Medical professionals testified at a Tuesday hearing for Slender Man stabbing suspect Anissa Weier that they don't believe anger or aggression is an issue for the 13-year-old charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Weier and her co-defendant, Morgan Geyser, are alleged to have plotted for months to kill a fellow classmate, 13-year-old Payton Leutner, supposedly to gain favor with a fictitious Internet horror character named Slender Man.
Leutner was stabbed 19 times after being tackled in the woods following a birthday party sleepover at Geyser's house that also included Weier on May 31, 2014. Leutner, who survived the attack, told police Geyser stabbed her.
Both girls' attorneys have said "mitigating circumstances," especially the girls' belief that Slender Man would do harm to them or their families if they didn't kill someone, was the main reason the crime happened.
After going through months of court hearings that included evaluating the girls' competency and the preliminary hearing earlier this year, the first step in both of their legal teams' attempt to have them moved into the juvenile court system began on Tuesday.
The girls, both now 13, are charged as adults and have been confined to the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center.
Medical professionals took the stand Tuesday to discuss their interactions with Weier over the last year. Weier has been described as intelligent but also that of a follower.
"(Anissa) was motivated by other factors," Anthony Jurek, a forensic psychologist, told Judge Michael Bohren during Day 1 of a two-day hearing for Weier. "Socially she was isolated and desperate for a friendship and closeness to somebody.
"And I think the offense in this case kind of grew out of that. It was a distorted sort of friendship that basically went in a bad direction and I don’t think Anissa has the kind of personality that she could assert herself and pull away from that."
Weier's attorneys have previously tried to separate Weier from Geyser, highlighting to the judge that Geyser was the ringleader in the attack.
Jurek testified in court Tuesday afternoon that through his interactions and evaluations of Weier that she is "very good at following the rules" and works very hard to meet them."
Geyser's two-day hearing is scheduled for June. But unlike Weier, who doctors say doesn't have a belief in Slender Man anymore, Geyser has been said to still believe in the fictional character and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
However, because she is confined to the detention center, Geyser has not received medication or any kind of treatment. Geyser's attorney's request to have her moved to a local treatment facility was previously denied.
Jurek testified in court that Weier likely needs counseling and therapy, more so than medication.
Jurek said Weier has a tendency to be self-defeating and overdependent of others and often tries to please others.
"Therapy will be a stressful," Jurek said because Weier would likely be "afraid of where the therapist will take her.
"She wants to get better, but it’s going to be a scary process for her."
Another psychologist, Michael Caldwell, said on Tuesday afternoon he believes Weier has "a very low propensity for violence" and that there is a low risk for future harm toward others.
He also added that a delusional disorder that she showed shortly after being arrested and charged has gone away. This is likely because she has since stopped having contact with another person who also had these beliefs, Caldwell said.
Caldwell said in a shared delusional disorder, the person who has these beliefs forms a close relationship with a second person and the second person adopts the delusional beliefs of the first person. They both end up acting on them with the secondary person holding the delusion just as strongly as the primary person, Caldwell said.
Caldwell said typically the primary person continues to hold on to these beliefs, while the secondary person drops the delusions very quickly when they break the relationship.
Jurek also pinpointed a couple recent instances in Weier's life where she began to struggle emotionally.
He said her parents' divorce two years ago was particularly tough on her and when she entered middle school because she went to a different school than many of her friends from elementary school.
No decision was made by Bohren on Tuesday on whether he will keep the case in the adult court system. But he did clarify that if he moves the case into the juvenile system, Weier and Geyser could only be held until they are 18 years old.
If tried in the adult system, they face up to a maximum of 65 years in prison.
Weier's hearing continues at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Waukesha County Courthouse.