Judge orders juries sequestered during Slender Man trials

WAUKESHA, Wis. — A judge has ordered jurors be sequestered during the trials of two teens accused of stabbing a classmate to impress a fictitious character called Slender Man. Fifteen-year-olds Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier (ahNEE’-sah WY’-ur) are charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the 2014 attack on Payton Leutner (LYT’ner) in Waukesha. Weier’s trial is in September and Geyser’s is in October.

Defence attorneys had requested the trials be moved to another county or have juries drawn from elsewhere.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren denied those requests Thursday but ordered the juries sequestered, meaning they will be isolated from the public during the trial - a rare move designed to prevent exposure to coverage of the case or people who might try to influence jurors.