"Mommy Dead and Dearest" is HBO's newest true-crime documentary that tells the story of twenty-five year old Gypsy Blanchard and how she murdered her mother, Dee-Dee. So I actually found the trailer for this documentary on Facebook and being the criminal justice nerd that I am, I had to watch it. I had actually never heard of Gypsy Blanchard in the news, I'm not sure if many people have, but now I know her whole story thanks to this documentary.

A big focus of the documentary is Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, which is, "a rare form of child abuse that involves the exaggeration or fabrication of illnesses or symptoms by a primary caretaker." Gypsy experienced this type of child abuse from a very young age in her life. Her mother fabricated that her daughter had had Leukemia, Muscular Dystrophy, Mental Retardation, Lung issues, and more. Gypsy was in a wheel chair due to the "Muscular Dystrophy" that she had. She also had a feeding tube inserted into her, this allowed her mother to control everything she ate and all the medicines she took. Gypsy was on countless types of medications that she didn't need, and some of this medicine even caused her to have symptoms that she naturally wouldn't have had. Dee Dee controlled every aspect of Gypsy's life and she even exploited foundations and other people while lying about Gypsy's diseases. All Gypsy knew was that she could actually walk, but she was unsure about whether or not anything else was really wrong with her.

Gypsy eventually met her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, online. Being that Gypsy never really went into the world much, she wasn't schooled past the second grade, she didn't have a wide realm of knowledge on how to act in social situations. This being said, Gypsy got into a relationship with a young man she only met online and had very little real-life contact with. Nicholas already had some preexisting issues like criminal charges for masturbating in a fast food restaurant parking lot and he had an obsession with violence and BDSM. Gypsy eventually expressed her distress concerning her situation to Nicholas and the two hatched a plan for Nicholas to come kill Gypsy's mother and for the two of them to go live at his home.

In June of 2015, Gypsy hid in the bathroom of her home while Nicholas stabbed her mother and then allowed Nicholas to rape her afterwards. The two then went to Nicholas's house and not long after were caught by police. Gypsy was charged with second degree murder warranting a sentence of ten years in prison. She avoided higher charges because of the abuse she suffered and other extenuating circumstances. Nicholas still awaits his trial for first degree murder charges.

As far as from a documentary stand point, I think HBO did a really awesome job putting this piece together. They chose a really interesting story to cover and they did it in a way that offered various aspects of the crime. I really like how they actually had footage speaking with both Gypsy and Nicholas. It's compelling and chilling to hear why they did what they did straight from the sources themselves. They also greatly incorporated Gypsy's father in the documentary which I think was really important. It brought a sense of realism and family to the documentary that otherwise would have been lost.

My standpoint on the verdict for the crime is somewhat one of mixed emotions. I feel that Gypsy suffered a great abuse, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I would like to compare it almost to that of Battered Woman Syndrome type of situation. Gypsy had suffered for a very long time and she finally couldn't take it anymore and acted to end the abuse in the one way she felt she could. Due to those circumstances I feel like Gypsy should even maybe have gotten a shorter sentence, but then again another part of me feels that she does need to have repercussions for orchestrating her mother's murder. It is a shame that the justice system does sometimes fail children who suffer at the hands of abuse, and in Gypsy's case doctors, legal authorities, and social workers failed her. I do think that in some respect the system and even Gypsy's family are partly to blame for not recognizing the abuse happening in the Blanchard home. It really is a very complicated situation and it's pretty difficult to develop one solid opinion.

As for Nicholas Godejohn, I see a possible life sentence in his future and I completely agree with that conviction. When you watch the documentary you really see the type of person he is and it is clear that regardless of whether he is mentally unstable or mentally stable, he is a threat to society. Being the one that actually committed the murder and being that he had a history of deviant behavior, he deserves whatever punishment he receives.

The Criminal Justice system faces super complicated cases like this everyday and I think that in the wake of Gypsy's story, hopefully the justice system will be more aware of uncommon forms of child abuse. I also hope that when Gypsy is released from prison that she lives a happy, healthy life. No one deserves to experience abuse of any form, so I wish her and her family only good vibes from now forward.

If you're interested in watching "Mommy Dead and Dearest" the full documentary is available on YouTube! Enjoy!