Day three of the Nicholas Godejohn murder trial in southwest Missouri’s Springfield featured testimony from Gypsy Blanchard about how she and Nicholas planned the murder of her mother.
Gypsy Blanchard testifies in Godejohn murder trial Thursday, November 15, 2018 (Photo courtesy of KOLR-TV)
Godejohn is accused of killing Dee Dee Blanchard, the mother of his ex-girlfriend Gypsy, in June of 2015. His defense attorney’s argument is that Godejohn has diminished mental capacity because of autism.
When court adjourned, it did so after hours of witness testimony. Two witnesses were called by the defense while one, a rebuttal witness, was called by the prosecution.
The first of the two defense witnesses, Gypsy Blanchard, started the day speaking mainly about how she was the one who planned the murder of her mother Dee Dee.
But while the prosecution has tried this week to prove it was a calculate collaboration between Gypsy and Godejohn, that’s not the foundation of its case.
Instead, Prosecutor Dan Patterson and his team are seemingly trying to convince jurors, not that Godejohn was the mastermind, but just that he had the mental capacity to consider the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard before allegedly committing the crime.
A psychologist, Dr. Kent Franks, was called by the defense to speak mainly about Godejohn’s mental limitations.
Franks faced intense cross-examination by Prosecutor Patterson, who then called on prosecution’s psychologist, Dr. Robert Denney, to testify. Denney said Godejohn has enough mental capacity to have contemplated the murder he’s accused of.
Dr. Denney will be cross-examined by the defense Friday.
(Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this report)
