The true story behind "Evil Deeds" is more exciting than the series

The Act

Hulu's new drama "Evil Deeds" is launched. The first season will be based on Michelle Dean's true story article "Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered" published on Buzzfeed. It tells a tireless single parent. My mother took care of her seriously ill daughter, but when Dee Dee was killed, things didn’t seem to be what everyone saw...

The article has quickly become popular since it was published, with more than 4 million views, and was listed as one of the top ten online articles in 2016 by Longform.

In addition, the first season will be starred by Golden Globe actress Patricia Arquette and Coro Sevigny.

However, none of this attracts the audience's attention as the true story behind the play is as bizarre as a novel.

Warm mother and daughter

In reality, Dee Dee and her daughter Gypsy Rose live in Springfield. Dee Dee is amiable, generous, and always wears colorful clothes. Neighbors like this optimistic single mother.

She did not have a job, and devoted all her energy to her seriously ill daughter. Speaking of her daughter’s illness, she can make a long list: chromosomal defects, muscular dystrophy, mental retardation, epilepsy, severe asthma, sleep apnea and even leukemia.

She said: "It's always been this way since Gypsy was a baby."

Just like the image of Gypsy in the play, Gypsy in reality sits in a wheelchair all day long, pale and skinny, with a pair of iconic glasses on her small face, no hair, and shaky teeth, even eating. The feeding tube needs to pass through the abdomen, and sleeping is inseparable from the ventilator.

The endless health crisis makes the mother and daughter travel between home and the hospital all day long. In addition, Gypsy has to take various pills every day to treat various diseases.

This is bad enough, isn't it?

No, not enough. This mother also made people very sympathetic when she talked about her life experience with her neighbors:

"I come from a small town in Louisiana, but I had to take Gypsy to escape the family full of domestic violence. My father, Gypsy's grandfather, even burned her with a cigarette butt."

"Gypsy's father is a idler, an alcoholic drug addict, and laughs at his daughter's disability, and in the end I have to take care of my daughter alone."

A family that has suffered countless hardships and frustrations still finds a way to continue living and maintains a positive and optimistic attitude towards life-this seems to be a perfect inspirational story.

It's a pity that all this is not as people see it. This story is far from over.

Murder in the sun

It was June 14, 2015. The hot weather forced the residents of Springfield to stay inside. People enjoyed the coolness and comfort brought by air-conditioning, but this ordinary summer afternoon was caught by a Facebook post. The state is completely disturbed.

Dee Dee's daughter suddenly sent something like this: "That bitch is dead!"

Immediately after this post, another comment appeared: "I fucking chopped down that fat pig and raped her cute and innocent daughter... Her screams were too damn loud, hahaha!"

Dee Dee's good friend Kim was one of the first to respond. She first called Dee Dee, but no one answered. At the husband's suggestion, the two drove to the pink house of Dee Dee-to make sure everything was fine.

When they arrived, a group of worried neighbors had gathered at the door. The protective film on the windows made it difficult for them to see the situation inside. Anxious Kim and her husband had to jump into the room through the windows.

This is the first scene in the play. The fictional character Mel enters into a quiet room. There is nothing wrong with it-except for the disappearing mother and daughter, there is no trace of robbery or struggle, everything is quiet. Terrible, like the last peace before the hurricane .

The police search warrant was not issued until 10:45 that night, after which the police found Dee Dee's body in the bedroom-she had been dead for two days, but there was no sign of Gypsy.

The neighbors were worried about Gypsy’s whereabouts while talking about Dee Dee, who was killed. They couldn’t figure out why such a good mother and neighbor would be brutally killed . In the end, they thought that the only reasonable explanation was Gypsy’s bad drinking and drug use. The father killed Dee Dee and took away the weak Gypsy.

The amazing truth

The case progressed quickly, and the neighbor's daughter (the fictional character Lacey in the play) told the police some key clues, for example, Gypsy has a secret boyfriend on the Internet.

She mentioned that Gypsy often talked about her boyfriend who had been with her for more than two years on the Internet, and also revealed that his name is Nicholas Godejohn, who is six years older than Gypsy.

We can also see from the play that Lacey and Gypsy have a very good relationship, as close as sisters-even if they rarely get along together. Gypsy always clearly expresses her yearning for a normal life, especially for love. Lacey, who has a normal life, has obviously become what she dreams of, and her thoughts about romance and sex can only Talk to Lacey, not the mother who is caring for her.

According to this clue, the police tracked the IP address of the Gypsy account and found the location of Godejohn's home the next day. Fortunately, Gypsy was also there, unharmed, and in good health. Everyone was relieved.

However, the next morning, the sheriff said at a press conference: "Things don't always look like that."

The police found: Gypsy is not sick at all! She can walk well without a wheelchair, eat normally without the assistance of a feeding tube, have no problems with her IQ and muscles, and even grow short hair on her head-she has no leukemia at all , everything is In order to make her look sick , most of the real health problems are due to hygiene issues and the side effects of taking various medications all the year round. She said: "It's all a lie-my mother forced me to do everything."

It is difficult for the neighbors to believe what they heard. At that moment, they didn't seem to know anything about Dee Dee , but they always believed everything Dee Dee said.

A web of lies

After more in-depth investigation, the mother who lived in a lie was gradually revealed.

Over the years, Dee Dee and her daughter Gypsy have been wandering around, using various aliases, such as DeDe, Claudine, Deno, etc. Her father is not a sadist, and her ex-husband is not addicted to drugs or alcohol—— These are all made up by her .

Dee Dee and Gypsy's father Rod met in high school. When she became pregnant, Rod was only 17 years old and she was 24 years old. Rod thinks that the only thing he can do is to marry her, but on his 18th birthday he realized that this is not the place he should stay, "I really don't love her, we got married for the wrong reason."

Even though Dee Dee tried to save him more than once, Rod left.

Soon after the two separated, the child was born. Dee Dee, who likes Guns and Roses, decided to name her daughter Gypsy Rose . Maybe she didn’t know another Gypsy Rose Lee , who was popular in the 1920s. The vaudeville actress turned into a stripper , and she also had a mother who controlled her, a mother who forced her daughter to perform and lied about her daughter’s age.

Of course, we cannot superstitiously believe that the name caused the tragedy, everything stems from the network of lies that have nowhere to escape.

She deceived Gypsy and made her lovely daughter think that she was born different from other children, and that she was a sickly disabled child;

Cheated Rod, the man who was always kept in the dark still sent $1,200 in child support to Dee Dee's account every month after Gypsy became an adult;

He deceived the doctors. Most of the doctors who have treated Gypsy are not wary of this "looks very innocent" mother, and believe that the symptoms she said actually happened to Gypsy.

He deceived neighbors, the media, and charity organizations. After all, no one would ignore such a family—a mother who worked hard every day and a daughter with a physical disability .

She has deceived too many people, enjoying the care and sympathy that everyone has for her, getting deeper and deeper in the network of lies , and every lie must be covered by another lie. This is her way of life for so many years .

Illness or benefit?

The story has become clear here, but there are still problems of one kind or another that need to be solved urgently, such as: Why does Dee Dee treat his children like this? How did she get rid of the doctor's suspicion for so many years?

There are various opinions about this on the Internet, but Dee Dee has left and will not answer anyone's questions. Some questions we can find answers based on clues, some are buried deep underground forever with Dee Dee's departure.

At present, most people attribute Dee Dee’s behavior to " surrogate Monchosen’s syndrome " —there is also a guideline in the play. The complex and deadliest form of abuse.

People with this disease usually undergo medical training spontaneously and have a strong desire for control, hoping to get attention and sympathy , which is consistent with Dee Dee's behavior.

However, a major factor in determining the disease is that the caregiver "did not receive any obvious benefits" in this process. This is obviously not in compliance, whether it is the monthly living expenses sent by the ex-husband Rod or various charitable organizations. House and travel, Dee Dee has obtained many benefits from this. Can we guess that all this DeeDee does is just for these benefits?

In fact, she did not keep any diary, nor any documents about her intention and starting point. There should never be a definite answer to this question, but the other question is different.

From the description of the client, we can clearly know how Dee Dee got rid of the doctor's suspicion. The fictional dentist character in the play has always been skeptical about Gypsy's health.

This role was redesigned by the director and does not exist in real life. However, during the many years of medical treatment between Dee Dee and Gypsy, many doctors noticed something strange, but Dee Dee relied on her tricks to fool the past. The doctor Neither did we do more.

This is also the most tragic part of this incident- every adult who saw Gypsy failed her in the end.

end

Finally, we return to the case itself. Godejohn told the police that he stabbed Dee Dee with a knife, and Gypsy said the same, although we don’t understand why he did it— this boy has no history of violence. The only time he was arrested was Because he used a tablet to watch pornography at McDonald's.

In short, figuring out what happened is very complicated, but the incident does not require further investigation. On July 5, Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The judge gave her a minimum sentence of ten years. Godejohn, her boyfriend, was still waiting for the final trial in confusion, his beard covered most of his face. His family never appeared to attend the hearing.

How is Gypsy now? While serving her sentence, she has grown long hair, fair and healthy skin, never received any medications, and even gained 14 pounds during the 12 months in prison.

Kim said: "It seems that she has been wearing a costume, but now she finally took off the costume."

In addition, Gypsy is preparing to write a book to help people in the same situation. She wants to let people know, "This is not a situation where a girl and her boyfriend killed her mother together", "This is a girl trying to get rid of Situation of abuse".

When the reporter asked about her mother Dee Dee, Gypsy did not talk as much as she did when Imagining the Future. Finally, she said:

"The doctors thought she was very dedicated and caring. For a sick child, she would be a perfect mother, but the crux of the problem is that I am not sick."

"She taught me to lie, and I don't want to lie. I want to be an honest and good person."

This means that this bizarre incident has finally come to an end, and Gypsy ushered in a better life-even in prison, as for what happened in the bedroom where Dee Dee was killed? Is it Godejohn or the "disabled" Gypsy who really holds the knife? Nobody knows.

Some answers, maybe we can only find from the play.

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