When Morgan Geyser was evaluated by two doctors, both clearly stated she was incompetent to continue in the trial over her role in the Slender Man stabbing case.
However, it doesn't appear so cut and dried with Anissa Weier, the other suspect in the case.
It was revealed Oct. 22 that two doctors who evaluated Weier have different conclusions on the soon-to-be 13-year-old. Along with Geyser, Weir has been charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for her part in the near-fatal stabbing of her former Horning Middle School classmate, Payton Leutner.
The doctor assigned by the court, Robert Rawski of the Wisconsin Forensic Unit, deemed Weier competent to proceed. However, Weier's attorney, Joseph Smith Jr., said the doctor he hired to perform a competency evaluation determined Weier was not competent to stand trial.
Judge Michael Bohren has the final say. He is expected to make his ruling after hearing from both medical professionals at a competency hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 18 at the Waukesha County Courthouse.
The two psychiatrists will provide insights into their meeting with Weier and will be questioned by the prosecutors and defense team.
Questioning the doctor
Smith is challenging Rawski's determination and is questioning his qualifications in conducting juvenile competency evaluations.
"I don't believe Rawski has the expertise to render competency for juveniles," Smith said last week in court.
Smith said he would provide a sealed report to the state from the doctor he hired within a week.
The doctors who conducted the competency exams were not present at the Oct. 22 court hearing. Weier's hands and feet were once again shackled, and a long strand of hair covered half her face during the proceedings.
Weier, who looked extremely pale and didn't depict any emotions, seldom looked up in court and has not looked at her family during the court proceedings over the last four months. Her parents and other family members have been at every hearing at the Waukesha County Courthouse.
The issue of competency has been discussed largely based on whether the young defendants can assist in their own defense.
Consensus on Geyser
Geyser, 12, was ruled incompetent at a hearing in August and has been transferred to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Bohren agreed with the doctors' assessment on Geyser and suspended the proceedings until she becomes competent.
The two psychiatrists who evaluated her said they believed that Geyser would likely become competent after growing and developing, more education on the court proceedings and treatment for an undiagnosed mental disorder.
During their testimonies in August, the psychiatrists said Geyser "idolizes" Slender Man, a fictional Internet horror character that the suspects learned about through the Creepypasta Wiki website. The girls said Slender Man inspired them to kill Leutner, and Geyser still strongly believes that Slender Man is real, psychiatrists said.
One medical expert said Geyser told her she communicates telepathically with fictional characters such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and has the ability to see unicorns and can speak to the Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort. The psychiatrists added that Geyser doesn't understand the severity of the situation she is in.
According to police, Leutner was stabbed 19 times and Geyser and Weier plotted for months to kill her to prove themselves "worthy" to Slender Man. The attack occurred the morning after a birthday party sleepover at Geyser's house.
Weier's alleged involvement
In the criminal complaint, Weier told police that she introduced Geyser to Slender Man and that Geyser told her "We should be proxies of Slender." Weier then told police that Geyser said that for this to happen they had to kill Leutner to prove themselves "worthy to the Slender."
Weier told police in the criminal complaint that she was surprised but also excited to prove that Slender Man existed and to prove the skeptics wrong. Weier then told police she felt she had to physically kill someone, according to the criminal complaint.
According to police, Weier told them that when the three were in a wooded area of a Waukesha park on May 31, she pushed Leutner down and sat on her. After Geyser gave Weier the knife, Weier said she was "too squeamish" and gave the knife back to Geyser, the complaint said.
Weier said to police that she told Geyser "go ballistic, go crazy," upon which Geyser tackled Leutner and started stabbing her. Weier said she then told Leutner to lie down and to be quiet so she would lose blood slower and so she would not draw attention to herself and would die, the complaint said.
"The bad part of me wanted her to die, the good part of me wanted her to live," Weier said in the criminal complaint when questioned by police after the incident.
Geyser, meanwhile, told police "both of us" stabbed Leutner. "I think it was Weier first. Weier sort of put the knife in my hand, and I continued to stab her."