slenderman stabbings
on May 31, 2014 two 12 year old's lured their friend Payton (Bella) Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times.
Before the stabbing
Morgan Geyser and the victim Payton Isabella Leutner (went by Bella at the time) were childhood best friends. Bella said she befriended Morgan in grade 4 because Morgan seemed to have none. Morgan had an obsession with creepypasta especially slenderman Bella on the other hand, didn't like slenderman or horror stories and said she was scared of it.
They would later make friends with Anissa Weier. Morgan and Anissa happened to live in the same apartment building causing the girls to grow very close quickly. Bella said she did not like Anissa and that Anissa was openly rude/mean to Bella. She stated that she only hung out with her because of Morgan, Anissa seemingly was jealous of their longterm friendship.
Both Anissa and Morgan believed that slenderman was real. Morgan was stated to have schizophrenia and had supposedly talked to slenderman and various other fictional characters. Anissa told Morgan she once saw slenderman and that it meant that he put a mark on her.
Planning
The girls had planned the killing of their friends as a way to prove slenderman was real but later told the police it was because slenderman was going to hurt their family unless they scarified Bella.
Both Anissa and Morgan believed that by killing their friend they would become proxies to slenderman and he would invite them to his mansion which they referred to as "slender mansion"
They originally planned to take Bella out shopping before to give her a "great last day" then go back for a sleepover. One of them would then attack her while sleeping then they would leave for slender mansion. They did end up taking her shopping but found they were too tired and decided to postpone it till the morning.
When they woke up they had breakfast and the girls made the new plan of going to a near by park and attacking her in the bathroom. They picked the park bathroom due to the drain on floor for the blood to wash away. They eventually abandoned that plan due to Anissa's inability to knock out Bella.
The stabbing
They switched to playing hide and seek, telling Bella that Morgan will be the seeker and she would go with Anissa. Bella agreed and was lead into the forest area. Anissa told Bella to lay down and she would put twigs and leaves over her. Bella refused saying she wasn't going to lay in the mud and bugs, which annoyed Anissa who left to go get Morgan.
When they came back Anissa told Morgan to do it and Morgan proceeded to stab Bella with a 5 inch (12cm) kitchen knife. Morgan stabbed her friend 19 times in the torso, arms and legs. she was cut in her liver, stomach and other major organs.
When it was done the girls told Bella to wait and they will go call for help, Bella knew they weren't going to so she got up using the branches for support and walked to a grassy patch. she happened to fall on top of a path a local cyclist took, the man came across Bella and called 911
Bella was rushed to the hospital and given emergency surgery that lasted 6 hours which she survived. The girls were found walking on interstate 94 5 hours later having walked 4.9 miles (7.9km). The police found the weapon in one of their bags. They told the police they were walking to "slender mansion" in Chequamegon-Nicolet national forest which was 200 miles away.
Charges and Sentencing
The girls were put in confinement awaiting trials and given psychological evaluations where Morgan was diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia. They were both tried as adult due to the severity of the crime.
Anissa was charged with attempted second degree homicide she pleaded guilty but was later found not guilty by mental disease or defect by a jury. in 2021 at 19 years old she sent a letter to a judge stating she was sorry and deeply regretted her actions. She was then granted communal confinement where was given an 24 hour ankle monitor and sent to live with her father. in 2023 the ankle monitor was waived.
Anissa
Morgan was charged with attempted first degree homicide she took a plea deal to not undergo trial and pleaded guilty by default. She was later found not guilty due to mental disease or defect. That was due to her diagnoses of early onset schizophrenia. She was given the maximum years of 40 years in a state forensic psychiatric institute. in 2025 Morgan was transferred to a new institution where she cut off her monitor and escaped. She was found 200 miles away on interstate 57 sleeping at a gas station with another person. Morgan was taken back and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections sought out to revoke her conditional release.
Morgan outside the gas station.
