Prosecutors say two 12-year-old Wisconsin girls almost stabbed their 12-year-old friend to death in the woods to please a mythological creature they learned about online.
Both girls were charged as adults with first-degree attempted homicide in Waukesha County circuit court; they each face up to 60 years in prison if convicted. A court commissioner set bail at $500,000 (€367,000) per child. According to a criminal complaint, the girls had been planning to kill their friend for months and finally made the attempt in a park on Saturday morning, after a slumber party.
One of the girls told a detective they were trying to become “proxies” of Slender Man, a mythological demon-like character they learned about on creepypasta.wikia.com, a website about horror stories and legends. They planned to run away to the demon’s forest mansion after the slaying.
“I recognise their young ages but it’s still unbelievable,” court commissioner Thomas Pieper said.
The victim suffered 19 stab wounds; one missed a major artery near her heart by a millimetre. She is in a stable condition.
Both girls appeared in court wearing shackles and jail jumpsuits. Family members of one of the girls wept. The other girl’s family sat stone-faced.
According to the criminal complaint, one of the girls told an investigator they began planning to kill their friend in December. The other girl told police they decided to kill her so they could become proxies of Slender Man, who would accept them and let them live with him in his mansion in Nicolet National Forest.
The other girl said she sees Slender Man in her dreams. She said he watches her and can read her mind and teleport.
“It’s extremely disturbing as a parent and as chief of police,” Waukesha police chief Russell Jack said.
The girls invited their friend to a slumber party on Friday evening. They planned to kill her during the night so they wouldn’t have to look into her eyes, one girl told police, and then run away. They decided to put it off, but the next day, during a hide-and-seek game in a wooded park, they attacked their friend with a knife. One girl told the other to “go ballistic, go crazy”.
The victim began to scream that she hated them and started stumbling away, one of the girls told police.
The girls left the victim lying in the woods. She crawled to a road where a cyclist found her lying on the sidewalk. Police arrived and she gave them the name of one of the girls who attacked her. She was rushed into surgery.
One of the girl’s attorneys, Donna Kuchler, tried to get her client waived into juvenile court, but this was refused. Kuchler escorted the girl’s family out of the courtroom, telling reporters the family was horrified at what happened.
The other girl’s attorney led her family out of court.
Both girls are due back in court on June 11.
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