20/20 - True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Interviews with key people connected to the 2014 case, in which two 12-year-olds stabbed their friend 19 times and left her for dead, in an effort to appease the mysterious fictional character known as Slender Man. Originally aired: 02/09/18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the True Crime Vault, home to 2020's most chilling stories. It was a Friday night in a small American town in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and it was a scene playing out like so many across the country. A small group of parents had said yes to a sleepover, a birthday party. Three 12-year-old girls were dropped off here at Skateland to begin the night. But what would happen over the next 24 hours would haunt three families to this very day. One of those 12-year-old girls, Peyton Lightner,

was stabbed 19 times and left for dead in the woods. And the entire scene was planned out by the other two girls. What were you trying to do with her when you stabbed her? Kill her. I might as well just say it, we were trying to kill her. Because it turns out there was someone else looming large at that birthday get together. A fictional character named Slenderman,

who they learned of on the internet. Those two 12 year old girls said they were doing this for him. Well, yeah, because he could be anywhere from six feet to 14 feet tall. He's constantly wearing a suit. He doesn't have a face. His skin is white. He can exploit these tendrils from his back and like strangle his victims. For more than three years now, 2020 has been documenting the three families nearly destroyed by the horror that played out during that

sleepover tonight right here what we never do before asking the questions how does this happen how to 12 year-old girls fall for a fictional character what would drive them to try to kill one of their own friends. And what should happen to those 2 girls now in Morgan just. Just 24 hours ago, a judge making the final decision. Hey thank you, please be seated. After what you're about to see play out right here tonight. Breaking news, a 12 year old girl is stabbed.

The girl was lured to the area by two of her classmates who allegedly stabbed her 19 times. The girls had hoped the attack would earn them a home in Slender Man's mansion. Slender Man is a fictional horror character. We have been there for the journey. Two different mothers now visiting their daughters locked up since they were 12. We try to visit at least once a week. On a week. I can get up there two or three times. Anissa was actually sent to the Washington County juvenile detention facility. Kristi Weier, her daughter, is Anissa. Most children are only up there for an average of four months

and she's been there almost three years. Angie Geyser's daughter Morgan, who came up with the plan and who held the knife. The children have no access to the outdoors or even windows to look out of. In the last 35 months, Anissa's maybe had 40 hours of fresh air and there is no physical contact. maybe had 40 hours of fresh air. There is no physical contact I can't wipe away a tear I can't

give her a hug. I can't kiss her. Their daughters are now teenagers, a nice it is 16 Morgan is 15. They have spent countless hours driving to visit their daughters locked up trying to wrap their heads around how they're too little girls just 12 years old at the time could have done something so unimaginable

and all of it began that Friday night. What was the plan for that night. On Friday nights, skate land had 3 pizza. So the girls went a little early and eat dinner and skated. And the third girl who was with them, Peyton Leitner, also just 12. Stacy and Joe Leitner remember their daughter had been looking forward to it for weeks. You remember how excited she was that Friday? Oh my gosh, she was so so excited. Do you think Peyton had any idea? No. She had absolutely no idea.

She was blindsided. Blindsided by what those two friends had in store, and they'd been planning it for months. After that night of skating, they would return to Morgan's house, Morgan's mother Angie, downstairs. They played up in Morgan's bedroom with Morgan's dolls. I mean, it was just a normal night.

And no sign that two were plotting against Peyton? No, no sign whatsoever. The next morning, Morgan asked if they could go to the park. How often would they go to the park? Well, we were actually, believe it or not, pretty strict parents and didn't let Morgan go out on her own very often. But you thought because she had her two friends, it would be safe?

Mm-hmm. The first sign anything is wrong, a police officer showing up at Angie's door. My heart dropped down into my stomach. Not only were there police in my living room, but they were wearing riot gear. Across town, officers are also arriving at Payton's house. Around the side of the house up over the deck came a uniformed officer.

The first thing that goes through my mind is something has happened to somebody that I love and they asked me where's Morgan? I said she's at the park with her friends. Angie Geyser says the police tell her that Morgan is missing. They think she may be hiding her daughter. They searched the house and I just kept asking, you know, what happened? What's going on? And they wouldn't tell me other than to say there had been an incident at the park and one of the girls was hurt. At first, police refusing to reveal which one of those girls was hurt. They quickly also tracked down the parents of the third friend, Anissa Weier,

telling them their daughter is missing too. My thought was child abduction. Where's my daughter? That's the only thought I had in my head. It would take hours to piece together exactly what happened at that birthday sleepover. The first moment anyone would begin to learn of the horror is this call to 911. 911, we're transferring over a caller on Big Bend. 12-year-old Peyton Lightner had just crawled out of the woods covered in blood, stabbed

19 times. And you can hear it in their voices. The operators cannot believe what they are hearing. He came upon a 12-year-old female. Two appears to be stabbed. She appears to be what? Stabbed. Greg Steinberg was riding his bike that morning on a path that had actually been chained off. It was pure chance he came this way and you were biking by and she says to you what could you help me please? I've been stabbed multiple times. I quick got out my cell phone I was shaken he watches as the

ambulance rushes her away and when you looked at her it was immediately a parent she'd been stabbed multiple times yeah to her chest and abdomen and arm and leg doctors fear she might not survive and her mother Stacy has just been told that Peyton has been rushed to the hospital. She was terrified. She was crying. She couldn't breathe. But she saw you there. She saw me and she put her hand out and I rushed over to her and I put my arms around her and I laid next to her and I hugged her and I said you're gonna be okay. It's gonna be fine. But I could see that she was covered. Her arms and her legs and her abdomen

were covered in stab wounds. There were so many stab wounds, it took two nurses to count them, 19 in all. And her little girl is now being raced down the hall. Did you say anything to Peyton as they were wheeling her away? That I loved her and that she would be okay. Payton's mother could not believe that her daughter's friend could be capable of this.

Morgan didn't do this is what's going through my head. There's no way. There's no way that's what happened. Morgan is 12. Morgan has never heard a fly. It was just unthinkable that Morgan would do anything to hurt someone else. But that's exactly what investigators were telling Morgan's mother, that her daughter

and Anissa Weier had stabbed their friend multiple times, and now both girls were nowhere to be found. They had run away and the police hadn't found them yet. They were going to find a mansion in the woods. Oh, the mansion, yeah, the mansion in the woods. They were going to the Nicolet forest because they believed that there was a mansion there that Slenderman lived in.

When we come back, the doctors discover it is worse than anyone thought. And we're with the surgeon who saves Peyton. Less than a millimeter between living and dying. Yes. And where investigators would discover those girls. They would reveal in their own words why they did this. The stunning interrogations.

That's not my daughter saying those things. It was like looking at a different child? Yes. But it was her daughter and what they would discover that had been hidden from that mother for years when we come back. The show is supported by Chime. It seems like everything is getting more expensive these days and the last thing anyone has room for in the budget is credit card debt. Luckily, Chime's Credit Builder Visa Credit Card is here for you. It's designed to help you build your credit, no headaches

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Results may vary. Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. Hey, I'm Brad Milky. You may know me as the host of ABC audio's daily news podcast, Start Here, but I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume. And here's how I'm going to make it happen. Every week, I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about. ABC has got some unique access here. So I'll talk to the reporters and producers who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years. We're bringing the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Follow the crime scene for special access

to the people who know these stories best. It is Saturday morning in Waukesha, Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee, and a horrific scene is playing out. A birthday sleepover with three 12-year-olds the night before, and now two of those girls are missing. The third, Peyton Lightner, has somehow crawled out of the woods covered in stab wounds, 19 of them. Major search by ground and air. These are the woods where the stabbing action. Police of them major search by ground. These are the

woods where the stabbing police are still on the scene here. Morgan Geyser and Denise wire were missing and Denise's mother was recruiting anyone she could to join the search. We had people all over Waukesha looking for her. Christie had her daughter's cell phone. She scours it searching for any clues instead discovering something else. Checked all of her text messages, trying to figure out the people that she called and contacted last, and I found basically her goodbye notes. On that cell phone, this note, drafted by Anissa. She writes,

This is my final wish to those who care. Do not grieve my absence, but remember me for who I was. I love and cherish you all and wouldn't do you harm. I still had no idea, but as soon as I found that, I called the detective right away and showed him that information. While at that hospital, Surgeon John Kellerman tells us he will never forget the wounds. He tells me about one of forget the wounds. He tells me about one of the stab wounds to Peyton's heart. The knife cut through the tissue but not the artery itself. Exactly. And had it not? Had it not she would have had

a major heart attack from the amount of bleeding and probably died within a minute or two. But they would save her life as the hunt for the two other girls intensified. Nearly five hours after Peyton crawled out of the woods, her two friends are suddenly found on the side of Interstate 94 walking out of Waukesha. They have found those two girls. I'm told around 12 years old. A knife with a five inch blade was found in one of the girls bags. Lieutenant Tom Mormon confronting them. I asked her to show me her hands I noticed there was some staining on her sweatshirt. Morgan's parents raced to the police station but

they have not been told the severity of Payton's injuries. I remember talking on the way. How we're how we're going to punish Morgan for this and I mean, we just had no idea how serious it was. Can I go over to this chair? Yeah, you can try this chair over. Anissa Weier's parents arrive at the police station too. They're told to wait.

I stood right dead center of that lobby in full view of two cameras waiting to see my daughter. And listen to what their daughter, Anissa, says to the investigator. Your parents know that you're here talking to me, OK? And they're so glad that you're safe. We were scared for you guys.

Both girls in separate rooms beginning to explain their plot to kill, referring to Peyton by her nickname, Bella. Why do you think you're here today? Because I knew something that I ran off after hurting Bella. Morgan tells the detective the plan to kill Peyton had been in the works for months. You guys have been playing this a while? Since December. She was my best friend since fourth grade. Who was? works for months.

Necessary. A word Morgan Geyser would use again and again with that detective saying her devotion to that fictional character Slender man drove her to do this. Slender man is the story of a character who suddenly appears. He changes and evolves all the time, with help from fans all over the world adding to the story, giving a fictional character new life every day.

You have said that Slender Man is the boogeyman of this digital generation. He is the thing that we fear that we don't actually encounter, right? So we check under our beds for the Slender Man, but he's not actually there. Morgan and Anissa not only believed in Slender Man, they wanted to prove to the world he was real.

Morgan said, hey, Anissa, we should be proxies. And I was like, okay, how would we do that? She indicated that in order to become a proxy of Slender Man, you needed to kill somebody to prove yourself worthy to him. As Slender Man's grip on these girls begins to reveal itself, back at the hospital, Peyton Leitner is unable to talk. At first, writing to communicate.

One of her first questions is this. Did they get them? We told her they were found and the police had them. As a dad in that moment, how hard was that? Harder than I would have ever been able to imagine. This is my little girl who's laying there and the only thing that I could tell her at the time to make her feel better was that the police have them and she was safe with us.

When we come back, the girls now describe their original plan, why it changed, and who actually held the knife in the woods. She gave you the knife. I give it back to her and say, you do it, go ballistic, go crazy. woods. And for every family watching tonight, we also learn what these parents never noticed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. When we come back. Two mothers now trying to reconcile the little girls they

raised with the 12 yearyear-olds who brutally attacked their friend. Morgan was a very happy child. She was intensely creative. She was always making up songs and stories. Vanessa did enjoy choir. She did enjoy singing. Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my body to me. And only now do moments along the way seem to carry greater weight. Morgan's mother telling me she remembers showing her daughter a movie, a children's classic.

You were watching Bambi and you noticed something. What was it? We had been concerned to show Morgan the movie. We were afraid when Bambi's mother died she she would be devastated that she'd be very upset. Faster Bambi! Don't look back! She, in fact, had quite the opposite reaction. And after Bambi's mother was shot, Morgan just said, run Bambi, run.

And had no reaction whatsoever to the mother dying. She wasn't at all concerned about the mom? No, no, not at all. And Anissa's mom points to her daughter's childhood and her struggle to fit in. Looking back, Anissa was never really invited to a lot of birthday parties or anything. I don't think she really made friends that easy.

Which is why both mothers say they were happy when their two daughters met at the bus stop in middle school. Morgan didn't do her a lot of bullying, especially in the sixth grade by the other students. They knew what each other had gone through, and they were going to be there for each other. What was Anissa like?

Anissa was always extremely polite. You were witnessing what you thought was a very normal friendship. That's true, yes. It was a new friend for her daughter Morgan, who had already been friends with Peyton since the fourth grade. And their friendship seemed normal too. They were just typical giggly girls. Payton's parents told us the same thing.

Were there ever any red flags? They would have little arguments, but every 12-year-old girl has little arguments. Payton's parents had never met Anissa Weier, but they say that Payton spoke of her at school, and they could never have imagined that their daughter's friends were plotting against her. And it turns out the horror that played out in those woods was not the original plan for Peyton.

Morgan said that at her birthday party while Bella was sleeping, we were gonna, um, like, duck, hamper, belt, shut, stash her in the neck and then leave. She would bleed out. They would cover her up with covers to make it look like she was sleeping. And the two girls would run. But when they got home from Skateland, the plan would change. I didn't think it would work. I didn't think any of this would work from the start. I wanted to give her at least one more warning. The next morning, a new plan. We're going to do it today at the park, that's what Morgan said.

As they leave for the park, Anissa tells police that Morgan lifts up her white jacket, the knife tucked in her waistband. What were you thinking? I was thinking, Dear God, this is really happening. Morgan and Anissa lead Peyton into a bathroom at the park. But one more time, they would change the plan. The girls leave that bathroom and walk down a nearby road. I pointed up the boys to Morgan and said, we should do it there.

So I told them that we were going to fly high to peak. a nearby road. At the edge of those woods, Peyton's parents tell me that Peyton remembers her two friends luring her in. They got to the park and they told her they wanted to play hide and seek in the woods. And she told me she didn't want to go. She sensed it. Yeah, she did say she was forced to go. Anissa tells police she sits on Peyton. Peyton says to her, I can't breathe.

Peyton is stabbed 19 times, stumbling, trying to get up. And listen to how Anissa describes that moment. The whole time, Peyton was screaming, there was eggs. They would leave her right there. Has Peyton talked at all about the horror of that moment? We asked her what she remembered about what happened and she said she remembered everything. Do you know what happened the night after Peyton got stabbed? I put it back in the bag and blocked. It was weird. I felt no remorse.

Morgan said, it was weird that I didn't feel remorse. Yeah. This was a girl who had been in your home many, many times. That was hard because I thought that she really cared about Payton as a person and they were good friends. That's not my daughter saying those things. It was like looking at a different child? Yes. She appears to have no remorse. She doesn't appear to be frightened.

After hours of waiting, detectives finally reveal to Angie what her daughter has done in the woods. Could you believe what you were hearing? No, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. No. No, I never, um, I never would have imagined that my daughter was capable of hurting another person. Not only was this hurting, it was, you know, multiple stabbings with the intent to kill. Yes. When we come back, what these parents would learn about their own daughters, an extraordinarily rare diagnosis,

and for parents watching across this country tonight, what are you to do when children are drawn in by someone or something that you never knew existed? Anissa never talked about Slender Man to me. When we come back. Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power. What's up, welcome to New York! Until it all came crashing down.

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premieres April 8th streaming on Hulu. For more than three years now, those two girls who confessed to brutally stabbing their 12 year old friend have been locked up. Their mothers still hope their daughters will one day come home. Christie Weir's daughter An Anissa, sits behind these walls at the Washington County Juvenile Jail. And Christy shows us one of Anissa's paintings done just a few months before that horror in the woods. She's drying flowers and sunshine and hearts.

She tells us she had no idea her daughter had fallen so completely under Slender Man's spell. They did it to impress Slender Man. Who is the shadowy figure? I was really scared knowing that Slender Man could easily kill my whole family. Three seconds. Bill and I, although we were divorced, we were still very active parents. I did search her iPad.

I did watch over her shoulder. Anissa never talked about Slender Man to me. And Morgan was convinced Slender Man was real too. Who's this creepy guy that you're talking about? Slender Man. Did you know anything about Morgan's fascination with Slender Man? We did and she would show us some of the pictures and she would show us some of the pictures and she would read us some of the stories. Did you ever think that this is a little too dark

for my daughter? When I was Morgan's age, I was reading Stephen King novels, so I just thought it was normal for a child of middle school age to be interested in scary stories. And it turns out that Peyton, who crawled out of those woods alive, had even told her mom that Morgan thought that Slender Man was real. Did it give you pause? A little bit, but at the same time, these girls are 12 years old and fantasy when you're

12 years old is still a very active part of your life. But their fantasy would give way to reality. And Morgan and Anissa now face charges of attempted first degree intentional homicide. When a child 10 or older commits a crime like this, Wisconsin law requires them to be charged in adult court. Anthony Cotton is Morgan's attorney. He says he knew the moment he met her that he was not dealing with a typical 12-year-old.

Was it clear to you she was struggling with mental illness? Yeah, it was apparent right out of the gate. She'd be looking around the room. She'd be looking in the corner. She'd be seem to be responding to things that weren't in the room. The girls are formally charged as adults, each facing the possibility of up to 65 years in prison.

Seeing her in the courtroom in the jumpsuit with the shackles really hit hard. Morgan and Anissa's families launch a legal fight to get their daughters' cases moved from adult court to juvenile court. Children's court is the right place for this case. It would mean more resources to help treat their mental health, but it also meant that each girl could be freed as soon as their 18th birthday, something prosecutors would immediately fight. In spite of the fact that they were 12, these were two girls that made an extreme,

serious effort to try to kill Peyton. After the brutal attack, investigators searching Morgan's room would find disturbing evidence of a deteriorating young mind, dismembered Barbies, drawings of Slenderman with children, and pages and pages of messages that she had written to herself. We pour through those drawings with Morgan's mother

and find one of the darkest messages. How typical is it for a 12-year-old to write, I want to die? I don't think it's very typical at all. Morgan also writes, help me escape my mind. This one makes me sad. Why? Just knowing how long she was sick and suffering

inside her own head before we had any idea. While prosecutors build their case, two mothers visit their daughters behind bars weekly, sometimes daily. It's just her and I divided by glass talking. There are moments where my heart is so full of sadness. That's when I put on a mask. I don't allow myself to break down in front of her and see how much this is hurting me. And Morgan's mother tells me about the barrier between her and her daughter.

And you would see her through the glass? Yes. I mean, it was painful. We went months without being able to touch her. Both families now say their daughters are trapped between adult and juvenile courts. And on this day, we are at Anissa's home when she calls to wish her sister a happy birthday.

Her father, Bill, wearing a Superman t-shirt, Anissa still reveres her father to this day. Hello? Hello. How you doing? Good. And then a song for her sister. Happy birthday to you.

But as they sit behind bars, they are cut off from the resources typically available to treat children who commit crimes at such a young age. There's social workers. There's treatment professionals as opposed to the adult system which is designed to be punitive. And while they are not treated for mental illness. They are

given a court ordered mental health evaluation. And Morgan held the knife who drew those pictures discovered in her bedroom who was unmoved by the movie Bambi all those years ago. She would now receive an extraordinarily rare diagnosis for someone so young. Early onset schizophrenia. On April 11th, the amateur of rise in I Max on I want to find and kill the people who murdered my wife.

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Good morning America! Put the good in your morning. GMA 7A on ABC. Were you surprised? No. I wasn't surprised simply because there is a family history of schizophrenia. Her father?

Yes, her father has schizophrenia. In fact, Morgan's father had been hospitalized at least four times as a teenager himself. Was that one of the first things you thought of after the stabbings? It was that she must be sick. But if Morgan's father had a history of schizophrenia, we asked, did her parents look for warning signs along the way?

I think it was something that had been building that we both didn't notice and also attributed to the changes she was going through as an adolescent. Do you feel responsible? I think on some level I'll always feel responsible for not knowing that my daughter wasn't well. Her daughter Morgan would stay in that jail for a year and a half, untreated for mental illness, until a judge gets her moved to a mental health institution where she receives medication. And did you see a change?

When she started medication, oh yes, we saw a dramatic change. All rise. And after more than a year of hearings and evaluations, Judge Michael Boren makes his decision on whether the children should remain charged as adults. It was premeditated attempt to kill someone. On that basis then I'll order that the defendants, disguisers, be retained in the adult jurisdiction. They were just children.

They weren't chronic offenders. When we come back, the families battle to save their daughters, to get them help, and to get them a chance to one day come home. But will they be sent away for years after what they did in the woods? Their fates revealed when we come back. It has been more than three years now since that horror in the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and now a community torn as brutal as the attack was. What do you do with two girls who were just 12 years old when they did it? Morgan Geyser and Anissa wire are now preparing to be tried as adults, facing the possibility of decades in prison.

I mean, to me it's unthinkable to try a 12-year-old child as an adult, regardless of what they've done. You know, there are some who will say she planned it and look what she did. I don't think that any of that changes the fact that she was a child. We do everything else possible in our society to protect our children from themselves. For some reason we view that differently within the criminal justice system and that just doesn't make sense to me. Both girls plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The girls will be tried separately.

Anissa's case is first, and just days before her trial, she strikes a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of attempted second-degree intentional homicide. Anissa took the plea deal. It was her decision to plead guilty to save Peyton from reliving that day. But as part of that deal, Anissa will now stand trial, so a jury can determine if she should be sent to prison or to a state mental institution instead.

The evidence will show. Now 15 years old, walking into court, Anissa's attorney, Joe Smith, acknowledges that she attacked her friend, but argues she is not criminally responsible because she was under the spell of a delusion. The prosecution paints a starkly different picture of a calculating 12-year-old.

She knew what she was doing was wrong. The defense calls family members, friends, teachers to the stand to testify that they never knew Anissa was struggling with mental illness, starting with her father, Bill. Was there any time where she expressed that she had seen things? There was an episode when Anissa was about 10. She had gone to bed for the night. She saw something in her closet looking at her. So, you know, 10-year-old monster in a closet,

turned the lights on, we open the closet, nothing's in there. I didn't give it any more credit than that. But it would turn out the centerpiece of Anissa's defense would be testimony from three mental health experts. Had you ever seen a case like this before? No. It's almost unfathomable that this could happen.

Dr. Melissa Westendorf was one of the court-appointed forensic psychologists who evaluated Anissa. What they had in common was the delusion about Slender Man. Neither family knew that their daughters were mentally ill. Is that difficult for you to believe? No. That it would go unnoticed? It can go unnoticed.

You know, especially with delusions. Delusions can remain compartmentalized for people. And it was Morgan's mother Angie who told us she believes her daughter actively hid her delusions from those around her. I think that as she got older and she realized that hey maybe this isn't normal that she did make a conscious effort to hide it. A lot of her hallucinations were friends to her and I don't think that she wanted to lose those friends. And Dr. Westendorf says there also may have been something uniquely compelling to these already vulnerable minds of Morgan and Anissa

about the way Slender Man is presented online. Once you find this character on the internet, you can read all these stories that look real. And the doctor says with Anissa, there was something different at play. Remember, it was Morgan who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Dr. Westendorf then diagnosed Anissa with what's called a shared psychotic disorder, saying that Morgan's schizophrenia, when paired with both of their delusions about Slenderman,

would create a perfect storm luring Anissa in too. A lot of parents will say that my 12 year old knows the difference between right and wrong. They would know that it's wrong to stab your friend 19 times in the woods. How did they not know this? They appreciated that what they were doing was wrong. So if they knew it was wrong, why do it? Because their belief in Slender Man was so powerful and was so strong, they believed that if they did not fulfill their plan, Slender

Man was going to come back and kill their families. Dr. Westendorf testified that because Anissa's mental disorder led to her actions that day in the woods, that she should not be held criminally responsible. Prosecutors disagreed. All the psychiatrists were saying the same thing, which is they had this shared delusion and that compulsion was if we don't kill Peyton then Slender Man's gonna either kill us or our families. And what we argued repeatedly was Anissa by her own word said she didn't even know that Slender Man was a threat till after the act was over.

The case goes to the jury. The seven men and five women deliberate for 11 hours. As they file in, we see Anissa visibly shaking. Anissa Weier was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. With that, I will order that she be committed to the Department of Health Services. Their decision was humane. But her daughter's sentencing was yet to come. And given the jury's decision in Anisa's trial, prosecutors now allow Morgan to plead guilty too. Her family awaits sentencing as well.

She's sick and she belongs in a mental health facility as opposed to a prison. At her plea hearing, Morgan is required to tell the judge what she did. What did you do on May 31, 2014? I hurt Bella. Alright, so what did you do? I came up from behind her.

I jumped on her. And then what happened? And then I stabbed her. When we come back, a judge's decision. How long will Morgan and Anissa be sent away for? Or will they be allowed to go home? And that remarkable little girl who crawled out of the woods determined to live?

How is she doing now? More than three years after we first met her. It was just 24 hours ago, the final sentence in a case that began with a sleepover more than three years ago. Morgan Geyser is about to learn her fate. It was just weeks ago that Anissa's sentencing came first. The case is here today. The judge ordering her to a state mental facility for up to 25 years. Anissa will now be under state supervision

until she is 37 years old. My fear is she will not really know how to is she will not really know how to interact with normal people at Walmart, at the gas station, at Pick and Save. After spending 25 years in a mental institution. And before Morgan's mother would learn her own daughter's fate, she shares with me a letter that her daughter has now written to Payton. She shares with me a letter that her daughter has now written to Payton. Dear Bella, I wish I had words that could make everything better, but I don't. So all I can say is how sorry I am. I can promise you not a day will go by that I don't regret what I did. Stay strong, Morgan.

Just yesterday, a judge deciding that Morgan will also be sent to a state mental health facility for up to 40 years. It was more than three years ago. We first met Payton shy in front of the cameras. We did see a glimpse of her smile returning as she shared with us her love of kittens and a family. She's doing well in school. She has friends, she's social. And overnight, Peyton's mother sending us a message for any family dealing with the kind of pain and horror they have faced. If you trust in your strength and believe in your resiliency, you will get through this. And tonight, the new

images of Peyton. And in just over a week she will celebrate a milestone her 16th birthday. A milestone Morgan geyser will soon reach as well. It's not where you picture her turning 16 now you know I see on social media my friends and family who have children Morgan's age and the post pictures of them driving a car, you know, going to homecoming. You know, that's difficult. And now after learning Morgan's fate, her mother says life for all three families has changed forever. We're leaving Waukesha for a new start. I

frequently drive by these places that hold horrible memories and I just want to get us all away from that. Away from those woods that have since been cleared to make way for a new residential development. The scene of that horror now erased. But for those three families tonight, they will never be able to erase the pain. 2020 True Crime Vault, and you can find all new broadcast episodes of 2020 Friday nights at 9 on ABC Hello, it's Robin Roberts here. Hey guys, it's George Stephanopoulos here. Hey everybody. It's Michael Strahan here Wake up with good morning America Robin George Michael GMA America's favorite number one morning show

George, Michael, GMA, America's favorite number one morning show. The morning's first breaking news, exclusive interviews, what everyone will be talking about that day. Put some good in your morning and start your day with GMA. Good morning America! Put the good in your morning. GMA 7A on ABC.