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28265 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

When we come back, the families battle to save their daughters, to get them help, and to get them a chance to one day come home. But will they be sent away for years after what they did in the woods? Their fates revealed when we come back. It has been more than three years now since that horror in the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin. And now a community torn.

1990.347 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

As brutal as the attack was, what do you do with two girls who were just 12 years old when they did it? Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier are now preparing to be tried as adults, facing the possibility of decades in prison.

2017.478 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

As brutal as the attack was, what do you do with two girls who were just 12 years old when they did it? Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier are now preparing to be tried as adults, facing the possibility of decades in prison.

2017.478 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Both girls plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The girls will be tried separately. Anissa's case is first. And just days before her trial, she strikes a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of attempted second-degree intentional homicide.

2058.853 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Both girls plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The girls will be tried separately. Anissa's case is first. And just days before her trial, she strikes a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of attempted second-degree intentional homicide.

2058.853 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

But as part of that deal, Anissa will now stand trial so a jury can determine if she should be sent to prison or to a state mental institution instead.

2085.998 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

But as part of that deal, Anissa will now stand trial so a jury can determine if she should be sent to prison or to a state mental institution instead.

2085.998 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Now 15 years old, walking into court, Anissa's attorney, Joe Smith, acknowledges that she attacked her friend, but argues she is not criminally responsible because she was under the spell of a delusion. The prosecution paints a starkly different picture of a calculating 12-year-old.

2097.264 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Now 15 years old, walking into court, Anissa's attorney, Joe Smith, acknowledges that she attacked her friend, but argues she is not criminally responsible because she was under the spell of a delusion. The prosecution paints a starkly different picture of a calculating 12-year-old.

2097.264 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

The defense calls family members, friends, teachers to the stand to testify that they never knew Anissa was struggling with mental illness, starting with her father, Bill.

2116.736 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

The defense calls family members, friends, teachers to the stand to testify that they never knew Anissa was struggling with mental illness, starting with her father, Bill.

2116.736 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

But it would turn out the centerpiece of Anissa's defense would be testimony from three mental health experts. Had you ever seen a case like this before?

2153.616 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

But it would turn out the centerpiece of Anissa's defense would be testimony from three mental health experts. Had you ever seen a case like this before?

2153.616 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Dr. Melissa Westendorf was one of the court-appointed forensic psychologists who evaluated Anissa.

2166.546 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

Dr. Melissa Westendorf was one of the court-appointed forensic psychologists who evaluated Anissa.

2166.546 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

And it was Morgan's mother, Angie, who told us she believes her daughter actively hid her delusions from those around her.

2195.969 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

And it was Morgan's mother, Angie, who told us she believes her daughter actively hid her delusions from those around her.

2195.969 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

And Dr. Westendorf says there also may have been something uniquely compelling to these already vulnerable minds of Morgan and Anissa about the way Slender Man is presented online.

2224.525 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

And Dr. Westendorf says there also may have been something uniquely compelling to these already vulnerable minds of Morgan and Anissa about the way Slender Man is presented online.

2224.525 View full episode β†’
20/20
True Crime Vault: Slender Man Attackers

And the doctor says with Anissa, there was something different at play. Remember, it was Morgan who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Dr. Westendorf then diagnosed Anissa with what's called a shared psychotic disorder, saying that Morgan's schizophrenia, when paired with both of their delusions about Slenderman, would create a perfect storm, luring Anissa in too.

2242.438 View full episode β†’