Gypsy Rose Blanchard announced Wednesday she’s completed her parole, stating that she’s “taken accountability” for her role in the 2015 death of her mother and is ready to begin a new chapter.
“I take back my life,” Blanchard wrote in a post on Instagram. “When I accepted my sentence, I accepted the weight of my choices. I served my time.”
“That was my accountability and I’ve carried it for years,” she added. “I don’t owe the past anything more.”
Blanchard pleaded guilty in 2016 to the second-degree murder of her mother after what she and her attorneys say was years of isolation and abuse.
Experts say Blanchard may have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, as her mother forced her to use a wheelchair and undergo unnecessary medical procedures, according to her attorneys.
Nicholas Godejohn, her former boyfriend, is serving life in prison for stabbing Dee Dee Blanchard to death. In her statement, Blanchard described him as “deeply disturbed” and said he made the decision to carry out the attack on his own.
“He also knew the difference between right and wrong,” Blanchard wrote. “Regardless of my role of unintentional manipulation … Nicholas made the decision to move forward with that night. That was a choice, and he is not exempt from the consequences of that choice.”
She expressed that she’s “deeply remorseful” for the pain caused to her late mother’s family.
“I recognize that nothing I can say can undo the trauma or bring Dee Dee back. But from the depths of my heart, I will continue to express my sincerest apologies to them, now and always,” she wrote.
Blanchard also addressed her “unintentional manipulation” of Godejohn as behavior rooted in malice, not in trauma.
“This type of manipulation isn’t rooted in malice,” she wrote. “It’s often a reflection of past trauma, fear of abandonment or a lack of emotional tools. The key difference is intent.”
Blanchard concluded her statement by declaring a break from her past.
“I will not carry [Godejohn’s] actions on my shoulders any longer. I’ve taken responsibility for mine,” she wrote. “This next chapter is one of healing. Of growth. Of reclaiming my life. This is freedom and I’m moving forward with clarity, peace, and self-forgiveness.”
Though Blanchard was sentenced to 10 years in prison, she was released early in December 2023. The case made national headlines and was the subject of documentaries and a limited series drama on Hulu.
Since her release, Blanchard divorced her husband, whom she married while still in prison, published a memoir titled “My Time to Stand,” and welcomed a baby girl with her boyfriend, Ken Urker.
