Slender Man trial: Two 12-year-old girls repeatedly stabbed friend 'to please' fictional online character
Court in Wisconsin to decide whether girls will be tried as adults or children
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Your support makes all the difference.Two teenage girls repeatedly stabbed their friend after becoming convinced they were pleasing the fictional online character Slender Man, a court in the US has been told.
A hearing in Wisconsin into the notorious assault on Peyton Leutner was shown a notebook belonging to one of the girls which contained macabre hand-drawn sketches, one of which showed a young girl with a scythe standing over a dead girl and a caption that read “I love killing people”.
The court was also shown a mutilated Barbie doll belonging to the same girl on which the hair and limbs cut and satanic makings had been scribbled on the doll’s chest.
The two girls are accused of luring their friend a park in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha on 31 May and stabbing her 19 times. Ms Leutner barely survived the attack and one stab wound narrowly missed her heart.
This week, Anthony Cotton, a lawyer for one of the two girls tried to persuade the judge to move the case to a juvenile court. He said his client was mentally disturbed and genuinely believed she had to kill her friend to protect her family, the Associated Press reported.
Taking the stand on Tuesday during the second day of the preliminary hearing, psychologist Deborah Collins testified that she has interviewed the girl several times and concluded that she believed Slender Man was real.
“[Her belief] hasn’t wavered and it’s been unyielding to a rational perspective,” Ms Collins testified. She told the court that the girl told her she also used Vulcan mind control to keep depression at bay – a theme from the Star Wars shows - and believed the Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort visits her.
A private detective working for the defence testified he discovered more than 60 drawings of Slender Man in the girl’s bedroom, the Associated Press said. Many of the sketches included notes such as “not safe even in your house” and “he is here always”.
Documents filed to the court reveal the two girls told detectives they had been planning to kill their friend. The alleged attackers were found walking toward Nicolet national forest, where they say they thought they would join Slender Man.
The two girls face charges of attempted murder. If they are convicted in an adult court they could be jailed for 65 years.
The judge said he would decide where the hearing should be heard by March 13.
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