Judge Allows Confessions In Slender Man Stabbing Case
A judge ruled Monday that confessions made to police will be admissible against one of the two girls charged with trying to kill their sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional character Slender Man in 2014. Circuit Judge Michael Bohren also said that jurors from Waukesha County will hear the case when it finally goes to trial, now set for October — 3 1/2 years after the crime.
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 when they were charged as adults with the attempted first-degree intentional homicide of Payton Leutner, who was stabbed 19 times and left to die near a Waukesha park before she was found by a passing bicyclist. After several surgeries, Leutner recovered and was able to start seventh grade on time that fall.
Arrested later the same day, the girls told detectives how they had plotted the attack because they believed Slender Man, an internet boogeyman, would harm them or their families if they did kill their friend.
Each has now argued that they were too young to fully understand and give up their rights to remain silent or consult an attorney and that the statements should not be allowed as evidence against them at trial. Geyser's attorney argued that in addition to her young age Geyser was suffering from untreated early onset schizophrenia, a condition discovered months later while doctors evaluated her competency to understand the charges against her and assist in her own defense.
Announcing his decision from the bench, Bohren said the totality of the circumstances suggested that in each of three incidents, Geyser understood and knowingly made incriminating statements. Regarding one instance where Geyser's attorney had questioned the way a sheriff's lieutenant read Geyser her rights, Bohren said the state has long said "substance controls over form" in determining the properness of the so-called Miranda warning.
