In May of 2014, two young girls lured their friend out to the woods during a game of hide-and-seek, and stabbed her 19 times, after claiming a fictional creature from the internet ordered them to do so. But once a cyclist came across the victim, clinging to life, the other girls’ plan veered off course. This is the story of Payton Leutner, also known, as the Slender Man stabbing.

BONUS EPISODES

Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398

Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast

CASE SOURCES

1. Creepypasta: https://www.creepypasta.com/slenderman/

2. ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mothers-teens-pleaded-guilty-slender-man-stabbing-case/story?id=52739807

3. Oprah: https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a29591703/slender-man-stabbing-true-story/

4. Good Morning America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFiJvVGzdpo

5. SourceFedNerd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKG81xQjPzc

6. The Game of Nerds: https://thegameofnerds.com/2017/11/24/the-slender-man-movie-from-photoshop-contest-entry-to-horror-film/

7. Beware the Slenderman: https://www.hulu.com/watch/2faf31a7-bee6-4357-aa18-8026fca1e2bb

8. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/waukesha/2021/04/15/slender-man-stabbing-anissa-weier-should-released-attorneys-say/7236515002/

9. Oxygen: https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/anissa-weier-to-be-released-from-mental-health-facility

10. The Cinemaholic: https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-the-survivor-payton-leutner-now/

11. KLTV: https://www.kltv.com/2021/09/14/slender-man-stabbing-victims-family-nervous-about-release/

12. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/archives/2020/09/02/slender-man-stabbing-timeline-geyser-weier-cases-wisconsin/3803170002/

13. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing/slender-man-creator-speaks-stabbing-i-am-deeply-saddened-n122781

14. New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/movies/slender-man-timeline.html

15. All That's Interesting: https://allthatsinteresting.com/payton-leutner#:~:text=Born%20in%202002%2C%20Payton%20Leutner,was%20often%20sitting%20by%20herself.

16. Criminal Minds: https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Anissa_Weier_and_Morgan_Geyser#:~:text=Geyser%20was%20born%20on%20May,grew%20up%20in%20Waukesha%2C%20Wisconsin.

17. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://archive.jsonline.com/news/crime/critical-hearing-in-slender-man-case-to-begin-today-b99520903z1-307851871.html

18. TMJ4: https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/waukesha-slender-man-stabbing-case-morgan-geyser-withdraws-petition-to-be-released

19. New York Magazine: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/08/slender-man-stabbing.html