On May 30, 2014, three twelve year old girls, Morgan Geyser, Anissa Weier, and Payton Leutner, decided to have a sleepover for Morgan’s birthday. The next morning, Anissa and Morgan tricked Payton into going with them to David’s park to bird watch and play hide-and-seek where the two girls attacked their friend, Payton, stabbing her 19 times. They believed if they didn’t kill her, Slenderman would kill their families, and if they did kill her, they could live with Slenderman in his mansion where they would move up in rank. Mental illness coupled with the ages of the girls made for a vicious attack that they blamed on their belief in Slenderman.

Sources:

Janes, DeAnna. (2019, October 25). The Complete Timeline and True Story Behind the Slender man Stabbing. The Oprah Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a29591703/slender-man-stabbing-true-story/

Biggs, John. (2014, June 30). The Story of Slenderman, The Internet's Own Monster. TechCrunch. Retrieved from: https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/30/the-story-of-slenderman-the-internets-own-monster/

Jensen, Erin. (2017, January 24). 'Beware the Slenderman' : 7 Things We Learned about Morgan Geyser, Anissa Weier. USA Today. Retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/01/24/beware-the-slenderman-documentary-morgan-geyser-anissa-weier/96977142/

Sanchick, Myra. (2014, June 4). "She was cool until 4th Grade:" Classmate Talks about 12-year old stabbing suspect. Fox 6 News. Retrieved from: https://fox6now.com/2014/06/04/she-was-cool-until-4th-grade-classmate-talks-about-stabbing-suspect/

Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier Police Interviews Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbP1wUx8mYw Crime Vault.

Bicyclist's 911 call: 'She was stabbed multiple times' video: https://youtu.be/b90ILO04DRY