WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN – Last year, two twelve year old Wisconsin girls reportedly lured another twelve year old into the forest and stabbed her 19 times, leaving her to die. Both girls were obsessed with the fictional internet character Slender Man and believed that they must kill the third girl, Payton Leutner, in order to appease Slender Man and keep him from harming them and their families.

 Morgan Geyser (left) and Anissa Weier (right) were arrested by police along I-94 in Waukesha on their way to the Nicolet National Forest, where both believed they would meet up with Slender Man in his mansion after they completed the killing and became his “proxies”. A five inch blade was found in Weier’s backpack.

 Next month, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge will rule whether the two will be tried as adults or as juveniles. As adults, they could face up to 65 years in prison. Currently, they have both been charged with first degree attempted murder as adults, but that is subject to change.

 Geyser and Weier were  obsessed with Slender Man after discovering him on Creepypasta Wiki, a horror website boasting urban myths and short stories that are meant to scare readers. They decided to appease him and become his “proxies”, saying that in order to do so, it was necessary to kill their friend. During an interrogation, one girl said that their plans to kill Leutner began as early as December 2013.

After months of planning, Geyser and Weier took their chance at a sleepover at Geyser’s house. In the morning after several unsuccessful plans they did not carry out, they lured Leutner into a wooded area by convincing her they were going to be playing hide and seek. According to the criminal report, it was Geyser who carried out the stabbing. However, both girls turned against each other when interrogated, stating it was the other who did it. Geyser reported that she did not feel remorse.

 They additionally voiced two main motives, both quite different from the other. One girl said: “I was excited because I wanted proof that he existed because there were a bunch of skeptics out there saying he didn’t exist”, but the other was reported saying, “I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t … I didn’t want to find out what would happen if we didn’t.”

Leutner was stabbed 19 times, bearing wounds that were extremely life threatening. During the attack, she reportedly screamed phrases such as “I hate you!” and “I trusted you!”. Geyser and Weier allegedly told the girl they were going to get help after the attack, and then left her alone in the woods.  She eventually crawled out and was discovered by a bicyclist; then rushed to the hospital. She has since recovered and has been attending school.