Slender Man Case: Judge Makes Morgan Geyser And Anissa Weier Plead Not Guilty To Stabbing Payton Leutner

The Slender Man stabbing case horrified many Americans, since two 13-year-old girls are accused of luring a young classmate into the woods and then stabbing the victim repeatedly. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier both claim they they were acting as the Slender Man’s proxies, and now the judge in the Slender Man case has entered a not guilty plea for the two girls. The judge also set the Slender Man cases’ trial date.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the Slender Man stabbing victim returned to school earlier this year and celebrated her birthday.

The Slender Man is a modern myth invented on the internet. As explained by the The Slender Man Mythos, this is how the idea for the nightmarish creature was invented.

“On June 8th, 2009, a ‘paranormal pictures’ photoshop contest was launched on the Something Awful Forums. The contest required participants to turn ordinary photographs into creepy-looking images through digital manipulation and then pass them on as authentic photographs on a number of paranormal forums. Something Awful users soon began sharing their faux-paranormal creations with layered images of ghosts and other anomalies, usually accompanied by a fabricated witness account to make them more convincing. On June 10th, SA user Victor Surge posted two black and white photographs of unnamed children with a short description of Slender Man as a mysterious creature who stalked children.”

The text which came with the photo was also similarly scary.

“… we didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time…”

While certainly creepy, the Slender Man became real for Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. They lured Payton Leutner into the woods by offering to play a game of hide and seek. The two girls, who were only 12-years-old at the time, then pushed their victim to the ground and stabbed her 19 times with a five-inch blade. They then fled the scene of the attempted murder in search of Slender Man, whom they believed lived in a mansion in the Nicolet National Forest in Northern Wisconsin based upon information they found online.

The Slender Man stabbing victim somehow survived her horrible wounds, which included damage to the diaphragm, liver, stomach, and several major arteries. The girl was found by a bicyclist, and she was saved by doctors. Police caught up with Weier and Geyser only several miles from the park.

Slender Man Stabbing Trial – Adults Or Children?

Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier were both charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Although the two girls in the Slender Man stabbing case are still only 13-years-old, they will be tried as adults. As such, the restrictions on photographing them have been lifted.

“The court previously emphasized the defendants’ youth in setting the photo restrictions,” explained Brendan Healey, a Chicago media lawyer. “If they’re being tried as adults, then the restrictions on their photos should be lifted. The courtroom is open, the defendants’ pictures were previously released, and the press and public have a right to see the defendants.”

The lawyers for the two girls in the Slender Man case have attempted to transfer their cases to juvenile court. Wisconsin law requires that children as young as 10 be tried as adults for serious crimes, but it’s possible to transfer to juvenile court. If they manage to reach juvenile court, then their maximum sentencing would be three years in juvenile prison plus intense community supervision until age 18. But if Geyser and Weier are found guilty as adults then face up to 45 years in prison.

It’s also possible one or both girls could be found not guilty based upon a mental disease or defect. Geyser has already been diagnosed with an early onset of schizophrenia. If they are successfully defended on the basis of a mental disease, then they would be sent to a state mental hospital for an indefinite amount of time.

Meanwhile, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the two girls. According to the Journal Sentinel, the girls did not speak on their own behalf because “the judge has not yet issued his written order denying their effort to have their cases transferred to juvenile court and their attorneys continue to object to the adult jurisdiction.”

The judge also set the Slender Man case’s trial date to October 15, 2015. But if the girls raise an insanity defense then the Slender Man case may not be ready for trial.

[Image via B98]