Teen Who Stabbed Sleeping Nurse 21 Times Because ‘Murder Gives Me A High’ May Walk Free On Technicality

Pearl Moen, a teenager who, in her own diary, described herself as a “homicidal psychopath” after she stabbed a total stranger 21 times on an Austin, Texas, street in November of 2015, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars in January of this year.

But though 15 years may seem like a light sentence for the merciless, random attack on a nurse who had dozed off with her boyfriend in front of her own home, KXAN in Austin reported this week that Moen could now walk free — after just seven months of her sentence.

A technicality in Texas law mistakenly overlooked by the prosecutors in charge of the terrifying case makes Moen eligible for an early parole due to “good behavior.”

According to the case against her, Moen, who was then just 17-years-old, hid in some nearby bushes spying on the 23-year-old victim — who has been identified publicly only as “Katie” — and when the woman appeared to fall asleep while relaxing outside her home, Moen struck. She stabbed Katie 21 times, according to a KEYE report, causing extreme blood loss, a collapsed lung, and severe damage to Katie’s nerves and tendons.

Mug shot of the alleged Hyde Park Stabber is released. 18 yr old Pearl Moen is charged with attempted murder. pic.twitter.com/IaPNS0STZg

— Frank Volpicella (@FrankV_CBS46) March 4, 2016

Luckily, and with the aid of her doctors, the victim survived the attack. But she is now urging members of the public to write letters to the parole board protesting Moen’s possible early release.

“I felt as though I deserved at least five years of not having to think about this,” Katie told KXAN. “People make mistakes and sometimes you think logic is going to overrule. I don’t understand how attempted murder is not seen as a serious crime.”

Making the horrific attack even more frightening, Moen was not only unrepentant about the shocking crime, she celebrated it. She kept a journal in which she described the attack, and her elation over her belief that she had killed Katie.

“I stabbed an innocent woman to death earlier today….It was absolutely fantastic. Murder gives me a high unlike any other. It feels like this crisp unreality, flashing and sparkling, adrenaline and shock, fight or flight mode.”

In the diary she also gave what passed in her mind as a motive for the brutal, random attack, describing herself as a “homicdal psychopath” and adding, “I have a deep hatred towards people right now.” She also complained that she had lost a gold ring she had treasured because, “it was ripped off by a girl I was murdering. Fate is weird.” Police found the gold ring at the scene of the bloody assault. Moen also drew pictures of the stabbing.

Watch a KXAN report on the chance that Moen could now be freed due to a technicality, in the video below.

With no apparent motive or connection between the victim and attacker, police went months without a suspect. But they finally got a break in the case when Moen’s own mother called police after she had a violent altercation with her teen daughter, one in which Moen kicked her mom in the head.

The mom told police that Moen had earlier made jokes about the attack, and Moen’s own boyfriend told investigators that she had made comments in which she talked about committing a murder in November of 2015, according to a KXAN report.

Austin nurse stabbed 21 times in Hyde Park speaks with FOX 7 https://t.co/h7VOXDTGnQ

— Austin Now (@Austin_CP) January 22, 2017

Moen is now eligible for parole because prosecutors charged her with “attempted murder,” the charge for which she was convicted. But under Texas law, attempted murder is not classified as a “3G” offense — a category which requires that a convicted offender serve at least half of her total sentence in prison.

Prosecutors under a plea agreement dropped a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, which would have been a 3G offense, apparently unaware that the remaining attempted murder charge would make Moen eligible for parole after less than a year, due to credit for her good behavior in prison.

[Featured Image by By Nutthaseth Van/Shutterstock] [Note: Image is stock photo of posed model]