Oliver 1

Emma Oliver

RC 1000-121

Benjamin Good

24 October 2021

Project 3: Research Process and Annotated Bibliography

PART 1: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carr, Erin Lee, director. Mommy Dead and Dearest. 2017.

This documentary pieces together all the exclusive home videos, interrogations, medical

files, personal experiences, etc. to really spread awareness to the story of the Blanchard’s and

what actually went down. Through Gypsy’s eyes, those watching the documentary were able to

realize many new insights about the case, like how she didn’t need a wheelchair and could

actually walk fine, or how she claims that Godejohn raped her the night of the murder.

Everything included in this documentary is first hand, all coming from those associated with the

Blanchard family. The only thing that may be biased are the interviews, because the audience

only hears one side of the story; however, these interviews are still reliable as they are a primary

source. This could help advance my argument by supporting the case that Gypsy was being held

prisoner more in her own home than she is serving time in jail. This also gives a closer look into

someone who experienced living with someone who had a severe case of Munchausen syndrome

by proxy.
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"Dee Dee Blanchard and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy." nursinganswers.net. 11 2018. All

Answers Ltd. 10 2021

<https://nursinganswers.net/essays/dee-dee-blanchard-and-munchausen-syndrome-by-pro

xy.php?vref=1>.

This article explains in depth on this disorder while also going into why Dee Dee directly

correlates with it, providing many examples of things she did to Gypsy. For instance, changing

medical records/results, making Gypsy go through unneeded treatments, etc. This gives the

readers a little glimpse into what Gypsy’s life was like under Dee Dee’s care. This will help

prove the argument that Gypsy didn’t deserve to get 10 years just because her murder was almost

“justified” in a sense that her mother was constantly abusing her, to the point where she probably

could’ve killed Gypsy. It’s a nursing essay on a website for nursing academic support, which

means this paper had to have been fact checked and for this specific cite, published in order to be

included. It’s not only informational on it’s own, but provides many other references that go into

even more depth on the matter.

“EDITED- Full 12 Hr Gypsy Rose Blanchard Police Interrogation Footage.” Youtube.com,

uploaded by Crime for Dummies, 5 Aug. 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVzykM9XMT0. Accessed 1 Nov. 2021.

Because the fact this interrogation footage is edited does not make it an incredibly

reliable resource; however, it does give great insight to Gypsy’s reaction to the whole situation,

and also what has been truly building up to this moment. It took a long while for her to actually

admit what she did, which is a trait she could have possibly developed from her mother, the
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manipulation of the truth. This could help the case by proving how mentally unstable she is due

to her mother’s manipulation and abuse. Her calmness during the interview also could reflect

how she now feels free with Dee Dee not being a problem anymore. Even though the reliability

of this source is questionable, the more it’s analyzed, the more one can see through Gypsy’s

words and mannerisms the severe impact of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Greenwood, Brad N, et al. “Physician-Patient Racial Concordance and Disparities in Birthing

Mortality for Newborns.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United

States of America, National Academy of Sciences, 1 Sept. 2020,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7474610/.

This journal basically summarizes all one needs to know about Munchausen syndrome by

proxy. It’s split up into sections containing the actual history of the illness, the mild/suspected

cases and what they would look like to outsiders, which goes along with the next big section

talking about how to manage someone with a suspected case since their test results will most

likely come out normal. Seeing as this is a published journal, that’s proof in itself that it’s

reliable. It does have a little bias toward those being affected by someone with the disorder;

however, it’s common sense for one not to side with the abuser. It also includes a variety of

references on the last page where the author got the information from, which they all seem

reliable as well. This will help the argument by explaining how difficult it is to handle those with

this disorder, justifying the fact gypsy thought the only way to handle or escape the situation and

abuse was to kill her mother.

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Jordan, Julian. “Nicholas Godejohn Helped Gypsy Rose Blanchard Kill Her Mom. He Says He’d

Do It Again.: Nicholas Godejohn Helped Gypsy Rose Blanchard Kill Her Mother Dee

Dee, Who Faked Her Illness and Kept Her Confined at Home. In a New Oxygen Special,

He Tells His Side of the Story.” The Daily Beast, 13 July 2019,

https://login.proxy006.nclive.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-we

bsites/nicholas-godejohn-helped-gypsy-rose-blanchard/docview/2257051974/se-2?accou

ntid=8337.

This article published in The Daily Beast news in 2019 explains another important

perspective to the story. Godejohn was Gypsy’s boyfriend, the one who actually murdered Dee

Dee. This dissects all the sources that have gone through and analyzed his story, pointing out

major quotes through his interviews. For example, how he explained to those interviewing him

his struggle with autism and said at the beginning of a TV episode about the case that he would

kill again. When Gypsy told him to kill her mom, deep down she didn’t believe he would

actually do it. Because of Godejohn’s mental state, he was quick on his feet due to curiosity he’s

had before. Whilst Gypsy was helping him plan the murder, she started having second thoughts

but because of Godejohn’s alternate personality, it was already too late. This could help justify

the fact that even though Gypsy was not doing well mentally, she knew what she was doing was

wrong, it was just too late. This information is from a news article published on the publicity of

Dee Dee’s case. It’s a reliable analysis through taking quotes and scenarios witnessed in the

entertainment industry and actual footage from the time of the case.
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Kettler, Sara. “The Story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Her Mother.” Biography.com, A&E

Networks Television, 3 June 2021,

https://www.biography.com/news/gypsy-rose-blanchard-mother-dee-dee-murder.

This source is very useful when it comes to finding reliable information and wanting a

general timeline of all the information. While this article explains the gist of everything that

happened, it also goes into enough detail to where one isn’t misinformed by lack of information.

It explains how Dee Dee started these claims when Gypsy was young, and gives a few examples

of what Gypsy claimed to have. It also explains it from Gypsy’s point of view of her relationship

with her online boyfriend, how she was able to confide in him, and how she asked him to do

something with her mother. This source is very reliable, as it doesn’t go into too much detail and

has been around for quite a while. It’s reputation has made it one of the most trusted online

encyclopedias. This source will help me structure my paper, with the events in chronological

order, everything is laid out and one could easily gain a good comprehension and form

connections between scenarios.

Romito, Kathleen, and Lisa S. Weinstock. “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.” Munchausen

Syndrome by Proxy | Michigan Medicine, 23 Sept. 2020,

https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hw180537.

This article gives great insight into Dee Dee’s diagnosis, after they had found out she’d

been lying about her daughter. It also gives information on what may cause Munchausen

Syndrome by Proxy, which is Dee Dee’s final diagnosis. It says doctors aren’t exactly sure how

it’s caused but it could very much be linked to what happened in the abuser’s childhood. It
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explains how this is as much a form of abuse as any other, what to look out for in someone with

this suspected syndrome, and steps to take if someone is diagnosed. This information was posted

on the University of Michigan health webpage, therefore it has to be fact-checked before being

put on an official university website. This source will help support my argument in a sense that

the doctors should have noticed these signs beforehand, there were a few skeptics of Dee Dee,

but they were soon put in their place. This website gives insight into how extreme this diagnosis

can be and the extremity of its effects on others, which could help prove that Gypsy was getting

abused to where the only way she could escape was murder.

Vennemann, B., et al. “A Case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy with Subsequent Suicide of

the Mother.” Forensic Science International, Elsevier, 5 Oct. 2005,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073805004184.

This journal was written to describe a case where Munchausen syndrome by proxy

resulted in the mother’s suicide. Although this isn’t anywhere close to Dee Dee’s case, Dee Dee

still got to the point of almost killing her daughter, where this woman killed herself before killing

her daughter. The mother was a trained nurse, already knowing medical information, diagnosing

her baby with multiple different things in order to make sure she was one hundred percent

healthy. This of course led to even more damage than before, and the harming of her daughter

led investigators to believe the mother was under too much stress. She was found with scars of

different ages all over her body, and a huge puncture wound in her lower abdomen along with a

razor. This journal does a great job of summarizing not just Munchausen syndrome by proxy but

the generalized Munchausen syndrome as well. This journal was based on a true case, while
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using video surveillance from the hospital as proof of her behaviour and how it’s linked to the

syndrome.

PART 2: RESEARCH PROCESS

Did Gypsy Rose deserve to serve that much time in jail?

My research process honestly began with my interest in this case. Already knowing a lot

about it and having already taken a side, I felt as if I was able to develop a solid argument in the

future. As I was looking through sources I was already familiar with, such as youtube videos and

TV shows about the case, I noticed these sources weren’t necessarily considered reliable. They

each had the potential to be very biased and maybe even glorified for the benefit of

entertainment. This led me to try and think of a more specific or science perspective concerning

the case, which gave me the idea to focus more on Dee Dee’s undiagnosed mental illness. This

would allow me to give Gypsy some type of justification to her actions concerning aspects such

as the impact her mother had on both her mental and physical state and providing proof for the

abuse Gypsy went through. Due to the popularity of this case, I was able to find multiple

journals, news articles and trusted websites about the syndrome to further prove my points and

structure my argument. My argument I think is pretty strong, I have many points I could cover in

my final argumentative paper, I just have to narrow down and clear up some connections. By

narrowing it down, I want to try and see if I can combine some points because I don’t want to be

repetitive. I also need to think of a solid counter argument, but honestly looking through youtube

comment debates on these videos bring up enough solid points in order to form one that’s

effective. Overall, I think I’m in a good place concerning my research. I have a good variety of

sources from different perspectives, all giving so much insight into Dee Dee’s diagnosis and how
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it had great potential to severely impact Gypsy. My thesis that I have come up with for my final

paper is, “Dee Dee Blanchards undiagnosed Munchausen syndrome by proxy allowed for Gypsy

Rose to endure almost every type of abuse imaginable, so extreme to the point where Dee Dee's

murder and Gypsy's reasoning was almost justified”.