[Court is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. ET. Watch the trial in the player above with our expert legal analysis. For a raw feed, scroll to the bottom of this article.]
Court continues Wednesday in the murder trial of Nicholas Godejohn, 29. Prosecutors say he murdered 48-year-old Missouri woman Dee Dee Blanchard on behalf of the victim’s daughter, 27-year-old Gypsy Blanchard. His defense team isn’t disputing that it happened. What they are doing, however, is insisting that the defendant lacks the mental capacity to commit first-degree murder as charged. In opening statements on Tuesday, the attorney said that experts will show that the client has autism and a low IQ.
Long story short, prosecutors say that Gypsy brought up the idea of killing her mother in May 2014. They treated it as a last resort, the state said, but returned to the plot after an attempt to introduce him to Dee Dee failed. Gypsy gave him blue latex gloves and a knife, he straddled Dee Dee while she was sleeping on her stomach, and stabbed her multiple times, the state said. Then they cleaned up, had sex in Gypsy’s bedroom, mailed the gloves and knife to Godejohn’s Wisconsin address, and took a bus to his residence. Dee Dee Blanchard’s murder was discovered after disturbing Facebook posts from her account implied she was dead and Gypsy was raped, the state said. Gypsy, according to the defense’s opening, admitted to putting up the posts so her mother would quickly be discovered, and given a proper burial.
The state is apparently trying to undermine the autism defense by saying that Godejohn had about a year to deliberate the murder.
#GodejohnTrial – Gypsy’s mugshots over time pic.twitter.com/jPFl6ll6oa
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) November 13, 2018
So far, testimony is detailing the specific events surrounding and during the killing.
#GodejohnTrial – Jurors are seeing photos of the crime scene/inside the home. This is Gypsy’s bedroom. https://t.co/MDSd1sUUdF pic.twitter.com/GhPIVEzzKB
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) November 13, 2018
Chief Forensic investigator Thomas Vandenberg testified that Dee Dee had 17 stab wounds. Six wounds pierced her body cavity, including her lung, diaphragm, heart, and liver. In a confession video shown to jurors, Godejohn said he only stabbed the victim four times, but when pressed by a skeptical Detective Angela Maholey, said that he only counted the ones that seemed deep.
Greene County Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Martin said he went to the nearby Days Inn, and found surveillance footage of Godejohn and Gypsy Blanchard. The prosecutor had said that the defendant, a Wisconsin resident, was saying over there.
Two cab drivers testified. Sherri Messer said she brought Godejohn from the Days Inn to Gypsy’s home. The second, John Harmon, said he picked up the couple and brought them back to the hotel. (This was after the murder.) He said Gypsy paid.
The confession video revealed the lurid details discussed in opening statements. In it, he told Maholey that he committed the murder while Gypsy hid in the bathroom, then they cleaned up, and had sex in her bedroom.
During testimony, Maholey said the defendant made eye contact with her throughout the interview. (Avoidance of eye contact is a symptom of autism.) She said under cross-examination that she did not know he was on the autism spectrum, and that she had no training regarding the disorder.
[Screengrab via Law&Crime]
