Should Nick Godejohn be released from prison?

Nick Godejohn (left) and Gypsy Rose Blanchard (right). (Photo Credit: Industrial Webbing)

On December 28th, 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Munchausen by Proxy survivor and murder convict, was released from prison after serving 85% of her sentence. Her release brought about newfound media coverage and discussion of her story, the story that shocked the nation and led to controversial cinematic depictions such as the glorification of the twisted tale through the Hollywood-ized Hulu series entitled The Act.

Since her release, the general public has taken to social media to criticize the fact that while Blanchard now roams free, Nick Godejohn, Blanchard’s ex-boyfriend and accomplice in the murder of DeeDee Blanchard, will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

For those that require a brief recap, 2015 saw one of the most shocking crimes of our time. Clauddinea “DeeDee” Blanchard successfully deceived the world—and her daughter—into believing Gypsy to be suffering from multiple illnesses, including muscular dystrophy and leukemia, among others. After years of being pumped with unnecessary medications and surgeries, Blanchard wove through a web of lies and finally discovered she was not the person her mother led her to believe she was.

Blanchard went behind her mother’s back to create a Facebook account and join a Christian dating website, where she met Nick Godejohn who would eventually assist in murdering DeeDee. The pair was apprehended by police at Godejohn’s Wisconsin home shortly after the murder; after a harrowing criminal suit that stunned the nation, Blanchard pleaded guilty and received 10 years with the possibility of parole, and Godejohn pleaded not guilty and received life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Now, Gypsy’s release has led to a slew of ill-balanced press that has begged the question: What about Nick?

Young Gypsy’s search for a boyfriend started with her innocent desire for a real-life Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. She’d grown up surrounded by Disney fairytales full of handsome princes slaying dragons for a beautiful girl they’d met only once before. So when she met someone who promised to do just, she leapt at the thought and fatefully ignored the flashing lights. The blossoming relationship was harmless at first—that is, until Godejohn began to reveal his true intentions.

In an interview with Dr. Phil in 2017, Blanchard revealed Godejohn “had multiple personalities” that she categorized as “violent and scary.” One personality included a “500-year-old vampire named Victor.” Godejohn recognized Blanchard as an easy target to take advantage of: though she was beginning to develop natural human desires, she had never been taught about sexuality or sexual health. Godejohn introduced Blanchard to BDSM, and he utilized her as a springboard for his dangerous and inherently perverted sexual desires. (Note: Godejohn had a history of disorderly sexual conduct that stemmed long before he ever made acquaintance with Blanchard. In 2013, he was arrested for masturbating for nine hours inside a McDonald’s.)

Media portrayal has formulated an almost romantic depiction of the doomed relationship between Blanchard and Godejohn. (Photo Credit: Hulu)

Media portrayal has formulated an almost romantic depiction of the doomed relationship between Blanchard and Godejohn. Now deleted social media posts have brought about the idea that Godejohn loved Blanchard so much that he killed her abusive mother, and yet he bore far worse consequences than the damsel he gave it all away for. But what these posters fail to recognize is that though Blanchard had dreamt that Godejohn would be her knight in shining armor, he was clearly anything but.

Godejohn’s own psychologists and lawyers have argued that he is not—and never will be—fit to return to society, and that if he were to be released, he would almost definitely commit another heinous crime. If this is not enough to convince the general public that Godejohn should not be released, Blanchard’s new Lifetime documentary “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” has brought about harrowing details that had previously been kept under wraps that only serve as further evidence that Godejohn must be kept behind bars. For example, Blanchard revealed that Godejohn’s disturbing sexual fantasies stemmed past her alone—Godejohn once shared with Blanchard that if they were to ever have a daughter together, he planned to ritually take her virginity on her 13th birthday. Past fantasies alone, Gypsy had to convince Godejohn not to rape DeeDee postmortem, and she was forced to make a “bargain” with him to “allow” him to rape her instead—with DeeDee’s body laying wounded one room over. Nick Godejohn was never charged with sexual assault.

The main difference between Godejohn and Blanchard’s respective roles in the crime is that Blanchard was a victim trying to escape; Godejohn was a murderer attempting to bring his evil fantasies to life. Blanchard was trapped in her situation; Godejohn found the situation and made it his own. Blanchard didn’t have a choice. Godejohn did.