that life to stop. Ultimately I didn't want her dead, I just wanted that life to stop and that life to be dead."
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