commentary by Patrick H. Moore
We all know that children are highly impressionable. Therefore, it stands to reason that their interactions should be monitored to a reasonable degree. This is especially true when it comes to who their friends are and what websites they habitually visit. Of course, monitoring your child’s social interactions and internet activity is no easy task; in fact, it may be virtually impossible unless a parent(s) is willing to spend a great deal of time playing kid cop, which is not much fun.
And with respect to websites, even though your child may be staying away from inappropriate internet sites, serious problems can and sometimes do arise if your child’s friends are “haunting” websites where impressionable children probably should not venture.
This is exactly what happened this past weekend in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee, WI, where two 12-year-old girls, in a case that is at least superficially similar to the Skylar Neese matter, stabbed their “best friend” 19 times. One of the knife wounds came within a millimeter (centimeter?) of her heart, and had it been an iota deeper, it would almost certainly have killed her. The authorities were alerted that something was very rotten in Waukesha when a bicyclist found the wounded victim barely alive Saturday, lying on a sidewalk in the city of Waukesha. According to Police Chief Russell Jack , the unidentified 12-year-old was in stable condition at a hospital on Monday.
Todd Richmond of the AP reports that it all began when the two 12-year-old perpetrators, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, came across a horror website called Creepypasta Wiki, which features a mythological demon-like character named Slender Man. According to the website, if a follower of Slender Man takes the big step of killing someone, he or she can become his “proxies”and he will then accept them and let them live with him in his mansion in the Nicolet National Forest.
Therefore, the girls decided their best hope of being accepted into Slender Man’s domain was to murder their 12-year-old pal, thus fulfilling their warlock’s evil requirement for admission to his private club.
Their plan was to run away to the demon’s forest mansion after the slaying.
An endeavor of this magnitude requires careful planning, and according to the criminal complaint, the suspects had been mulling over various plans of attack since February.
Initially, they thought they would kill their “friend” by placing duct tape over her mouth while she was sleeping, prior to stabbing her in the neck.
They then decided to discard Plan #1, thinking it would be easier to kill her in a bathroom in one of their houses where there was floor drain which would expedite the cleanup process.
They ultimately also discarded this plan and decided to “do in” their friend in a park while playing hide-and-seek.
The alleged perpetrators attended the same middle school as the victim, and in order to carry out their plan, arranged to have a sleepover at the home of one of the suspects on Friday night.
It’s somewhat unclear when precisely the attack occurred, but occur it did. The police complaint reads:
“As they left for the park … (the victim) was walking in front of them and Geyser lifted up the left side of her white jacket and displayed the knife tucked in her waistband. Weier stated she gave Geyser a look with wide eyes and, when asked what that meant Weier stated, ‘I thought, dear god, this was really happening.’”
The suspects then proceeded to push the victim to the ground. One of them held the victim down while the other did the blade work.
The suspects then apparently left the victim to crawl to her own rescue, although it’s not clear whether they thought she was still alive.
Showing remarkable courage, the victim somehow managed to drag herself out of the park and onto a Waukesha sidewalk, where she was discovered by a passing bicyclist whom she told:
“Please help me. I’ve been stabbed.” The bicyclist recounted that she was in extreme pain and could only answer questions with yes or no.
After the crime was reported, the authorities searched for Weier and Geyser and found them walking near Interstate 94.
Police Chief Jack declined to say whether the suspects had blood on their clothes, but did state, “There was evidence that was readily apparent when the two were taken into custody.”
That evidence reportedly included a large kitchen knife inside a purse which Geyser identified as one of her mother’s old purses.
According to the complaint, both girls were willing to speak openly to the police.
Although some of the victim’s major organs were pierced, the wound that would have killed her, had it been an iota deeper, was the stab wound near her heart.
The two suspects are being held on preliminary charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. They are being charged as adults and appeared in court on Monday. Their bail was set at $500,000 for each child.
The children appeared in court wearing shackles and jail jumpsuits, surrounded by sheriff’s bailiffs, who towered over them. The family members of the two girls responded very differently to the proceedings. One group wept openly as reporters snapped photographs; the other girl’s family sat stone-faced.
Impressionable Girls
One of the girls reported that she sees Slender Man in her dreams. She explained that he watches her and can read her mind as well as teleport.
“It’s extremely disturbing as a parent and as chief of police,” said Police Chief Jack at a news conference prior to the Monday court appearances.
“I recognize their young ages but it’s still unbelievable,” Court Commissioner Thomas Pieper said during their court appearances.
Charging Decisions
The two perpetrators have done a truly awful thing and I can’t help but wonder if they were aware that their actions, complete with the extensive planning, were quite similar to what Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy did to Skylar Neese. Of course, given that they were influenced mightily by the Slender Man figure, this might not be the case.
In closing, I must insist that these two girls are too young to be tried as adults. They need help and plenty of it, but society MUST find a way to punish them appropriately without discarding them in the dustbin of ruined lives.
Update:
Although the doctors’ reports have not yet been made public, attorneys for 12-yar-old Morgan Geyser stated on Wednesday, July 2nd, that a doctor for the state of Wisconsin and a doctor hired by the girl’s defense both agree that she is not mentally competent to stand trial.
Prosecutors have asked for further evaluation and a hearing on the matter, and the judge has agreed.
“We think it’s appropriate for this case to be handled in children’s court. So, this is all part of that process — looking at her mental health, looking at her functioning, competency,” Morgan Geyser’s attorney Anthony Cotton said.
12-year-old Anissa Weier also appeared in court, during which time her attorneys asked for 30 days to review discovery materials presented by prosecutors.
Weier’s attorney says competency is an issue that will come up later with his client.
“At this point, we are not raising the competency issue. We do believe competency is an issue. We’re dealing with a 12-year-old child,” Weier’s attorney said.
It is unclear why Morgan Geyser’s attorneys moved forward rapidly and requested a competency hearing while Anissa Weier’s lawyers are moving at a more deliberate pace.