Gypsy Rose Blanchard released early from US prison
- Published
Gypsy Rose Blanchard with her mother Dee Dee Blanchard
A woman who conspired to kill her abusive mother in a case that gripped the US has been released early from prison.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, 32, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Dee Dee Blanchard in Missouri in 2015.
She plotted with her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, to kill her mother following years of abuse.
He stabbed Dee Dee Blanchard to death with a knife her daughter gave him and the pair fled the scene.
They were then arrested hundreds of miles away in Wisconsin where Godejohn lived. He is serving a life sentence without parole.
The case sparked intense media interest and spawned a number of documentary series and TV shows.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard walked out of Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri at 03:30 local time (09:30 GMT) on Thursday having served seven years of a 10-year sentence.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard shared a photograph on Friday with the caption: 'First selfie of freedom!'
While in prison, she gave a number of interviews detailing her mother's abusive behaviour and a memoir she wrote while behind bars is due to be published in January.
In a recent interview with People Magazine she said: "Nobody will ever hear me say I'm glad she's dead or I'm proud of what I did. I regret it every single day."
Dee Dee Blanchard allegedly abused her daughter for years by convincing her that she was disabled and required medical support.
She told people that Blanchard had multiple conditions including epilepsy, vision impairments and muscular dystrophy.
She received support from charities and sought treatment from dozens of doctors, often portraying her daughter as younger than she actually was and subjecting her to unneeded medical treatments.
Blanchard used a wheelchair, feeding tube and an oxygen tank even though she could walk and had no health issues.
She later said her mother kept her weak and isolated. Blanchard soon became more interested in the outside world, making a dating profile and meeting Godejohn.
"I wanted to be free of her hold on me," she said during Godejohn's trial. "I talked him into it."
She reached a plea deal with prosecutors due to the abuse she had suffered, which meant a 10-year sentence in exchange for pleading guilty.
"Things are not always as they appear," Sheriff Jim Arnott said in 2015 as he described the case. "This is a tragic event surrounded by mystery and public deception."