In May of 2014, two young girls lured their friend out to the woods during a game of hide-and-seek, and stabbed her 19 times, after claiming a fictional creature from the internet ordered them to do so. But once a cyclist came across the victim, clinging to life, the other girls’ plan veered off course. This is the story of Payton Leutner, also known, as the Slender Man stabbing.

BONUS EPISODES
Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398
Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast

CASE SOURCES
1. Creepypasta: https://www.creepypasta.com/slenderman/
2. ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mothers-teens-pleaded-guilty-slender-man-stabbing-case/story?id=52739807
3. Oprah: https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a29591703/slender-man-stabbing-true-story/
4. Good Morning America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFiJvVGzdpo
5. SourceFedNerd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKG81xQjPzc
6. The Game of Nerds: https://thegameofnerds.com/2017/11/24/the-slender-man-movie-from-photoshop-contest-entry-to-horror-film/
7. Beware the Slenderman: https://www.hulu.com/watch/2faf31a7-bee6-4357-aa18-8026fca1e2bb
8. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/waukesha/2021/04/15/slender-man-stabbing-anissa-weier-should-released-attorneys-say/7236515002/
9. Oxygen: https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/anissa-weier-to-be-released-from-mental-health-facility
10. The Cinemaholic: https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-the-survivor-payton-leutner-now/
11. KLTV: https://www.kltv.com/2021/09/14/slender-man-stabbing-victims-family-nervous-about-release/
12. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/archives/2020/09/02/slender-man-stabbing-timeline-geyser-weier-cases-wisconsin/3803170002/
13. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing/slender-man-creator-speaks-stabbing-i-am-deeply-saddened-n122781
14. New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/movies/slender-man-timeline.html
15. All That's Interesting: https://allthatsinteresting.com/payton-leutner#:~:text=Born%20in%202002%2C%20Payton%20Leutner,was%20often%20sitting%20by%20herself.
16. Criminal Minds: https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Anissa_Weier_and_Morgan_Geyser#:~:text=Geyser%20was%20born%20on%20May,grew%20up%20in%20Waukesha%2C%20Wisconsin.
17. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://archive.jsonline.com/news/crime/critical-hearing-in-slender-man-case-to-begin-today-b99520903z1-307851871.html
18. TMJ4: https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/waukesha-slender-man-stabbing-case-morgan-geyser-withdraws-petition-to-be-released
19. New York Magazine: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/08/slender-man-stabbing.html