Slender Man Update: Two 13-Year-Old Girls Plead Not Guilty To Attempted Murder

The two 13-year-old girls being charged as adults in the Slender Man case have entered pleas of not guilty.

Morgan Geyser And Anissa Weier Plead Not Guilty In Slenderman Case

The two girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, are accused of stabbing their friend 19 times in an attempted murder, allegedly committed so that the girls could go live with Slender Man, a fictional horror character who abducts and kills children. According to police reports, the girls, who were 12 at the time of the attempted murder, lured victim Payton Leutner out into the forest after a sleepover and then attacked, leaving her for dead. They believed that the stabbing of Leutner would prove their devotion to the Slender Man, and that the Slender Man would invite them into his family. Leutner was discovered on the side of the road, severely injured with 19 separate stab wounds, and the girls were apprehended soon after. Leutner survived, and is currently awaiting the beginning of a new school year.

The attack, which took place in Wisconsin in 2014, resulted in the two minors being charged as adults, despite their age and claims by their defense attorneys that they suffered from mental illnesses. Geyser and Weier stand accused of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

On Friday, Judge Michael Bohren entered pleas of not guilty on the behalf of the two accused, and announced that they would stand trial beginning Oct. 15. Defense attorneys for the girls remain adamant that their cases should not be tried in an adult court, but Judge Bohren refuted their claims. Attorneys for Geyser have suggested that they may still enter a plea of not guilty due to reason of mental disease or defect, as Geyser was recently diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia.