The Latest: Jury finds Anissa Weier not criminally responsible for stabbing classmate due to mental illness
Updated: 11:00 p.m. on September 15, 2017
UPDATE: WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) – The jury in the Slender Man stabbing trial has found Anissa Weier not criminally responsible for stabbing a classmate due to mental illness.
Jurors reached the verdict late Friday night after deliberating for more than 12 hours. At one point in the night, it appeared the jury had reached a verdict, however they were sent back into deliberations by the judge due to an inconsistent verdict.
Weier pleaded guilty in August to being a party to attempted second-degree intentional homicide but claimed she wasn’t responsible for her actions because she was mentally ill. Per the plea agreement, this verdict means Weier will be placed in mental institution until at least 2020.
On May 31, 2014 Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser had a sleepover with the victim, a classmate from school. All three girls were 12 at the time.
Investigators say Weier and Geyser had been planning to kill their friend for months, believing it would help them become proxies of the fictional character Slender Man.
According to police, the girls lured the victim into the woods to play hide and seek.
According to their testimony, Geyser sat on the victim’s legs and stabbed her 19 times. A bicyclist later found the victim and called for help. The victim survived her injuries.
The young suspects were found walking along I-94 on their way to the Nicolet National Forest, telling investigators they believed Slender Man had a mansion where they would live.
The trial for Morgan Geyser, the other suspect in the case, will begin October 16.
She has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted first degree intentional homicide and is being tried as an adult. The jury, as in Weier’s trial, will be sequestered.
Geyser’s mental health has also been at the center of the investigation.
Her defense team argues she has a mental health condition that played a key part in the crime.
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Updated: 9:00 p.m. on September 15, 2017
UPDATE: WAUKSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The judge in the trial of Slender Man stabbing suspect Anissa Weier has ordered the jury back into deliberations due to an inconsistent verdict.
The jury has to answer two questions:
1. Did Anissa Weier have a mental illness when she committed this crime?
If the answer to that question is yes, the jury moves on to the second question:
2. Did that mental illness prevent Anissa from knowing the crime was wrong?
This is the verdict form the jury fills out. #slendermanpic.twitter.com/BfmRyilFF3
— Kristen Barbaresi (@KristenBarbar) September 16, 2017
There are two dissenting jurors on each question, but they’re not the same jurors.
The judge then rejected the verdict and said the dissenting jurors have to be consistent.
The prosecution agreed with that decision, but the defense didn’t. The judge gave the jury more instructions and sent them back to continue deliberations.
The jury began deliberating at 10:00 a.m. Friday.
There is no word at this point as to how late the jury plans to stay.
Stay with CBS 58 for more on this developing story.
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UPDATE: WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) – The jury in the trial of Slender Man stabbing suspect, Anissa Weier, has reached a verdict.
A decision is expected to come down in about 10 minutes. Deliberations began around 10:00 a.m. on Friday.
The jury will decide whether Anissa Weier should be held criminally responsible for helping a friend stab a classmate or whether she was mentally ill at the time of the attack three years ago.
Stay with CBS 58 for the latest in this developing story.
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Posted: 10:30 a.m. on September 15, 2017
WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The weeklong Slender Man stabbing case trial is winding down.
A jury in Waukesha is now deciding whether Anissa Weier should be held criminally responsible for helping a friend try to kill a classmate or whether she was mentally ill at the time of the attack 3 years ago.
Around 10 a.m. on Friday, the jury was able to head back and begin their deliberations.
To avoid a mistrial, the 4 alternate jurors were not dismissed. They are also still sequestered in a separate room from the 12 jurors deliberating. Those 4 are on standby in case one of the 12 jurors cannot go on with deliberation. But, if someone new joins then the deliberation will start over.
The judge did tell the jury that only 10 need to agree on a verdict although he would prefer them to be unanimous.
Those 12 jurors left the courtroom with closing arguments fresh in their mind.
Weier's Attorney had the burden of proof and got to speak to the jury before and after the state pleaded their case.
"The most telling moments for me is when Anissa is talking with Detective Trussoni. It's where she says I needed to prove he was real because I saw him, I saw him. before and after the offense. This was a real being to this child," said Maura McMahon, Weier's Attorney.
"Anissa ran away because she wanted to prove skeptics wrong. They wanted to become proxies but Anissa wanted to keep friendship with Morgan. Really, if you boil this whole thing down it's very simple, it comes down to did she have to or want to," said State Prosecutor Ted Szczupakiewicz.
The jury is considering two questions right now:
1.) Did Anissa Weier have a mental illness at the time of the crime?
2.) Did that mental illness prevent her from knowing the crime was wrong?
We will bring you the latest once the jurors have their verdict.
To watch the Attorneys presenting closing arguments in the trial of Anissa Weier, see below.
Stay with CBS 58 News for more information as this story develops.