Slender Man victim to appear on ‘20/20’
The Slender Man stabbing case from Waukesha returns to national television Friday when ABC’s “20/20” presents an exclusive interview with Payton Leutner, who was only 12 when her two friends tried to fatally stab her in 2014.
Leutner, now 17, was left for dead with 19 stab wounds before she crawled from some woods at a park to a trail where she was found by a passing bicyclist.
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, also 12 at the time, were arrested the same day and told police they believed they had to kill Leutner to avoid the wrath of Slender Man, an internet bogeyman they said would kill them or their families if they didn’t. They were charged as adults with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Each is now committed to state mental health supervision after being found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25, and both reside at a secure state hospital.
Leutner’s parents struck an exclusive deal with “20/20” early on; the show first reported extensively on the case as Payton was ready to return to school for seventh grade, after spending the summer recovering from her injuries and subsequent surgeries from the May 2014 attack. The case was the subject of at least two more episodes of “20/20” as it played out.
Her parents spoke on camera with host David Muir, but never did any other interviews.
According to ABC, Friday’s twohour episode, titled “The Wicked,” will feature updated talks with Joe and Stacie Leutner, as well as interviews with the detectives who first interrogated Geyser and Weier, a prosecutor, a defense attorney, a reporter, Geyser and Weier’s mothers, and doctors who evaluated the defendants.