Have you heard about Nicholas Godejohn and wondered what really happened with Gypsy Rose Blanchard?
You’re not alone. This story keeps coming up because it’s one of those cases that makes you question everything you thought you knew about a mother-daughter relationship.
Here’s the basic fact you need to know:
Nicholas Godejohn met Gypsy Rose on a Christian dating website in 2012, and their online romance led to one of the most talked-about murder cases in recent years. Nicholas was born on May 20, 1989, which means he was 26 years old when he stabbed Dee Dee Blanchard in June 2015.
Gypsy was released from prison on December 28, 2023, and she welcomed her first baby, daughter Aurora Raina Urker, exactly one year later on December 28, 2024. But Nicholas? He’s still serving his life sentence at the Potosi Correctional Center in Missouri.
I’m going to walk you through Nicholas Godejohn age, his background, what happened during the trial, and where things stand now. It’s a story about control, abuse, and how two people made a choice that changed everything.
Key Takeaways
- Nicholas Godejohn was born on May 20, 1989, in Big Bend, Wisconsin.
- He was 26 years old when he helped kill Dee Dee Blanchard in June 2015 with Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
- Godejohn met Gypsy online in October 2012 on ChristianDatingForFree.com and became involved after building a close relationship through Facebook messages.
- In February 2019, a judge sentenced Godejohn to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of first-degree murder in November 2018.
- As of January 2025, Nicholas Godejohn is 36 years old and serving his sentence with ongoing mental health struggles.
Nicholas Godejohn Age and Background
Nicholas Godejohn was born in Big Bend, Wisconsin, a small town in Waukesha County. His early life was quiet, but it was also marked by challenges that would later become central to his defense.
Birthdate and Early Life
Born on May 20, 1989, Nicholas grew up in the quiet suburbs of Wisconsin. His father, Bobby Godejohn, said Nicholas was diagnosed with autism in grade school. This diagnosis would follow him throughout his life.
Nicholas told Oxygen’s documentary that he spent every single day from kindergarten through 12th grade in special education. He described himself as one of the smartest in those classrooms, which is common for someone with high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome.
“From the very first day when I was in kindergarten all the way to 12th grade, every single one of those days I was in special education.”
The details about his parents and siblings remain mostly private. What we know is that Nicholas struggled socially. According to KSPR anchor Leigh Moody, Godejohn “wasn’t in school” and “wasn’t working” before meeting Gypsy, and his “only outlet was who he found online”.
He stands at about 176 centimeters tall (roughly 5 feet 9 inches) with hazel eyes and black hair. Before the murder, he lived a mostly isolated life, spending his time online and playing video games.
Age During the Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard
In June 2015, Nicholas Godejohn was 26 years old. He had been in an online relationship with Gypsy Rose for nearly three years.
In March 2015, just months before the murder, Gypsy and Godejohn met in person for the first time at a Springfield, Missouri, theater to see Disney’s Cinderella. That meeting didn’t go well. Dee Dee immediately disliked Nicholas and forbade Gypsy from seeing him again.
By June 2015, Nicholas fatally stabbed Dee Dee on June 9, 2015, at the family’s home in Springfield, Missouri. Gypsy had mailed Godejohn money to get him to Springfield and stole a knife from Walmart for him to use. She told him it was the only way they could be together.
Prosecutors said Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee 17 times. Gypsy hid in the bathroom during the attack. After the murder, the couple fled to Wisconsin, where police arrested them days later.
Here’s a quick comparison of their ages and sentences:
| Person | Age in 2015 | Charge | Sentence | Current Status (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Godejohn | 26 | First-degree murder | Life without parole + 25 years | Serving at Potosi Correctional Center |
| Gypsy Rose Blanchard | 23 | Second-degree murder | 10 years | Released December 2023, completed parole June 2025 |
Legal Proceedings and Sentencing
Nicholas Godejohn’s trial became a national story. His defense team argued that his mental health issues made him unable to fully understand what he was doing. The jury didn’t agree.
Trial and Conviction
Gypsy Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016. Nicholas, on the other hand, rejected a plea deal and went to trial.
His trial took place in November 2018 in Greene County, and it took the jury just two hours to convict him of first-degree murder. Greene County prosecutor Dan Patterson led the closing arguments, and defense attorney Dewayne Perry represented Godejohn.
The defense’s main argument was autism. Psychologist Kent Franks testified that Godejohn has an IQ of 82 and functions at the level of a 10- or 11-year-old.Perry argued that “autism spectrum disorder interferes with a person’s ability to envision consequences and think ahead”.
But the prosecution had their own expert. Clinical psychologist Dr. Robert Denney testified that Godejohn scored a 28 on an autism assessment, while people with traits associated with autism normally score above 32.
Denney also said that regarding abstract reasoning, problem solving, and judgment, Godejohn’s scores were perfectly normal.
The trial featured disturbing evidence:
- Video of Godejohn graphically describing to police how he stabbed Blanchard, cleaned the house with Gypsy, and had sex with her before leaving the murder scene
- Text messages showing both discussed their “darker impulses,” with Godejohn’s “evil side” that “enjoys killing” and Gypsy’s alter ego called “Ruby”
- Gypsy’s testimony that she came up with the idea to kill her mother and had been thinking about it for a year before it happened
The jury found him guilty, and in February 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 25 years for armed criminal action. These sentences run concurrently.
Understanding the Context: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
To understand why this case captivated so many people, you need to know about Dee Dee’s abuse. Experts estimate that around 1,000 of the 2.5 million child abuse cases reported each year in the United States can be attributed to Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
The disorder was recently renamed to factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA) to provide a more accurate description of the behavior.Victims of FDIA suffer a mortality rate of between 6 and 9 percent, making it a serious and dangerous form of child abuse.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, about 85 percent of FDIA cases involve mothers as perpetrators.In Gypsy’s case, Dee Dee confined her daughter to a wheelchair, convinced her she had multiple illnesses, gave her unnecessary medications, and even shaved her head so she appeared sick.
The family received various donations, trips, and gifts from charitable groups, including a wheelchair-accessible house in Springfield from Habitat for Humanity in 2008.
Current Age and Life in Prison
As of January 2025, Nicholas Godejohn is 36 years old. He weighs 154 pounds, wears a size 8 shoe, and stands 176 centimeters tall. Godejohn is serving his sentence at the Potosi Correctional Center in Missouri. Life in prison is all routines, counts, and set schedules.
Nicholas hasn’t given up fighting his conviction. In 2022, he asked to set aside his previous conviction and order a new trial on the grounds that he had ineffective counsel, but the motion was denied in 2023.
In December 2023, his public defender Tyler Coyle filed another appeal, but there is no deadline for the court to deliver a ruling.
Some people believe Nicholas received an unfair sentence compared to Gypsy’s. As Gypsy continues to stay in the media with her new life, many are calling for Nicholas Godejohn’s case to go to retrial.
Meanwhile, Gypsy’s life has moved forward dramatically. On December 28, 2024, exactly one year after her prison release, Gypsy and her partner Ken Urker welcomed their first baby, daughter Aurora Raina Urker.
Season 2 of her Lifetime series “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up” is set to premiere on March 10, 2025. The contrast between their lives couldn’t be starker:
- Gypsy: Free, building a family, appearing on TV shows
- Nicholas: Behind bars with no possibility of parole, filing unsuccessful appeals
Takeaways
Nicholas Godejohn’s life changed forever at age 26 when he killed Dee Dee Blanchard. Now, at 36, he sits behind bars, sentenced to life in prison.
His tie to Gypsy Rose Blanchard and their tragic story continues to grip true crime fans in 2025. Stories like this remind us how text messaging, love, and control can mix into a storm.
Sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction.
FAQs on Nicholas Godejohn Age
1. How old is Nicholas Godejohn and where is he now?
Born in 1989, Nicholas Godejohn is 36 years old in 2025 and is currently serving a life sentence without parole at the Potosi Correctional Center in Missouri.
2. What was the relationship between Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Nicholas Godejohn?
Gypsy Rose and Nicholas Godejohn met on the website ChristianDatingForFree.com in 2012 and started a secret online relationship. Gypsy told Godejohn about her mother’s abuse, which led them to create a murder plot together to set her free.
3. Why did Godejohn and Gypsy Blanchard kill Dee Dee?
Gypsy wanted to escape her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare disorder where a caregiver fakes or causes illness in a person under their care. Gypsy saw the plan with Godejohn as her only way to break free from years of forced medical treatments and control.
4. What happened on the night of the murder in June 2015?
On the night of June 9, 2015, Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee Blanchard to death while Gypsy hid in the bathroom. The couple then fled to his home in Wisconsin but were apprehended after Dee Dee’s body was discovered days later.
5. What charges did Nicholas Godejohn face for his role in the murder?
Godejohn was charged with first-degree murder, and Gypsy testified against him as part of her plea deal. His defense argued his Autism Spectrum Disorder limited his ability to understand his actions, but the jury did not accept this. His chilling courtroom admission that he considered assaulting Dee Dee also damaged his case.
6. How does Godejohn’s sentence compare to Gypsy’s punishment?
Nicholas Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison without parole, a sentence he is still serving after his multiple appeals were denied. In contrast, Gypsy Rose Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 10-year sentence due to the extreme abuse she suffered. She was released on parole on December 28, 2023.
