‘Slender Man’ stabbing suspects, 12, deemed fit to stand trial

A pair of 12-year-old girls charged with trying to kill a classmate in a twisted ploy to appease a fictitious monstrosity known as “Slender Man” have been found competent to stand trial, a Wisconsin judge ruled Thursday.

Annisa Weier and Morgan Geyser will now face attempted murder charges for the May 31 attack in Waukesha, Wis. Weier and Geyser allegedly lured a classmate into the woods to play hide-and-seek and then stabbed her more than a dozen times.

The victim, whose identity has been withheld, was rescued by a passing cyclist and has been recovering slowly since the attack.

Waukesha Deputy Dist. Atty. Sue Opper told the Los Angeles Times that Judge Michael Bohren found Weier and Geyser competent to stand trial during separate hearings on Thursday morning and afternoon.

The case will now move toward a preliminary hearing, scheduled for February, Opper said.

The girls were apparently trying to appease the “Slender Man,” a rail-thin Internet bogeyman often seen in a shroud of black tendrils, and believed they could run away and live with the creature if they slaughtered their classmate.

Ruling at the end of a three-hour hearing Thursday morning, Bohren said a state psychiatrist determined Weier can assist in her own defense, according to the Associated Press.

“I’m satisfied that the issues of age and maturity do not override her competency,” Bohren said. “She’s competent to make the decisions that have to be made.”

Weier’s attorney, public defender Joseph Smith, claims to have a report from a separate psychiatrist disputing the state doctor’s report, but those documents have not been made public, according to the Associated Press.

Calls to Smith seeking comment were not immediately returned. Geyser’s attorney did not contest the findings of a state psychiatrist, according to Opper.

Geyser was ruled unfit to stand trial in August, but under Wisconsin law she was to be subject to evaluations every three months. If a doctor finds evidence that she can assist in her own defense, she may still stand trial at a later date.

The girls have been charged as adults. Defense attorneys for both girls have been trying to move the case to family court, but those attempts have failed.

Calls to Geyser’s attorney, Anthony Cotton, were not immediately returned.

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