MADISON — The Latest on the mental competency trial of a teen accused of stabbing a classmate to appease a fictional horror character called Slender Man (all times local):
10:10 a.m.
The defense attorney for a Wisconsin girl accused of helping stab a classmate to please the fictional horror character Slender Man says she was under the “command and control” of a delusional disorder.
Joseph Smith told jurors Tuesday that Anissa Weier’s “broken mind” caused her to lose touch with reality and participate in the stabbing of Payton Leutner at a Waukesha park in 2014. The defense contends Weier is not guilty because she was mentally ill. If jurors agree, Weier would be sent to a mental health facility instead of prison.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Osborne said Weier and co-defendant Morgan Geyser knew what they were doing was wrong. Osborne says the initial plan was for Weier to stab Leutner, but she couldn’t do it and instead commanded Geyser to do the stabbing.
The girls were 12 at the time.
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8:55 a.m.
A mental competency trial has started in Wisconsin for a teenager accused of stabbing a classmate to appease a fictional horror character called Slender Man. Attorneys are presenting their opening statements to jurors Tuesday in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
Fifteen-year-old Anissa Weier has admitted to participating in the attack on Payton Leutner at a park in Waukesha in 2014. But, Weier says she’s not guilty because of her mental illness at the time. Another girl, Morgan Geyser, is also accused in the attack. The girls were 12 at the time.
If jurors agree Weier was mentally ill at the time, she would be sent to a mental health facility for at least three years. If jurors reject Weier’s defense, she could go to prison for 10 years or more.
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12:15 a.m.
A jury in Wisconsin will begin hearing testimony at a trial to decide the mental competency of a girl accused of stabbing a classmate to please a fictional horror character known as Slender Man.
Anissa Weier (ah-NEE’-sah WY’-ur) was just 12 when prosecutors say she and another girl carried out the attack at a park in suburban Milwaukee in 2014. Their classmate survived.
Weier, now 15, has admitted a role in the stabbing but pleaded not guilty due to mental illness. If a jury agrees, she’ll spend at least three years committed to a mental hospital.
If not, she faces a much longer sentence in prison.
Twelve jurors and four alternates were chosen Monday, and opening statements are scheduled Tuesday.