On November 13th, 2018, three years after Gypsy Blanchard asked Nicholas Godejohn to murder her mother, Godejohn’s trial for first-degree murder and armed criminal action began.
Godejohn’s Trial: Day 1
In the opening statements, prosecutors Dan Patterson and Nate Chapman alleged that Godejohn had deliberated for over a year before the crime, while his defense lawyers Dewayne Perry and Andrew Mead pointed to his autism and said that Gypsy made the plan for the crime and that their client only complied because he was love-struck.
Assistant prosecutor Nate Chapman and public defender Andrew Mead begin their opening statements to a jury.
The first day also featured Godejohn’s original confession to the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard. His defense did not try to disprove the video but rather tried to prove his autism kept their client from acting rationally.
Godejohn’s Trial: Day 2
On the second day of the trial, prosecutors showed jurors a series of text messages between Godejohn and Blanchard a week before the crime occurred. The messages showed both of them using various personas to discuss sex, the murder weapon, and Dee Dee’s sleeping habits.
Godejohn’s Trial: Day 3
The third day was highlighted with the testimony of three people: a psychologist for the prosecution, a psychologist for the defense, and Gypsy Blanchard.
She started the day speaking mainly about how she was the one who planned the murder of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard.
“I supplied the knife. I stole it from Walmart,” says Blanchard.
Prosecutor Dan Patterson and his team were trying to convince jurors, not that Godejohn was the mastermind, but rather that he had the mental capacity to consider the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard before allegedly committing the crime.
That lead to the other two witnesses the first, a psychologist called by the defense Dr. Kent Franks who spoke mainly about Godejohn’s mental limitations.
Though after an intense cross-examination by Prosecutor Patterson it was time for the prosecution to call their psychologist– Dr. Robert Denney who says Nicholas Godejohn has enough mental capacity to have contemplated the murder he’s accused of.
Godejohn’s Trial: Day 4
On the final day of the trial, before the verdict, the prosecution and defense delivered their final statements.
The defense tried to convince the jurors Godejohn was a pawn in this game orchestrated by Gypsy Blanchard.
“She manipulated this situation in so many ways,” defense attorney Dewayne Perry said. “Now let’s get one thing straight. Who wanted Claudine Blanchard dead? Gypsy but for that simple fact, we’re not here.”
For the prosecution, it meant convincing them Gypsy’s role is irrelevant.
“We didn’t forget it. It’s not missing. It’s that when it comes to the defendant’s guilt it doesn’t matter. All that matters is what the defendant did on June 10th, 2015,” assistant prosecutor Nathan Chapman said.
“He didn’t just want to kill her. He wanted to terrify her. That takes thought and planning,” Prosecutor Dan Patterson said.
The Verdict:
Nicholas Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, and a concurrent 25-year sentence on the charge of armed criminal action.
Former reporter KOLR10 Reporter Brea Douglas got a chance to have an exclusive video with Godejohn in early 2018. Below is the full interview:
