One of the most famous victims of Munchausen syndrome by proxy is speaking out after police found her partner dead.
Convicted mom killer and Munchausen survivor Gypsy-Rose Blanchard finds herself in the middle of another investigation after her on-again, off-again partner died at his home in Raceland, Louisiana.
Authorities found Ken Urker dead on his 34th birthday on Thursday, Oct. 1, and Blanchard tells People she thinks he died of an overdose.
“I don’t know if it was intentional or not,” she said. “He was not in a good state of mind lately.”
Blanchard told People that Urker’s death has left her extremely upset. He’s the father of her daughter, whom the couple welcomed in 2024.
“I’m in disbelief. I can’t think … I’ve screamed until my throat burns,” an emotional Blanchard told the news magazine.
Deputies with the Lafourche Sheriff’s Office found Urker dead in his bed Thursday evening after family called for a welfare check. Deputies found a holstered handgun on the nightstand next to a syringe and two shot glasses.
According to a report obtained by TMZ, deputies also found drug paraphernalia and a brown powdery substance in the bathroom. Law enforcement says the investigation is ongoing. Authorities have not yet identified a cause of death.
In Blanchard’s exclusive statement to People, she called Urker a devoted father and the love of her life.
“Ken was an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved. He will forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance, and even death can never erase,” Blanchard wrote.
She went on to say that Urker was the victim of terrible scrutiny and online harassment during their relationship.
“Ken endured an unimaginable level of public scrutiny and relentless cyberbullying across social media platforms, including TikTok and Reddit. The cruelty directed toward him was something no human being should have to endure,” she told People.
“I believe the tremendous weight of that scrutiny and harassment had a profound impact on him, and I hope his passing serves as a reminder that there is a real person behind every screen, every headline, and every comment,” she added.
The pair met while Blanchard was serving a 10-year prison sentence on second-degree murder charges in her mother’s 2015 murder. The couple embarked on an on-and-off relationship until 2024 when they got back together again and had a daughter eight months later.
Blanchard served seven years before her 2023 release and had already married and divorced while in prison.
She asked for privacy for herself and Urker’s family as the investigation into his death continues.
Meanwhile, Urker’s family is raising questions about his death.
His sister, Autumn, went on TikTok live, suggesting that his passing wasn’t due to natural causes.
“See, this is why I came on here, because I knew that b—h would go to TMZ. You cold-bloodedly murdered your mother for d–k. You are a vile human being. You’re sick in the head,” she said, according to Hindustan Times. Autumn did make it clear the law enforcement hasn’t suspected any foul play.
Social media commenters, of course, posted their opinions on the death of Blanchard’s boyfriend.
“Here’s the thing, my heart has always bled for this young lady Gypsy. However, this was her husband’s 34th birthday. Only to find him passed from overdose. I have always been team Gypsy. But unfortunately, this looks very suspicious, given her most impressionable childhood years was watching a very disturbed mother use her daughter to gain National attention and monetary handouts,” a People reader stated.
Another reader pointed out, “From everything I’ve read, they were separated, he wasn’t responding to any of her texts or messages, had custody of their child. So, why, then, would he choose to take his own life? Who had something to gain by him being gone? Hope the investigators do a thorough investigation.”
Others piled on.
Goldie217 wrote, “Hummmm, this now makes two people who have died within her presence. Why would someone kill themselves when they have a precious baby to raise? Granted cyberbullying is cruel, and everything everyone says it is – but those are her words. How do we know she’s not lying about him, like she did her about her mother’s murder? Tragic, and I’m just glad the police are investigating it and not just taking her word for granted.”
Blanchard was the victim of a severe case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy at the hands of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.
Her mother claimed since her daughter’s birth in 1991 that she had all kinds of health issues, including cancer, muscular dystrophy, seizures, asthma, and learning disabilities.
Experts later determined Gypsy-Rose was a healthy child and had none of those ailments.
The daughter enlisted the help of an online boyfriend when she was 23 to help kill her mother.
She arranged for Nicholas Godejohn to come to their Missouri home in 2015 where he stabbed Dee Dee Blanchard to death.
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard received a 10-year prison sentence in 2016 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. A jury convicted Godejohn of first-degree murder in 2018, and he is serving a life sentence.
