A jury has been selected to decide the mental competency of a girl accused of stabbing a classmate in 2014 to please a fictional horror character known as Slender Man.
Anissa Weier, 15, has pleaded not guilty due to mental illness in a stabbing that nearly took the life of classmate Payton Leutner at a park in Waukesha, Wisconsin when the girls were aged 12.
She appeared at at Waukesha County Courthouse on Monday for the jury selection in the case.
Prosecutors allege she and Geyser stabbed their classmate 19 times in a Waukesha park and left her for dead following a sleepover on Memorial Day 2014.
The two teens then allegedly planned to walk hundreds of miles north to meet Slender Man in a forest.
A jury has been selected to decide the mental competency of, Anissa Weeier (above on Monday), a girl accused of stabbing a classmate in 2014 to please a fictional horror character known as Slender Man
Weier (above on Monday), 15, has pleaded not guilty due to mental illness in a stabbing that nearly took the life of classmate Payton Leutner at a park in Waukesha, Wisconsin when the girls were aged 12
Prosecutors allege she and Geyser stabbed their classmate 19 times in a Waukesha park and left her for dead following a sleepover on Memorial Day 2014.
The two teens then allegedly planned to walk hundreds of miles north to meet Slender Man in a forest.
Leutner managed to crawl out of the woods to a path where she was found by a bicyclist with stab wounds to her chest, abdomen and arms.
Doctors later stated that the knife passed less than a millimeter from a major artery, leaving Payton ‘the width of a human hair’ away from death.
Prosecutors allege Weier (above on Monday) and Geyser stabbed their classmate 19 times in a Waukesha park and left her for dead following a sleepover on Memorial Day 2014
When Weier was arrested, she told investigators that ‘Slender Man’ told her to carry out the attack. She was just 12 years told at the time.
Weier was originally charged as an adult with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, but she agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge last month.
In the plea deal, Weier will serve 10 years in prison if she’s found not to have been mentally ill.
But a judge could sentence her to as many as 25 years behind bars.
When Weier (above left on Monday) was arrested, she told investigators that ‘Slender Man’ told her to carry out the attack. She was just 12 years told at the time
If she’s found to have been mentally ill, she would be committed to a mental hospital for at least three years.
On Monday a pool of 12 jurors and four alternates were selected from a group of 150 potential jurors within six and a half hours.
Those selected will be sequestered by Monday evening as Weier’s trial is set to begin on Tuesday morning.
Weier has been behind bars since May 2014, while Geyser was moved to a mental health facility in March last year.
A second classmate, Morgan Geyser, will go on trial next month, as her attorney told WISN that they are trying to negotiate a plea deal similar to what Weier received.
WHO IS SLENDER MAN?
Unnerving: The Slender Man with one of his ‘chosen victims’ as depicted in a popular online meme
The Slender Man is a fictional character prevalent on the internet after originating as a meme in 2009.
The mythical creature is often depicted as an unnaturally tall, thin figure with a blank, featureless face, wearing a black suit.
The character is said to have long, tentacle-like arms, which can be extended to capture prey.
It is said to stalk, abduct and traumatize children and, depending on interpretations of the myth, can cause memory loss, insomnia and paranoia.
It is also said to be able to create distortions in photographs and teleport.
It is understood to have originated in a Photoshop contest on the Something Awful Forums in 2009.
It then went viral with numerous works of fan art and short scary stories published online known as ‘creepypasta’.
The character has developed its own life online, with two feature-length films funded in part by Kickstarter appearing in 2012.
The meme that appears most is that of a tall malevolent figure, who silently stalks down his prey.