Fact-Checking Nicholas Godejohn's Disability: Autism, Dissociation, and Murder

Catch up with Fact-Checking Nicholas Godejohn's Disability: Autism, Dissociation, and Murder. Our latest report covers the primary developments in full detail.

Under Missouri law, the divide between first-degree murder and second-degree murder hinges entirely on a single statutory concept: deliberation. The state defines deliberation as "cool reflection for any length of time no matter how brief." The defense team staked Godejohn's entire legal survival on a deliberation defense, asserting that his neurodevelopmental condition precluded that mental state.

Taking the stand for the defense, clinical psychologist testimony from Dr. Kent Franks provided a detailed mental capacity evaluation. Franks testified that Godejohn’s autism, compounded by an IQ of 82, severely limited his cognitive flexibility. Under acute stress or emotional manipulation, Franks argued, Godejohn experienced tunnel vision. He became hyper-fixated on pleasing Gypsy Rose, whom he viewed as his soulmate, rendering him incapable of calculating consequences or executing the detached, rational calculus required for legal deliberation.

The state countered this narrative by introducing Dr. Robert Denney, a neuropsychologist who conducted an independent forensic evaluation. Denney acknowledged Godejohn’s autism spectrum diagnosis but drew a sharp line between developmental difficulty and criminal incapacity. Denney stressed that planning behaviors, such as discussing the homicide for months, purchasing latex gloves, packing a knife, and waiting outside the bedroom door until Dee Dee fell asleep, constituted empirical evidence of purposeful planning. The prosecution demonstrated that having autism does not erase the biological ability to contemplate an action before executing it.