Gypsy Rose lät mörda sin mamma – släpps fri i dag

Münchhausen by proxy, MBP, även kallat Münchhausen syndrom genom ombud eller barnmisshandel genom förfalskning, förfalskat pediatrisk tillstånd (FPT) eller barnmisshandel genom sjukvårdsinsatser (BMSI) är en psykiatrisk störning som har klara likheter med Münchhausens syndrom. En förälder/vårdgivare, vanligtvis modern förlägger sitt eget vård- och uppmärksamhetsbehov till sitt eget barn. Antingen genom att vålla barnet skada så att det uppvisar de symptom som föräldern vill att barnet ska ha – och/eller fabulera ihop osanna symptom som föräldern säger sig ha upplevt hos barnet. Även hos barn med en redan känd sjukdom, till exempel allergi, diabetes eller epilepsi, kan symtom framkallas genom medveten felaktig dosering av läkemedel. Samspelet mellan barn och föräldern är i grunden stört men kan te sig fullt normalt för dess omgivning – den andra föräldern/vårdgivaren kan vara helt ovetande om vad som egentligen försiggår. Münchhausen by proxy innebär att den sjuke personen i fråga inte själv utger sig för att vara sjuk, utan i stället spelar rollen som ombud och räddare för en annan person, som sägs vara sjuk/gjorts sjuk. Det är vanligen en förälder som använder ett eget barn som sjukdomsbärare och som ofta tillfogar barnet den skada som behövs för att det ska fortsätta att vara sjukt (och behöva räddas).Tillståndet är mycket ovanligt, och i Sverige upptäcks 3-10 fall årligen, i USA upptäcks cirka 1200 fall per år. Mörkertalet är svårt att uppskatta.

On June 14, 2015, sheriff's deputies in Greene County, Missouri, United States, found the body of Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard (née Pitre; born May 3, 1967, in Chackbay, Louisiana) face down in the bedroom of her house just outside Springfield, lying on the bed in a pool of blood from stab wounds inflicted several days earlier. There was no sign of her daughter, Gypsy Rose, who, according to Blanchard, had chronic conditions including leukemia, asthma, and muscular dystrophy and who had the "mental capacity of a 7-year-old due to brain damage" as the result of premature birth. After reading troubling Facebook posts earlier in the evening, concerned neighbors notified the police, reporting that Dee Dee might have fallen victim to foul play and that Gypsy Rose, whose wheelchair and medications were still in the house, might have been abducted. The following day, police found Gypsy Rose in Wisconsin, where she had traveled with her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, whom she had met online. When investigators announced that she was actually an adult and did not have any of the physical and mental health issues which her mother claimed she had, public outrage over the possible abduction of a disabled girl gave way to shock and some sympathy for Gypsy Rose.Further investigation found that some of the doctors who had examined Gypsy Rose had found no evidence of the claimed disorders. One physician suspected that Dee Dee had factitious disorder imposed on another, a mental disorder in which a parent or other caretaker exaggerates, fabricates, or induces illness in a person under their care to obtain sympathy or attention. Dee Dee had changed her name after her family, who suspected she had poisoned her stepmother, confronted her about how she treated Gypsy Rose. Nonetheless, many people accepted her situation as true, and the two benefited from the efforts of charities such as Children's Mercy Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Dee Dee had been making her daughter pass herself off as younger and pretend to be disabled and chronically ill, subjecting her to unnecessary surgery and medication and controlling her through physical and psychological abuse. Marc Feldman, an international expert on factitious disorders, stated that this was the first case he had experienced in which an abused child killed an abusive parent. Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving a 10-year sentence; however, she was granted parole in September 2023 and is scheduled to be released on December 28. After a brief trial in November 2018, Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.