12-Year-Old Girls Charged as Adults for Stabbing Friend 19 Times; They Wanted to Prove 'Slenderman' Exists, Say Police
Two 12-year-old girls have been arrested after luring a friend, also 12, into the woods in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and stabbing her 19 times. The girls wanted to prove that a mythological creature known as "Slenderman" truly existed.
A bicyclist found the wounded girl alive on Saturday; she was lying on a sidewalk and in bad condition. The bystander helped get her to a local hospital, where she is currently in stable condition and expected to recover. It's fortunate that the victim survived the attack, given that the two friends had allegedly been planning to kill her since February.
The attackers, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, were arrested and charged as adults. Their bail has been set at $500,000; Geyser is still being held at a juvenile facility for girls. Geyser and Weier were charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide. If they are found guilty, they could face 65 years in prison.
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"Both suspects had a fascination with a fictitious character that often posted" to websites with stories about horror and death, the local police chief said at a news conference. Slenderman is the "leader" of a website and only by murdering someone is one allowed to be in his world. He is a popular character who often appears in various horror stories and videos, CNN reported.
According to the criminal complaint, Geyser and Weier had been planning their victim's death for quite some time. They originally thought to kill her by placing duct tape over her mouth while she slept and then stabbing her in the neck. Then they thought to kill her in the bathroom, where there would be a drain to dispose of the blood. They finally settled on killing her in the woods during a game of hide-and-seek.
"As they left for the park… (the victim) was walking in front of them and Geyser lifted up the left side of her white jacket and displayed the knife tucked in her waistband. Weier stated she gave Geyser a look with wide eyes and, when asked what that meant, Weier stated, 'I thought, dear god, this was really happening,'" the official paperwork stated.
"It's extremely disturbing as a parent and as chief of police," Russell Jack told the media. "Incredibly and thankfully, the victim survived this brutal assault."
