GUILTY WI - 12-Year-Old Girls Stab Friend 19 Times for Slenderman, Waukesha, 31 May 2014 #2

[Zuri]

What about the other girl, Anissa, who was arrested? I haven't read anything about her mental state and may have missed it trying to catch up. So will these girls be tried together or separately? TIA

 

[blefuscu]

What about the other girl, Anissa, who was arrested? I haven't read anything about her mental state and may have missed it trying to catch up. So will these girls be tried together or separately? TIA

I really don't know. They will be arraigned on the 21st August.

 

[seattlechiquita]

What about the other girl, Anissa, who was arrested? I haven't read anything about her mental state and may have missed it trying to catch up. So will these girls be tried together or separately? TIA

I don't believe she has either claimed nor proven any mental disease/defect/diagnosis. I don't know much about her, but I do wonder: what kind of person goes on with a plan like this if they are not psychotic/otherwise impaired? Lots remains to be known.

 

[Mickie Mouse]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...an-stabbing-case/ar-BBlXHl7?ocid=ansmsnnews11

 

[blefuscu]

This case just makes me so sad

 

[JLSChook]

Is there a thread here for the actual VICTIM in this case? If so, could someone link it please? Thanks.

 

[ICS]

This case just makes me so sad

It is sad - on many levels.

MG is the central figure in this story due to her diagnosis of schizophrenia, an illness from which her father suffered from his mid-teens. MG's

schizophrenia is unusual because of its early onset. There is no question that MG's diagnosis is real, not an attempt to avoid prosecution.

MG had been considered "weird" by classmates for some years. So why wasn't this noticed? Most weird kids will be teased and bullied, but this did not

appear to be the case for MG. In fact, her classmates found her behavior scary and left her alone. By MG's admission, her only friend for years had been

the victim... until AW arrived.

AW started attending the same middle school as MG and the victim. AW lived only a few dozen yards from MG. They shared the school bus. AW's parents had

divorced two years previously - she was living with her father and younger brother. AW's mother did not live in the same city. Her older step-siblings -

whom she appeared to get on with well - lived with their mother who tragically passed away from cancer earlier in 2014, after a long battle. As a result,

It's possible that AW, intelligent and well behaved, faded into the background amidst other family issues. She was a fan of fantasy of all kinds. If

anything, the horror genre was not a prominent one according to her online activity. Allegedly, she was having a hard time fitting in at middle school -

its not clear that she particular friends other than MG, and the victim whom she came to know as a result. According to classmates, the victim was still

MG's preferred friend, the one she ate lunch with.

The vitim is unusual because even in the face of MG's behavior and the fact that the girl had no other friends, she stuck with her. This loyalty

continued even after MG's behavior became controlling, and MG and AW were becoming agressive. The victim retained a naive belief that she would be able

to fix things, and was evidently delighted to be attending the sleepover. It's clear that MG recognized this naivete or gullibility and made use of it.

Supposedly, AW introduced MG to the Creepy Pasta stories on the Internet, where she came across Slender Man. MG was obviously interested in these stories

, which formed the basis of their bond. The friendship between MG and the victim on the other hand was more in keeping with their age including American

Girl dolls. The victim had no interest in Creepy Pasta - the stories terrified her. She asked MG to stop sharing them with her. Their relationship was

severely eroded as a result, and MG apparently began to treat her with some contempt. It may well be that the rejection of MG's primary interest by the

victim was how she became the victim.

AW must have been desperate to have and retain a friend. Her desperation was so great that rather than risking its loss by rejecting MG's suggestion, she

went along with it. This was January 2014. AW's online postings didn't seem to change - right up until the attack - suggesting that she was not really

thinking about it. She didn't really think (or was at least hoping) that it would all blow over. Meanwhile, it was an addictive game in which she played

her part in the planning and research. There is also some evidence to suggest that AW may have been frightened of MG. She may have wondered whether she

herself might become the victim... and MG only lived a couple of streets away. And all this time, noone, not parents, not the school, nor friends noticed

anything sufficiently amiss to raise alarms.

From the evidence found in her bedroom and school locker, MG's illness must have become significantly worse in the time since she learne dof Slender Man.

MG is not likely to have realized MG was very sick, attributing her descriptive and convincing delusions to macabre imagination, something she herself

shared. The difference was that for MG, this was reality, not a game that was going to stop short of actually causing harm.

I think that for AW, there should be considerable focus on the effect that MG's illness had on her own psyche from the time the plan was suggested and the

attack. AW, after all, does not have a diagnosis of mental illness, and there is no history whatsoever of her being violent. But in the thrall of MG and

the gruesome "game", she did not take advantage of the numerous occasions when she could have stopped the attack, right up until the final moments.

I don't really think AW believed the Slender Man myth. Her stated goal, after all, was to see him so she would know he was real. MG, on the other hand,

saw him all the time so needed no such "proof". But to justify her actions in her mind, there would have to be an exceptional situation, one which she

thought might transcend conventional morality. If Slender Man did exist, what then? Could anyone be blamed for doing what she did? In her police

interview, AW did claim to have briefly seen Slender Man after the stabbing.

There are two tragedies. The first is that of the victim. She survived, but the mental scars will be with her forever. As well as reliving the horror

that happened in the woods... does she learn to trust again? The second tragedy is that none of this need have happened if MG's condition been recognized

from the symptoms that she had been exhibiting for some years prior to the accident. Taking a mallet to school and claiming she could do whatever she

wanted with it - at age 9 - should have been a red flag that would have at least resulted in counseling. Her strange, aloof behavior in middle school

including delusional assertions should have been another flag. Instead, she was just seen as "weird" and ignored.

In what way MG could be considered fit to stand trial beats me. In many states, we've made the decision that its easier to call children adults than

tackle the root cause of the reason they became involved in crime in the first place. This is seen as being "tough on crime", something that Judge Bohren

may believe will be his legacy. It will be.

 

[angelainwi]

This morning, a Waukesha judge agreed with a defense request to delay the trial until an appeals court decides whether to move the case from adult to juvenile court. 13-year-olds Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier are accused of stabbing a classmate 19 times to appease the fictional character "slender man."

The next court appearance was pushed all the way back to January 15.

http://www.cbs58.com/story/30156951/waukesha-judge-delays-slenderman-trial

 

[Rayemonde]

Magazine piece:
http://www.milwaukeemag.com/2016/01/04/in-the-woods-slender-man-saga-teaser/

 

[blefuscu]

Magazine piece:
http://www.milwaukeemag.com/2016/01/04/in-the-woods-slender-man-saga-teaser/

Oh dear. This is heartbreaking. MG is quite clearly a very poorly child. I find it very hard to apportion blame to someone who is this disturbed. I wonder how her parents didn't notice she was so ill? She obviously needs to be in this facility for her own, and others, safety. Punishment isn't needed in her case. She needs care and treatment to help her.

 

[Madeleine74]

I totally agree. There is a difference between someone who is just plain evil and someone who is mentally ill and suffers from paranoia or schizophrenia and commits an evil act based on being mentally ill.

Here's a good example of the difference:

Susan Smith: just plain evil

Andrea Yates: very mentally ill (well-documented years before she killed her children)

 

[LinasK]

Is there a thread here for the actual VICTIM in this case? If so, could someone link it please? Thanks.

This is an adult crime. No good reason, innocent victim. 1mm closer and Payton would have died according to the surgeon that operated on her heart. They were that close to severing her Carotid Artery and she would have had a heart attack and bled to death. There were also 19 stab wounds. This was intentional. They admitted on the interrogation tapes they wanted Payton to die. Please don't make excuses for these two vicious near-murderers. I don't want them back in society when they're only 25!!!

Payton is the only victim here, and the only minor in this case that I feel sorry for. Too much emphasis on the perps, and how they were only little girls and one of them mentally ill.

 

[Madeleine74]

Anyone who suffers from mental illness can also be a victim of that illness. It doesn't erase what they did, it doesn't ease the harm to the person who was attacked, and it doesn't mean they should get a "do over" in society. Society still needs to be protected from that perp and that is what usually happens. Acknowledging mental illness helps illuminate the 'why did s/he do that crime,' which is something many people want to know when a violent crime is committed.

 

[LinasK]

Anyone who suffers from mental illness can also be a victim of that illness. It doesn't erase what they did, it doesn't ease the harm to the person who was attacked, and it doesn't mean they should get a "do over" in society. Society still needs to be protected from that perp and that is what usually happens. Acknowledging mental illness helps illuminate the 'why did s/he do that crime,' which is something many people want to know when a violent crime is committed.

Morgan may well have mental illness, however I don't believe she was "insane" at the time she committed the crime. She knew right from wrong, as did Philip Chism who is also mentally ill- end of story in my book. Let her spend the rest of her adult life in a mental hospital as a fitting punishment for her very adult crime, unless it is determined that she gets cured, in which case she should be transferred to prison!

 

[Madeleine74]

Morgan may well have mental illness, however I don't believe she was "insane" at the time she committed the crime. She knew right from wrong, as did Philip Chism who is also mentally ill- end of story in my book. Let her spend the rest of her adult life in a mental hospital as a fitting punishment for her very adult crime, unless it is determined that she gets cured, in which case she should be transferred to prison!

Yes I agree she needs to be put away so society is safe from her. Whether that's a locked mental hospital or prison, she is a danger to others and maybe herself too. A locked mental ward might be the best place as she can be better monitored.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[angelainwi]

Supposed to be in court again today, but am having trouble finding out what time

 

[PastTense]

Morgan may well have mental illness, however I don't believe she was "insane" at the time she committed the crime. She knew right from wrong, as did Philip Chism who is also mentally ill- end of story in my book. Let her spend the rest of her adult life in a mental hospital as a fitting punishment for her very adult crime, unless it is determined that she gets cured, in which case she should be transferred to prison!

Life in prison for attempted murder is an excessive punishment for an adult--let alone for a child.

 

[LinasK]

Life in prison for attempted murder is an excessive punishment for an adult--let alone for a child.

So she should get a break because she was a bad murderer and missed killing her victim by 1mm??? I don't think so!:banghead::banghead::banghead::maddening:

 

[Madeleine74]

She'll be evaluated over the next couple of decades or so to determine if she poses a risk to society or not. Chances are she'll be locked away (perhaps in a hospital, like Andrea Yates) for a very long time. I'm not going to say she'll be locked away the rest of her life, but I doubt she'll be free anytime soon.

 

[angelainwi]

HBO releases poster for 'Slenderman' documentary

http://www.wisn.com/news/hbo-releases-poster-for-slenderman-documentary/38389656