The Misery Machine - The Story of the Slender Man Stabbing

Starting point is 00:00:00 Morgan Geiser and Peyton Lightner had known one another since kindergarten, but didn't really become close until fourth grade. The two grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee. Morgan was something of a loner. She was described as quiet and creative, but wasn't a popular girl by any means. Payton took her under her wing because, quote, she was sitting all by herself and I didn't think anyone should have to sit by themselves, end quote. The pair hit it off with Peyton describing Morgan as her only friend for a long time.

Starting point is 00:00:35 She noted, quote, she was funny. She had a lot of jokes to tell. She was great at drawing and her imagination always kept things fun, end quote. Unfortunately, Morgan's imagination would later take a twisted turn that wouldn't be anything close to enjoyable. Morgan showed a lack of empathy and peculiar behavior from a very young age. When she saw the movie Bambi for the first time, her parents were shocked by her reaction. According to her mother Angie, quote, we were so worried to watch it with her because we thought she was going to be so upset when the mother died.

Starting point is 00:01:13 But the mother died and Morgan just said, run, Bambi, run, get out of there, save yourself. She wasn't sad about it, end quote. During their sixth grade year in 2014, Anisa Wyerernerner, came into the picture. From here, things started to go south. Anisa didn't really like Peyton and wasn't shy about that fact. A lot of it was just jealousy. Now, I'm sure many of you can look back to your grade school days when you had maybe two friends, and when someone would get left out, the drama would ensue. Anisa began frequenting the site creepypasta.com. Now, the term creepypasta is loosely defined as horror-related legends that have been shared around the internet, but have since

Starting point is 00:01:59 become a catch-all term for any horror content posted online. These internet entries are often brief, user-generated paranormal stories intended to scare the readers. One such story was that of Slender Man. For those of you who are not familiar, Slender Man is a fictional supernatural character. He was created on June 10th, 2009, by something awful user Eric Nudson. The thread was a Photoshop contest in which users were challenged to create paranormal images. Under the pseudonym Victor Surge, Eric contributed two black and white images of groups of children to which he added a tall, thin, spectral figure wearing a black suit. Eric has said that he drew inspiration to create Slender Man from Zach Parsons that insidious Beast,

Starting point is 00:02:47 Stephen King's The Mist, reports of Shadow People, the Mothman, and the Mad Gasser of Mattoon. Other inspirations for the character were the tall man from the 1979 film Fantasm, H.B. Lovecraft, the surrealist work of William S. Burroughs and the survival horror video games Silent Hill and Resident Evil. To me, he looks a lot like Cabadath from Yatsy Croshaw's Chizzo Mithos. Slender Man is commonly featured stalking, abducting, or traumatizing people. particularly young kids. Soon he went viral, spawning numerous works of fan art,

Starting point is 00:03:23 cosplay, and online fiction. Now divorced from its original creator, Slanderman became the subject of a myriad of stories such as Marble Hornets by multiple authors with an overarching mythos. It was on creepypasta.com

Starting point is 00:03:38 that Anisa discovered Slanderman and became obsessed. She was convinced that he was real and introduced Morgan to the story. The only problem with us was that Morgan was an undiagnosed schizophrenic. Soon, she too believed that Slender Man was not only real, but she was having visions of him. Now, this wasn't the first time that Morgan had experienced visions like this.

Starting point is 00:04:02 While growing up, she experienced many hallucinations such as ghosts, colors melting down the wall, and imaginary friends. One hallucination that often occurred was a man Morgan named It, whose body was the color of smoke and ink that stood behind her in mirrors or shifted around corners similar to that of Slender Man. According to Peyton, quote, I told Morgan that it scared me and that I didn't like it, but she really liked it and thought it was real, end quote. According to Morgan, Slender Man lived in a mansion located in the Chiquamagon Nicolay National Forest, which covers more than 1.5 million acres of waterway and woodlands in Wisconsin's North Woods.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Soon, she became obsessed with the notion that she needed to prove that he was real. According to Morgan, in order to do so, she and Anisa would need to become his proxies and offer him a sacrifice. If they didn't, then Slender Man would kill their families. If they did, they would be able to find his mansion and live with him forever. Anisha told me we had to. Why? Because she said that he'd kill her family. Morgan and Anisa planned to kill Peyton for months.

Starting point is 00:05:17 In fact, sometimes the two would discuss it in public using code words like Cracker while talking about using a knife, an itch while discussing the actual killing. Finally, on May 30th, 2014, Morgan and Nisa decided to go through with their sinister plan. They plotted to kill Peyton during what should have been an innocent, fun-filled occasion, a slumber party for Morgan's 12th. birthday. The night prior to the attack, the girls carried on like nothing was the matter. They enjoyed roller skating at a public rink. All the while, Peyton had no idea that her two friends were planning her death. The girls had multiple ideas about how they were going to go about killing her. They thought about duct taping her mouth during the night and stabbing her in the neck, but they were too tired after the trip to the roller rink. Instead, they settled on killing her in a nearby

Starting point is 00:06:10 park bathroom or the blood could go down the drain. The following morning, the girls let Morgan's mom know they were headed at the park down the road, known as David's Park, and set off with a backpack full of supplies. Some of those supplies included a water bottle, granola, and a knife with a five-inch blade. Morgan had also kept a notebook with a list of necessary supplies, which she listed as pepper spray, Jeff, Napa Forest. camera, spray bottle, Ben, cheesecake, masky hoodie, the will to live, weapons, kitchen knife, and flashlights.

Starting point is 00:06:51 At the park bathroom, Anisa tried to slam Payton's head against the concrete wall in an attempt to knock her out. According to Anisa, quote, from what I read on the computer, it's easier to kill people when they're either asleep or unconscious, and it's also easier if you do not look them in the eyes. I kind of banged her head up against the concrete, end quote. Anita tried to knock Bella out, Bella down on that each other, but I was pacing in circles. Instead, the two girls decided that they would kill their friend in the woods. Under the guise of plain hide and seek, that is when the two girls decided to strike.

Starting point is 00:07:33 The unsuspecting Peyton followed them into the forest, where she obeyed Anisa's instructions to lay down and cover herself with leaves, believing that it was all part of their innocent little game. But little did she know she was in grave danger. When later questioned about what happened next, Morgan responded, quote, I already told you stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, it was weird. I felt no remorse. I thought I would. I actually felt nothing, end quote. And then, She dromed on Bella and she held her to the floor. We did Anisa do this? As Anisa observed, Morgan stabbed Peyton 19 times,

Starting point is 00:08:23 slicing through her arms, legs, and torso. Two wounds were to major organs, one missed a major artery of her heart by less than a millimeter, and another went through her diaphragm, cutting through her liver and stomach. What were you trying to do with there when you stand there? According to Morgan, quote, the last thing she said to me was, I trusted you. Then she said that I hate you. And then we lied to her. Anisa said that she'd go get help, end quote. But of course, Anisa didn't go get help. The two girls left Peyton bleeding to death alone in the woods. Armed with their backpack full of supplies and their will to live, they set off on a 200-mile trek to find safe.

Starting point is 00:09:09 slender man. What they weren't counting on, however, was Peyton's will to live. On the verge of death, the 12-year-old managed to crawl out of the woods and flagged on a passing cyclist for help. The cyclist named Greg Steinberg promptly called 911, and emergency services were dispatched. 911. With the address of your emergency. The Wuxra County, Lidonan, transfer over a caller on Big Bend at the dead end just south of Rivera. Okay. She was taken up on a 12-year-old female. She appears to be stabbed.

Starting point is 00:09:41 She appears to be what? Stabbed? Correct. Okay. She was taken to the hospital where doctors managed to save her life. According to Dr. John Kellerman, the surgeon that worked on Peyton, quote, If the knife had gone the width of a human hair further, she wouldn't have lived, end quote. Fluid around the heart, compressing the heart so that it wouldn't function properly.

Starting point is 00:10:03 And the second was concerned for injury to the heart. itself. The knife came directly down at this point where this large branch was coming off of this major artery and cut through the tissue overlying it so that the vessels were totally exposed by this injury. The knife cut through the tissue but not the artery itself. Exactly. The knife stopped at the wall of the artery. And had it not? If the knife had gone the width of a human hair further she wouldn't have lived. A human hair. What is that a millimeter?

Starting point is 00:10:39 Less than a millimeter. Between living and dying. Yes. Upon waking up from surgery, one of the first things Peyton wondered was if the police had apprehended Morgan and Anisa or if they were still on the run. But thankfully, police had already caught up with the two girls. They were found near the I-94 freeway at Steinhoffel's furniture store after walking almost five miles.

Starting point is 00:11:04 They were both covered in blood, and the knife used in the stabbing was still in their backpack. Morgan and Nisa quickly confessed to their crime upon being brought to the police station. Nonchalantly, Morgan asked the police, quote, is she dead? I was just wondering.

Starting point is 00:11:22 I might as well just say it. We were trying to kill her, end quote. This obviously left the police with the impression that she didn't really care if Peyton had lived or died after this attack. Morgan told the police that Anisa had insisted that they needed to kill their friend to appease Slender Man. However, Anisa had a different story.

Starting point is 00:11:46 She had claimed the attack had been Morgan's idea, claiming that she had said, we have to kill Bella. Bella was a nickname they had for Peyton, as her middle name is Isabella. Ultimately, police began to suspect that Morgan had been the, mastermind behind this attack. And then Morgan jumped on top of Bella and started stabbing her repeatedly and that's when I turned around because I couldn't stand to see that. The two became known as the Slender Man Girls.

Starting point is 00:12:17 Following the investigation, Morgan Geyser was charged with attempted first-degree homicide, a Class A felony, and Anisa Wire was charged with attempted second-degree homicide, a Class B felony. Due to the nature of these offenses, both Morgan and Anisa were waved out of juvenile court and tried as adults. Try to get up. She said that she couldn't see, she couldn't walk, and that she couldn't breathe. Did you tell her you're going to go get help? Did you want to actually get her help? No. In Morgan Geyser's bedroom, police found drawings of Slender Man and mutilated dolls. They also found

Starting point is 00:12:59 internet searches on her computer, such as how to get away with murder, and what kind of insane am I? After her arrest, Morgan's mother Angie said that her daughter became floridly psychotic. Correctional officers observed Morgan talking to herself often, pretending to be a cat and keeping ants as pets. She claimed to have seen unicorns, as well as had continual conversations with Slender Man and other fictional characters, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Severus When Morgan was a child, one of her imaginary friends was called Sev. In the fall of 2014, Morgan was moved to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute to determine if she would be competent enough to stand trial.

Starting point is 00:13:44 She was the youngest patient in the facility and was subsequently diagnosed on October 22, 2014 with early onset childhood schizophrenia. However, instead of treatment and medication, they focused on explaining the law to Morgan to prepare her for court. Nearly six months later, she was found competent enough to stand trial. Morgan's schizophrenia was continually left untreated for 19 months, leading her to remain in a state of psychosis.

Starting point is 00:14:14 In December of the same year, she was sent back to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and was given antipsychotics. These later allowed Morgan to feel remorse after clearing her mind. On March 23, 2016, Morgan was sent back to jail with medication where she rapidly declined. After attempting to end her life inside of her cell, she was transferred back to Winnebago.

Starting point is 00:14:39 Anisa later pled guilty to a lesser charge of being a party to attempted second-degree homicide and was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Now you may be wondering what condition Anisa was suffering from. According to forensic psychologist Melissa Westendorf, She believes Anisa suffered from a shared delusional disorder. During cross-examination, Westendorf admitted that this is a rare condition in general, but that it only usually occurs between spouses and siblings, and for it to happen between childhood friends is very rare.

Starting point is 00:15:16 Westendorf kept highlighting Anisa's age as a factor here, as if a 12-year-old was incapable of telling the difference between right and wrong and killing someone. According to Westendorf, quote, If adults have trouble distinguishing fake news, 12-year-olds will, because their brains can't yet discern or analyze as well, end quote. Anisa was sentenced to 25 years to life, as well as an indeterminate sentence involving at least three years of locked confinement,

Starting point is 00:15:46 an involuntary treatment in a state psychiatric institute, followed by communal supervision until age 37. At a court hearing on March 10, 2021, Anisa, who was now 19, submitted a letter to the court stating that she was sorry and deeply regretful for the agony, pain, and fear that she had caused, not just to Peyton, but to her community as well. She stated that she hated herself for her actions, but through countless hours of therapy, she no longer hated herself for them. On July 1st, 2021, Waukesha County Judge Michael Bolan ordered Anisa to be reliance. He gave state officials 60 days to drop a conditional release plan and required that she be assigned a DHS case manager to track her progress until she is 37 years old, the length of her commitment. Judge Bowren's justification for Anise's release was that there was no, in his own words, quote, clear and convincing evidence that the defendant poses a substantial risk of harm to others, herself, or serious, property damage."

Starting point is 00:16:55 On September 13, 2021, Anisa was released with multiple stipulations, including 24-hour GPS monitoring, requiring her to not leave Waukesha County without permission. She will also have her internet usage monitored and will not be allowed to use any form of social media. Anisa will also be required to take medication and will be personally escorted to regular counseling sessions by a caseworker. She will also be required to live with her father during her probation. Morgan accepted a plea offer under which she would not go to trial

Starting point is 00:17:31 and would be evaluated by psychiatrists to determine how long she should be placed in a mental hospital. She later pled guilty but was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect due to her schizophrenia diagnosis, from which her father also suffers. She was given the maximum sentence of 40 years to life, as well as an indeterminate sentence involving at least three. years locked confinement, in addition to involuntary treatment in a state psychiatric institute until complete resolution of symptoms or until age 53, whichever would come first. At her sentencing, Morgan apologized for what she had done. I just want to let Bella and her family know.

Starting point is 00:18:37 Thankfully, after what she went through, Peyton Lightner is doing well. She was able to leave the hospital, seven days after her brutal attack and resumed school in September of 2014. Instead of Get Well cards, Peyton asks for people to send her Purple Hearts. A few weeks later, she received the ultimate heart-shaped symbol of courage, a U.S. military purple heart. With it was a card that read, the only heart I could find, be strong. The community rallied around the Leitner family, raising $70,000 via a Broughton, A GoFundMe page that is still open reached $11417,417 of its $250,000 goal.

Starting point is 00:19:21 In 2020, an appeals court rejected Morgan's petition to be retried as a juvenile. Her attorney, Matthew Pinnock, argued that she should have been charged with attempted second-degree intentional homicide rather than first degree and argued that Morgan gave statements to investigators before being read her Miranda rights. He had petitioned the Supreme Court of Wisconsin to review the ruling. In early 2021, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. There was a lot of interrogation footage for this case, so if you're interested in seeing more, please check out our friends at Explore with us who had excellent coverage of the interrogation.

Starting point is 00:19:58 So what's going on today with Morgan? Well, during her trial, the Facebook page Support Morgan Geyser was formed, which opposed Morgan being tried as an adult due to her diagnosis of early onset childhood schizophrenia. The page now serves as a means to update followers on the status of her case and how Morgan is currently doing. On June 23, 2022, Morgan had a preliminary hearing after she petitioned the court for conditional release. She later withdrew that petition on August 14th and decided that she would reapply when she feels she's ready. Her father passed away in April of 2023. Let's just hope for Morgan's sake.

Starting point is 00:20:42 And for those around her, she can get the help she clearly needs before she's considered fit to be released.

The Misery Machine - The Story of the Slender Man Stabbing

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