Mommy Dead and Dearest Page #4

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- Dee Dee?

She was okay.

We were pretty close, me and her.

Yeah, I would give her everything

that she wanted anyway.

Whatever she wanted.

Except a dog in the house.

I didn't want that.

Now we wind up-- we got

two dogs in the house.

Ahem, but this-- she was something else.

Laura Pitre:
She was a

very filthy person.

If it didn't go her way,

she'd see to it that you would pay.

And did we pay.

Paid a lot.

She opened credit cards in my

dad's name,

my grandpa's name, ran up crazy bills.

Supposedly, America's Most Wanted

was looking for this girl.

Laura:

Slidell-- she was wanted.

Bad checks in New Orleans.

Claude:
No matter where she went,

she was doing all kind of stuff.

She was poisoning my stepmother.

Supposedly, she was giving her some...

Roundup in her food and stuff.

She was putting some poison in my food.

The same thing she had put in the plant.

And she wind up-- she stayed nine months

in bed after that.

She couldn't get up.

I didn't think she was going to make it.

There was nothing she couldn't

get away with.

Laura:
Her mama was a little bit

like her.

Claude:
Yeah, her mama, too.

Her mama was a shoplifter

and all kind of stuff.

I don't know how many times

she had to go to court

for shoplifting and other things.

Laura:
She had stolen how much

money from your daddy?

Before he got married, she had stolen

I think it's $3,000 or $4,000

from my daddy.

Bobby:
I think ever since

my grandmother died,

Dee Dee kind of went off the deep end.

Kristy:
The day that her mom died,

Dee Dee was in the house somewhere,

and Dee Dee was starving her.

Like, she wasn't-- Dee Dee wasn't

giving her anything to eat.

I asked her sister--

you know, I was like,

"I hate to ask this,

but you think Dee Dee had anything to do

with her mom's death?"

And she, you know, said,

"Now I wonder."

That's how evil she was.

To leave your mama dirty

and asking for food

and not want to feed her...

- Yeah.

- ...that's evil.

Carr:
Were you sad at all

when you heard she was dead?

Me?

I didn't believe it.

- It didn't--

- It just didn't sink.

It took a few days before... you know?

I didn't believe that she was dead.

I thought it was another

one of her tricks.

I said, "Who did Dee Dee piss off now?

You know, what kind of sh*t

did Dee Dee get into?"

I wasn't thinking,

"Oh, God, my aunt's dead."

Because I figured that one day

she'd piss off somebody

to that point, you know?

And I actually did think that it would

probably be Gypsy, you know?

And whenever-- we later got the word

that Gypsy was fine and she was

by her boyfriend's house,

we were like, "She killed her mama.

She finally did it.

She couldn't take it anymore."

She finally just said,

"F*** it all.

I'm killing this b*tch."

Carr:
Do you think she got

what she deserved?

- According to Gypsy, yes.

- Yes.

Yeah, she got what she deserved.

I know all the brothers

and sisters don't care

about Dee Dee no more.

Gypsy-- she got cremated.

She said, "What you want me

to do with the ashes?"

Everybody said, "I don't want her.

I don't want her."

- Darla said, "Flush 'em."

- I told her, "Flush that

in the toilet."

I didn't want it.

Her sister said,

"Flush that in the toilet."

She said, "We're going to bring that

in Mama's room,

make her a mass and everything."

"You going to pay for it?

I'm not paying for it.

We can't afford it.

Flush it in the toilet."

[Greene County Courthouse

November 9,2015]

Reporter:
Prosecutors have decided

not to seek the death penalty

against a Springfield woman

and her boyfriend,

both of whom are accused of murdering

the woman's mother.

Reporter #2:
The announcement comes

after several conversations

between the defence and prosecution,

both agreeing this was

the best decision.

Patterson:
Being a prosecutor,

the standard is to do what's right

and what's just.

When you look at the mitigators

as well as the background of

these individuals as we know it,

as well as the facts of the case,

this case was not an appropriate

first-degree murder case

in which to seek the death penalty.

This is a case that we

haven't dealt with,

and it's because it's so unusual.

I mean, it really is an unusual case.

What we thought initially may be a victim

turns out to be a suspect,

and in the middle of a story

that is twisted.

We think we know who Gypsy is,

but once this trial starts,

we'll be able to see her life unfold

and find out exactly what she

was all about.

[Home video from one of Dee Dee

and Gypsy's trips to Disney World]

Hi, everybody.

Right now, I'm in Cinderella's castle

eating some real mashed potatoes.

Mm!

That is good.

Dean:
Gypsy loved Disney

because they were stories that resolved

in happy ways.

And ultimately, her story was

not resolving in a happy way.

Gypsy:
I liked the Disney movie,

"Tangled."

It's about Rapunzel.

She's a princess in this kingdom

and she's kidnapped by Mother Gothel

from her real family.

And Mother Gothel keeps her

in this tower for all of her life

and tells her, "Don't leave this tower."

And so, that is all she knows.

Woodmansee:
I think that Gypsy

just wanted her life

to be like any fairy tale princess

and have the perfect ending.

You know, all the bad villains

get what they deserve.

Gypsy:
At the end, Mother Gothel died.

She got thrown out a window,

um, because Rapunzel tried to stand up

for herself

and leave her tower.

But in Disney movies,

everything's a fantasy.

It's a fairy tale,

and life is not a fairy tale.

I learned all that the hard way.

Stanfield:
I don't think calling

Gypsy's life sheltered

would do it justice.

I've kind of come to describe it

as a fairy tale nightmare.

Her mother controlled almost

every aspect of her life.

Dr. Feldman:
The control was total

in the same sense that the control of

a kidnapped victim

sometimes is total.

Her daughter was, in essence, a hostage,

and I think we can understand the crime

that occurred subsequently

in terms of a hostage trying to

gain escape.

Woodmansee:
Any time Gypsy and I

were together,

her mom was always present.

She was immediately like a

filter for us, you know.

Like, Gypsy wouldn't talk

about anything personal

while we were together.

That's like, really, the big red flag,

thinking back on it all now.

Dee Dee would always hold

Gypsy's hand, you know?

It was like, I don't know--

it was almost like, you know, just,

"If I squeeze it, you'll know

what to say."

I mean, that was just so strange to me.

Just to feel it now, I think

that was really strange.

Even in videos I've seen since then,

I'm like, "Yep, it's just the

same thing."

It's like she's holding her hand.

I mean, now I'm--

it was maybe a control thing.

Dr. Feldman:
The hand-holding

and the tight hugs

is a way of asserting mastery

over another person

and saying, "You're not free.

You are under my control

at all times,

even in relatively benign situations

like our being photographed

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