Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser attempted to take the life of their classmate in what they believed would save their families from the Slender Man. Weier is now found not guilty by reason of insanity.
The real monsters are the ones in our minds that make us become like them. The case of Anisa Weier is one that gave true life to the fictional Slender Man when she and Morgan Geyser decided to sacrifice their classmate (all aged 12) to appease the demon’s wrath.
Convinced by the story of the existence of the Slender Man, these two girls started fearing for their and the lives of their families and decided to take the ‘appropriate’ steps to become his servants rather than his victims.
So, in 2014, they lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, into the woods at a park in Waukesha, Milwaukee, and stabbed her 19 times under the urging of Weier. Found by a passing bicyclist, Leutner barely survived the wounds.
Now, 3 years later, after 11 hours of deliberation, the jury found Weier not guilty by reason of insanity. She will be commissioned in a mental institution for a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 25 years.
The sentence awaits on a pre-commitment investigation report after which judge Michael Bohren will decide on the length during a hearing.
Defense attorney McMahon attributes Weier’s descent into “madness” to loneliness and depression caused by her parents’ divorce. In this state, she latched onto her friend Morgan, and they together started obsessing over the story of the Slender Man as a way to escape the reality they were facing.
“This sounds crazy, because it is,” McMahon said. “This was a real being to this child and she needed to protect those around her. At 12 years old, she had no way to protect herself from (Slender Man) except for Morgan’s advice and they swirled down into madness together.”
The prosecution, however, offers a different perspective to the case discussing the fact that it took 4 months of premeditation before the girls committed the attempted murder. Szczupakiewicz’s argument is that if the girls were so afraid, it was illogical to wait so long before attacking Leutner.
“It comes down to did she have to or did she want to?” Szczupakiewicz said. “It wasn’t kill or be killed. It was a choice and she needs to be held criminally responsible.”
Morgan Geyser awaits her trial on October 9. She has pleaded not guilty to the count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide by reason of mental disease or defect.
Source: CBS New York
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