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Nicholas Godejohn, 29, stands trial in Greene County, Missouri. This defendant was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 48-year-old local mother Dee Dee Blanchard. He doesn’t dispute that he killed her, but told media outlets that he only did it because he was manipulated by the victim’s daughter, 27-year-old Gypsy Blanchard.
Deputies said they found Dee Dee dead at her home on June 15, 2015, after her Facebook friends discovered disturbing posts uploaded to her account, according to the probable cause statement obtained by Law&Crime.
“That Bitch [sic] is dead!” read the first post. A follow-up comment from the victim’s account said that “I fucken SLASHED THAT FAT PIG AND RAPED HER SWEET INNOCENT DAUGHTER…HER SCREAM WAS SOOOO FUCKEN LOUD LOL.”
Investigators said they determined that Gypsy wasn’t at the scene, but traced the posts to a location registered to Godejohn. There, they found her with the defendant.
Godejohn said he murdered Dee Dee, but only because Gypsy told him to, authorities said. Gypsy admitted to writing the “Bitch is dead” post so law enforcement would find her mother’s body sooner, deputies said. She allegedly said that she did nothing to stop the murder (including call the authorities), even though she knew her boyfriend was going to kill her mother. The couple also allegedly stole several thousand dollars form Dee Dee’s bedroom safe.
Blanchard ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 2016, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She told 20/20 that her mother, who suffered from Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, forced her to feign leukemia, hearing and vision problems, asthma, muscular dystrophy, and seizures in order to cheat charities and well-wishers. She told Dr. Phil that Dee Dee was physically abusive, withheld food from her after arguments, and once chained her to a bed after a failed runaway attempt. She claimed to have met her ex-boyfriend online, and that she brought up the idea of killing her mother because she was “desperate” about her problem with Dee Dee.
Attorneys for Godejohn are trying to argue that their client suffers from a condition on the autism spectrum and that this hindered his decision-making ability.
The defendant sure as heck blames his ex-girlfriend for everything. At least, he did back in January. He spoke at length about his pending case with some media outlets in reports published earlier this years, and labeled Blanchard a manipulator and a liar. “Mastermind,” he called her in a 20/20 interview.
“She pretty much willed the knife in my hand to commit the deed herself,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s the way she was brought up,” he told KOLR10. “She was brought up to lie, and lie, and lie, and lie. She was brought up to basically play the victim role.” He added, “She’s only doing what she was taught.”
And yet, even after all that, he claimed that while he was no longer “in love” with her, he would be okay with it if she still wanted to be friends.
Gypsy reportedly will take the stand on the defendant’s behalf. Godejohn told the outlet that he won’t testify during the guilt phase of the trial, but might if there is a sentencing hearing.
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