Found Deceased MO - Clauddinnea 'Dee Dee' Blancharde, 48, Springfield, 10 June 2015 - #2 *Arrests*

[Wendy101]

As a homicide survivor, I would never serve on a jury for a case like this. I am an advocate for victims of homicide. In this case, I don't know who the victim actually is, but I have compassion for Gypsy, if the investigation proves what most of us surmise to be true.

I hear what you're saying. I do. I just keep thinking that if the victim in this case weren't her mother, and if she had killed her herself, how would everyone feel then? If the girls held in Ohio had killed their captor would we be saying that even though they were captive victims they still belonged in prison?

This abuse started when Gypsy was 5 years old according to her mother's family. From the age of 5.

ETA--On the other hand, if you beat and abuse a dog until it becomes a killer, it still has to be put down. It's not the dog's fault, it was tortured, but it's beyond salvage now and must be destroyed. Since we're talking about a human being here, euthanasia is out of the question, but maybe imprisonment is the way to go. It's not Gypsy's fault that she is what she is, but society still has to be protected? Is that the correct way to look at this horrible situation?

ACK!! This case is tearing me up because I just DON'T KNOW and I usually have such a strong sense of black/white--no grey--in this case it's all GREY to me!!

It was all grey for me too until I realized she was pretending to be sick and/or disabled with her BF.. Of two yrs.

IMO there was no need for that - they killed DeeDee , so why was she still pretending??

 

[bellesnwhistles]

I have not seen this anywhere. How long was Gypsy's father in her life? The reason I ask this is on the previous page it stated this craziness with DD started when Gypsy was 5. So did the father have any influence in the early years of her life?

Apparently him and her stepmom broke up, he got with her mom and I guess married? And then got back together with the stepmom. This is all just hearsay but what I have heard. Maybe someone else can answer better

 

[jjenny]

You read my mind as I was just going to post about rights and a court of law after reading many 'she got what she deserved' comments.
No matter how awful DeeDee was, Gypsy didn't have the right to have her killed. This is why we have laws and courts to handle these types of abuses.
No one can tell me that Gypsy didn't know people would help her. Most of her life she has seen the kindnesses that people can and will give.
At this point we don't even know for a fact why she felt the need to have her mother killed. It very well could be that greed or profit was the motive.
Didn't I read that a gold ring was found at the home of the BF?
We know they took money and my guess (since the ring was mentioned) is that it belonged to Dee Dee.
It really is sad to see people still being taken/played by the other half of the team. IMO

While all of this is true, it's very hard to feel sorry for this mother because of how she was raising Gypsy. I can't feel sorry for the mother at all. The child, from a very early age, had to pretend to be disabled, unable to walk, mentally retarded.
How else could Gypsy have possibly turned out?

 

[Wendy101]

But if she killed Dee Dee casue she was sick if playing the game and exploded - why would she continue playing it?

 

[kimlynn]

While all of this is true, it's very hard to feel sorry for this mother because of how she was raising Gypsy. I can't feel sorry for the mother at all. The child, from a very early age, had to pretend to be disabled, unable to walk, mentally retarded.
How else could Gypsy have possibly turned out?

That would be difficult to answer without knowing if she suffers with mental health issues. I would have a lot more sympathy and understanding if Gypsy would be found to have had problems functioning mentally.
Many people do grow up in abusive households but don't resort to killing.
As for Dee Dee...whatever she did, she paid for by dying a horrible death. Her own family (sister and nephew) don't have a kind word for her even in death.
I would like to think in spite of the way she raised Gypsy that she did love her....hopefully that was the case and it wasn't all bad.
I'm really waiting to see what more info comes out in regard to who Gypsy really is.

 

[Lilibet]

[/B]

It was all grey for me too until I realized she was pretending to be sick and/or disabled with her BF.. Of two yrs.

IMO there was no need for that - they killed DeeDee , so why was she still pretending??

But if she killed Dee Dee casue she was sick if playing the game and exploded - why would she continue playing it?

I'm sorry, I'm not following you. I don't think she continued to pretend to be disabled after Nicholas killed Dee. They caught a cab to a hotel. They took a bus to Wisconsin. She was walking while she was at his house in Wisconsin. I don't think we know how long she kept up the disabled charade online with Nicholas. He may have already known before he got there that she wasn't. But it doesn't seem that she continued it after her mother was dead. JMO

 

[jjenny]

That would be difficult to answer without knowing if she suffers with mental health issues. I would have a lot more sympathy and understanding if Gypsy would be found to have had problems functioning mentally.
Many people do grow up in abusive households but don't resort to killing.
As for Dee Dee...whatever she did, she paid for by dying a horrible death. Her own family (sister and nephew) don't have a kind word for her even in death.
I would like to think in spite of the way she raised Gypsy that she did love her....hopefully that was the case and it wasn't all bad.
I'm really waiting to see what more info comes out in regard to who Gypsy really is.

Many don't resort to killing, but some do.
This abuse perpetrated upon Gypsy seems to be extreme. I don't see how she could be right in the head after what she was put through.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

While all of this is true, it's very hard to feel sorry for this mother because of how she was raising Gypsy. I can't feel sorry for the mother at all. The child, from a very early age, had to pretend to be disabled, unable to walk, mentally retarded.
How else could Gypsy have possibly turned out?

Didn't I read (even if it was a rumor from her relative) that Dee Dee's own mother raised her as a grifter, too?

 

[Ontario Mom]

I get what you're saying, to a point, but then I don't. What is the difference in a mentally & verbally abused wife & a mentally & verbally abused child? When an abused wife, who may have possibly grown up in a normal household with normal parents & was taught right from wrong, snaps & decides to kill her abusive spouse it's justified? Even though she was taught & knows right from wrong? But when a child or adult in this case, has been raised from day 1, by a mentally & verbally abusive parent who taught the child that lying & deceiving people was ok, kept them isolated from the real world, no schooling or education, snaps & kills or has her bf, who seems to love & care for her unconditionally, kill her abusive parent, that it is not justified??? What if Gypsy was a 12 yr old? Or 15 yr old? Would that make a difference in justifying murder?
What if this was a father who had been sexually molesting his daughter from a very young age? Would that change anything?
An abuser is an abuser no matter the age of their victims in my opinion, what DD did as a parent is just as unacceptable as a husband that beats his wife. No one, child or an adult deserves to be abused, physically, mentally or verbally. And imo I think mental & verbal abuse are worse than physical abuse, not that any kind of abuse is ever acceptable, but black eyes & bruises can heal, but those words are embedded in your entire being & even when you think you've suppressed those words, they really never go away! And with mental & verbal abuse people don't think it's all that bad because they can't physically see the abuse with their eyes the way one can with physical abuse.
Sorry to ramble but I in my heart of hearts i don't believe one is more justifiable than the other. Abuse is abuse, murder is murder & a sin is always a sin no matter which one you commit!!!

I honestly haven't thought it through as much as I probably should to comment but at the very least, the difference is moral compass and where the needle ultimately rests. I'll do my best to explain:

With a battered woman syndrome, it's quite likely she's lived at least some of her life in a normal sense, without abuse. She's had a job, payed bills, learned how to get along in society, etc. For a variety of reasons she ends up with an abusive man and he breaks her down (in every way) and one day she just breaks with reality and takes him out. For her, unless there's some sort of underlying mental illness she's genuinely not a threat to society or herself. It was a one-off thing where her mind & spirit couldn't take anymore and she did what she did. Is she still accountable to the law? Of course. But is she someone who poses no threat to you or me if we lived next door? Most likely, no.

Gypsy's case is 10 thousand percent different. Not only does she not have a moral compass that allows her to get along (legally) in a civilized society, she probably doesn't even know where the needle is supposed to ultimately rest. She was not raised to say please and thank you and genuinely mean it, but instead was raised to lie and manipulate at the drop of a hat. She was raised to believe it's GOOD and right to swindle decent people out of their hard earned cash, and smile while you do it. She's never had a solid foundation to go back to, so there is no place for that needle to rest except what she knows and that is lying, defrauding, playing a role, using people to get what you want, etc. Even IF she knows it's wrong, it's still all she's ever known and ever learned how to do. Unless she goes through intensive rehab therapy she will likely always revert back to what she knows, and it's all BAD.

I saw a sign once years ago outside of a family therapist's office that said "it's easier to raise a healthy child than to fix a broken adult". For whatever reason it stuck in my head. Gypsy is a broken adult. Unless she is treated by trained professionals (and assuming it's successful) she will remain a broken adult - and a legit threat to society.

I hope that makes sense. Of course it's moo & all that.

 

[kimlynn]

Many don't resort to killing, but some do.
This abuse perpetrated upon Gypsy seems to be extreme. I don't see how she could be right in the head after what she was put through.

True, some abused people do strike out and kill.
Here is what we know about the abuse, forced to sit in wheelchair while in public, shaved head (young age into adulthood?) forced (young age into adulthood?) to lie , mother controlling in relationships with others.
I'm probably missing a few. I don't think some were confirmed such as forced medications to mimic symptoms of illness.
I don't want to compare but do know of more extreme cases of abuse.
A large part of this case for me will be her ability to function. We know she can walk but she could have other issues that we can't see. IM0

 

[Ontario Mom]

I think that's a wise stance to take right now and I agree that however this case plays out Gypsy needs intense therapy.

Slightly off topic but I've been following the Josh Duggar molestation case and in an odd way the Duggar girls are in a similar position to Gypsy. They've been infantilized and exploited by their parents, under-educated and kept very much under the thumb of their father. They have to put on a happy face for the public and have zero skills that would allow them to break free of their family even if they wanted to.

Right now I'm so happy and grateful that my parents were... well, my parents. IYKWIM.

Also somewhat O/T but I must respectfully disagree about the Duggar girls and the parallels to Gypsy. I know there's been a LOT of discussion of their family, values, religion, etc. I have not followed it here only because I know one of the adult daughters and it would grieve me horribly to see what's being said. The way the Duggar kids have been raised is not even in the same universe as the way Gypsy was raised.

moo.

 

[Lilibet]

You did a great job explaining why Gypsy is a threat to society. It may not be her fault, but she is who she is because it seems that her mother raised her to be a sociopath. How tragic!

BBM

I honestly haven't thought it through as much as I probably should to comment but at the very least, the difference is moral compass and where the needle ultimately rests.

<respectfully snipped for focus>

Gypsy's case is 10 thousand percent different. Not only does she not have a moral compass that allows her to get along (legally) in a civilized society, she probably doesn't even know where the needle is supposed to ultimately rest. She was not raised to say please and thank you and genuinely mean it, but instead was raised to lie and manipulate at the drop of a hat. She was raised to believe it's GOOD and right to swindle decent people out of their hard earned cash, and smile while you do it. She's never had a solid foundation to go back to, so there is no place for that needle to rest except what she knows and that is lying, defrauding, playing a role, using people to get what you want, etc. Even IF she knows it's wrong, it's still all she's ever known and ever learned how to do. Unless she goes through intensive rehab therapy she will likely always revert back to what she knows, and it's all BAD.

I saw a sign once years ago outside of a family therapist's office that said "it's easier to raise a healthy child than to fix a broken adult". For whatever reason it stuck in my head. Gypsy is a broken adult. Unless she is treated by trained professionals (and assuming it's successful) she will remain a broken adult - and a legit threat to society.

I hope that makes sense. Of course it's moo & all that.

 

[gngr~snap]

"During warm weather, Dee Dee and Gypsy Blancharde would have fundraising parties in which they projected movies onto the side of their house in Springfield. People would donate $1 or $5.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article25032529.html#storylink=cpy"





So the friendly movie nights that the whole neighborhood gathered for were yet another money grubbing scheme by Mommie Dreadful. It's getting harder and harder for me to have much sympathy for this woman.

I think it's also illegal to charge for showing movie, but not like that stopped her.

 

[Catchy kitty]

I am so conflicted.

I feel extremely sympathetic for Gypsy and then I don't and then I do again and then I don't.........

I wouldn't want to be a juror for this trial.

I have to go back to the beginning and reiterate that Gypsy did not have a choice when this all began. In fact, she didn't have a choice for most of it. She lived a lie perpetuated by her controlling, scamming, dominating mother who MUST have been mentally ill to some degree to do what has been done. Just because you're mentally ill doesn't mean you're stupid. Dee Dee had a good gig going. Shameful and disgusting.

Gypsy's entire life and being has been a lie. Her "self" has been created and moulded by a very sick woman for financial gain. What is real and what is not? What is truth and what are lies? What is right and what is wrong? The answers to these questions for Gypsy come from her mother. Brainwashing maybe....a bit of stockholm syndrome? Who knows. The one reality is that it's not NORMAL thinking.

Gypsy did not go to school. She did not have friends. She did what ever mother told her to do. She reached out over the internet when she was old enough to do so, but the damage was already done. She wanted to behave like a normal girl but didn't know how. The psych people on this site may disagree with me or have more input and I hope they help us understand Gypsy a bit more. She was unsocialized but that doesn't mean that she was stupid or unable to think and problem solve. However, her reality was, and is not, ours. What is reasonable to us, Gypsy wouldn't even think of. She is stunted emotionally, probably mentally and socially.

Every time she tried to run away her mother found her and brought her home. So if you're Gypsy how do you escape? What do you do? In desperation to have a boyfriend, children, a life, do you kill the person that has caused you to live the life you are now stuck in? If it means and end to the torment, the abuse, the isolation and "the only way out", I think that's a choice you make.

A wrong choice but a choice that makes sense to an isolated and abused person who sees no way out. Not a choice that most of us would make but I understand Gypsy's choice.

I almost wish she had killed her mother herself. It's easier to understand and accept. I think we struggle because she got someone else to do it and that shows us a level of conniving and manipulation which makes us think that she's not a victim.

But Gypsy really is a victim because the things her mother taught her all those years was how to lie, manipulate and get what you want by making people feel sorry for you so that they would do things for you. That's exactly what Gypsy did to get her BF to kill her mother. It's what she knows!

Gypsy was a good student.

I feel so sad about this case.

Wow beautifully written. Thanks wasn't enough.

 

[simlyme]

following

 

[simlyme]

I've been "trying" to follow this case and was actually on the fb page when the messages were coming through from "friends" concerned with DD and Gypsy being missing . I was literally on the edge of my seat and since I wasn't a "friend" I felt so helpless not being able to post anything.
Anyways, I've changed my mind a hundred times on an opinion of the "killers".
Right now I believe both killers are VERY mentally disturbed and should be treated as such . NO ONE in their right mind does what they did, NO ONE!! My opinion. I also believe DD caused ALL of the mental problems with Gypsy . A human being does not go through what Gypsy went through without SEVERE mental problems, time was up. I do not think Gypsy can ever be rehabilitated , her brain(body & soul) is damaged beyond repair. I wouldn't even doubt that Gypsy was sexually abused by DD throughout her life. MO.
We will really never know all that went on behind the black windows, but , I do believe that Gypsy will reveal some gory details , I hope she will be believed, but at this point it's hard to say . They both need to be locked up in an institution for the rest of their lives. Sad all around.
As far as DD, I cant even type.
I feel so sorry for the people that were scammed or called her friend, they will be marked forever. So many people damaged by one persons actions.

 

[pepelepolecat]

Also somewhat O/T but I must respectfully disagree about the Duggar girls and the parallels to Gypsy. I know there's been a LOT of discussion of their family, values, religion, etc. I have not followed it here only because I know one of the adult daughters and it would grieve me horribly to see what's being said. The way the Duggar kids have been raised is not even in the same universe as the way Gypsy was raised.

moo.

I was raised in a religion similar to Gothard/ATI (in fact, my parents briefly went through a Gothard phase), and there are some parallels.

1. The Duggars are living off other people (some might say grifting), using others' sympathies or curiousities to fund their way of life.
2. The Duggars teach their kids to keep secrets to protect the family unit (avoid bringing shame to the name of God, etc.).
3. The Duggars only allow carefully scripted peeks into their lives (as with any reality show, tbh).

The Duggars aren't forcing their children to play sick to get sympathy, but they are using, some might say exploiting, their children/large family for financial gain. Their kids most likely won't be a risk to society, but then again, when a fundamentalist-raised kid goes off the rails, it tends to be spectacular because they've grown up with external rather than internal controls -- meaning they never really learned self-discipline. They were spanked and punished into submission. The Duggars are open about following the Pearls, who've been linked to more than one child death.

Hopefully that wasn't too far off-topic. But I think the op had some valid points.

 

[GigTu]

It was all grey for me too until I realized she was pretending to be sick and/or disabled with her BF.. Of two yrs.

IMO there was no need for that - they killed DeeDee , so why was she still pretending??

But if she killed Dee Dee casue she was sick if playing the game and exploded - why would she continue playing it?

When has she continued to pretend to be disabled since DDs death? I missed that?

 

[GigTu]

True, some abused people do strike out and kill.
Here is what we know about the abuse, forced to sit in wheelchair while in public, shaved head (young age into adulthood?) forced (young age into adulthood?) to lie , mother controlling in relationships with others.
I'm probably missing a few. I don't think some were confirmed such as forced medications to mimic symptoms of illness.
I don't want to compare but do know of more extreme cases of abuse.
A large part of this case for me will be her ability to function. We know she can walk but she could have other issues that we can't see. IM0

Didn't I read that she had lost her teeth because of unnecessary meds? Do you think Gypsy could have pulled off faking illness as a young child (ages 5-8), or would her mother have to had compromised her? The early wheelchair example described her as walking then suddenly appearing paralyzed when she saw her mother. What sort of fear did that poor girl have, to be so drastic in her behavior? That hurts my heart to imagine, and I'm disgusted at family members for not intervening from that moment forward. Perhaps Gypsy was better able to fake it as she got older, and I can picture a scenario where she promised her mother to perfectly act the part as a plea to not be made to really feel sick.

 

[Dylgem22]

When has she continued to pretend to be disabled since DDs death? I missed that?

I think the fact they were online lovers for two years, and from what a friend said in an interview that she told NG that she was handicapped and he still loved her no matter what, why would she have played the "charade" with him for two years, have him come kill her mother, and then act as seemingly normal as she could? By walking, no feeding tubes, etc ... JMO

I would love to know how things really were behind those walls when it was just the two of them there (DD and GB) ...