Morgan Geyser, pictured, and Anissa Weier allegedly stabbed another 12-year-old girl and have been charged with attempted murder. Angie Geyer says that during an extensive psychological evaluation several months after the stabbing, Morgan received an extraordinarily rare diagnosis for such a young girl: early onset schizophrenia. She said as hard as it may be for some to believe, she did not know how mentally ill her daughter was before the day of the stabbing. In the aftermath of the stabbing, investigators searched Morgan’s room and found disturbing evidence of a deteriorating young mind, which included drawings of Slender Man with children and the words, “I want to die,” and “help me escape my mind” scrawled across a page. In her bedroom, David Janisch, a former police officer hired by Morgan Geyser's legal team, found drawings of Slender Man and mutilated dolls that had "their hands cut off, arms cut off, legs cut off," Janisch said. At the time, Kristi Weier still had no idea that the victim had been stabbed 19 times. Morgan stabbed Payton 19 times before taking off with Anissa through the woods to find Slender Man, the fictional meme they say ordered the murder of their friend. She said Morgan has changed a lot in the past two years. A preliminary hearing for Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier began Monday in Waukesha County Circuit ... the defense played a recording of Weier's interview with … I did watch over her shoulder,” Weier said. "It's hard enough to make friends. I'm sorry… I never meant this to happen," Geyser said as she cried during her sentencing. The three girls headed to this park the morning of their sleepover, where they initially planned to murder Payton Leutner. Two days after their interrogations, Morgan and Anissa were charged as adults, facing the possibility of up to 65 years in prison. "That’s not the way she speaks. That began in December, more than a year aft… Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier were both arrested in the attempted murder of their friend Payton Leutner. "Her illness has been treated very successfully. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. “The interrogation is very difficult to watch because that’s not my daughter saying those things," she said. There and gone like that.". “It’s difficult living in the community where you experienced the worst thing that's ever happened to you,” she said. Casey asked Morgan Geyser. As I approached her I said, 'Hi, I'm Officer Dan. She’d be looking in the corner. "I know she'll never trust me again and that she hates my guts," Weier said. I didn't know him. All three girls were 12 years old. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.". In 2017, a jury found her not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. “I just kept asking ‘what happened, what's going on,’ and they wouldn't tell me other than to say there had been an incident in the park and one of the girls was hurt,” said Geyser. Leutner was 12 when two of her 12-year-old friends, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, lured her from a sleepover to a nearby wooded park in the Milwaukee suburb … She’d be looking around the room. “Morgan’s untreated mental illness is what made her a danger. Dr. Eric Newsom explains how this terrifying Internet-based character from fan fiction grew a massive cult-like following. Not only were there police in my living room, but they were wearing riot gear.”. "She, in fact, had quite the opposite reaction. Her hair was wild,” she said of her daughter Morgan. Anissa Weier, Morgan Geyser and Payton Leutner had a sleepover and asked to go to the park the morning after. It was weird. ET. “I don’t allow myself to break down in front of her and see how much this is hurting me to see her behind bars,” she added. “We've actually, in a sad sort of way, had more of a mother-daughter bonding time than we've ever had before without the distractions of cellphones or video games or phone calls or TV. She has agreed to remain in a state mental institution for at least three years before seeking release on community supervision. "There was a lot of deception in Morgan's interview," Casey said. Police also found that Morgan Geyser sent Anissa Weier an email instructing her to remember to clean out her browser history. Anissa Weier passes a note to defense attorney Joseph Smith Jr. during closing arguments in her case before Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren, Sept. 15, 2017, in Waukesha, Wis. Morgan Geyser's mother Angie Geyser is seen here during an interview with "20/20.". And then Morgan and I were going to be, like, lionesses chasing down a zebra. We're still here for you. After Bambi's mother was shot, Morgan just said, 'run, Bambi, run!' You know, especially with delusions. But Anissa knew him." Trussoni immediately sprang into action to collect information from Leutner in case she died from her injuries. She explained that they attempted the murder to appease "whoever Anissa was talking about. Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, FILE. "We led her there and tricked her… We said that we were going to go bird watching," Morgan Geyser said. "I asked Payton how [the attack] stopped and she simply said that Morgan just stopped and stared at her. “Morgan had been talking with her about Slender Man, and Payton was terrified,” Payton’s mother, Stacie Leutner, told “20/20” in 2014. A man riding his bike found her and called 911. She also said her daughter is "no longer a danger." I felt no remorse. 'Slender Man' stabbing victim speaks publicly for first time: … We were trying to kill her," Geyser said. A jury then found Weier not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Morgan Geyser was a 12-year-old murder suspect when she blankly nodded at Detective Tom Casey, agreeing to sign a piece of paper and waive her Miranda rights. Both girls’ mothers were making the hours-long drive to see their daughters in jail. — -- Standing in a Wisconsin police station lobby, Angie Geyser said she was in disbelief when detectives, who had just interrogated her daughter, told her that her 12-year-old had admitted to a stabbing a classmate and leaving her for dead as part of a plot she and her friend had planned for months. Geyser’s sentencing is set for Thursday. An excerpt of Morgan Geyser’s police interview soon after the Slender Man stabbing. As part of her deal, a jury would hear her insanity defense and decide whether she was criminally responsible and should be sent to a prison, or not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and sent to a state mental institution. Payton, now 15, crawled to a nearby road and was helped by a passing bicyclist before she was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. She said that she couldn't see, she couldn't walk and that she couldn't breathe," Weier said. Morgan told police that is when she stabbed Payton repeatedly. She made it seem necessary… This is going to get me arrested, isn't it?". Police fanned out across Waukesha in an extensive search looking for the two missing 12-year-olds. Angie Geyser said she wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis because Morgan’s father has schizophrenia. "While Payton is putting on a pink dress — a princess dress — the two start talking and they start devising plan number two.". Casey said he remembers Morgan Geyser being "very calm.". and had no reaction whatsoever to the mother dying, so it was just kind of the opposite reaction that we'd been expecting.". Morgan Geyser was later diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia, which is extremely uncommon at her age. “I think on some level, I’ll always feel responsible for not knowing that my daughter wasn’t well. ", Weier said she and Morgan Geyser talked about their plan to murder Leutner in public sometimes, "but we made sure we whispered. That morning, Angie Geyser said the girls had asked if they could go to the park. Investigators uncovered notebooks with writings and drawings related to Slender Man in Morgan Geyser's locker. I didn't know him. But I can't ignore the obvious that she does need therapy and she does need mental help,” Kristi Weier said of Anissa. I did search her iPad. "What did you do next?" "We would all be together. “The best way to describe it is that it was like the light came back on behind her eyes,” said Angie Geyser. She said she believes Morgan actively hid her delusions from those around her. “That's odd for a 12-year-old child sitting in a police station with a detective, not to be frightened about what's going on.”. Morgan Geyser's mother Angie Geyser is seen here during an interview with "20/20." Morgan Geyser admitted that she didn't really think about what would happen after stabbing Leutner. … Morgan lives in reality now.”. Payton Leutner, 17, said she is "grateful for all of the love and support" she received after friends tried killing her in the name of the fictional character "Slender Man" five years ago. He discovered that the two girls had a sleepover the night before with a third friend, Anissa Weier. Morgan Geyser has her 12th birthday party Leutner said she had no idea what the two girls had planned for her in the name of "Slender Man" when she arrived to Geyser's 12th birthday party. Both the Geysers and the Weiers were allowed to see their daughters briefly before they were arrested and taken to jail. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier On May 31, 2014, in Waukesha, Wisconsin , two 12-year-old girls lured their best friend Payton Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times in an attempt to become proxies of the fictional character Slender Man . It’s hard for a lot of people to differentiate … let alone a 12 year old,” Westendorf said. But the girls lost their nerve to carry out their second plan and left the bathroom. Sitting in a … Anissa Weier's mother Kristi Weier spent hours driving back and forth to the jail where her daughter was held. The Stabbing On May 31, 2014, Geyser and Weier lured their friend, Payton Leutner, into the nearby woods after a sleepover. In 2014, two 12-year-old girls were charged with stabbing their best friend. "They were kind of dirty, covered in some stains," Trussoni said. Angie Geyser later learned from Morgan that her daughter had been experiencing visual hallucinations since she was 3 years old. Weier said she told Leutner to "lay down and be quiet. Leutner's two classmates, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, were charged in adult court with first-degree attempted intentional homicide after the attack. In 2014, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier lured their best friend, Payton Leutner, into the woods in Wisconsin and attacked her. “I get up and then Morgan hands me the knife and says, ‘I can't do it, you know where all the soft spots are,’” Anissa told police during the interrogation. One of the girls on trial said she felt no remorse for stabbing their classmate. I remember being 11 years old and riding home from the library with [the book] 'IT' under my arm. It was a sunny day in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Saturday, May 31, 2014, and Detectives Michelle Trussoni and Tom Casey were looking forward to a quiet work day. And I just want to get us all away from that.”, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. She said, 'No,'" Klein said. “I put it back in the bag and walked,” Geyser told police. Shelly Fisher interviewed Payton Leutner at the hospital a week after the attack. "It seems like Anissa is saying this is what happened but when you listen to Morgan, she always says, 'Well I think that Anissa did it. For years, questions about the case captivated the country. ", "When they brought the girls back, Payton was actually still in surgery and we did not know if she was going to make it at this point," Casey said. Morgan, sensing she was different, hid these delusions from family and friends. “Initially, I mean, she really behaved like a caged animal. "She was going to hide one place [and] I was going to hide another. One of many internet drawings of the fictional character, Slender Man. While behind bars, both girls received mental health evaluations. “I mean it was shocking,” Angie Geyser said. They seemed kind of meek, if you will. That was a really, really low day,” Kristi Weier said. She pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide and prosecutors agreed not to challenge her insanity defense. Angie Geyser said she hopes Morgan will be able to return home to her family, but wants the family to move away from Waukesha, Wisconsin. So unless you’re talking about the delusion, you may not know that it exists,” Dr. Melissa Westendorf, who was one of the court-appointed forensic psychologists who evaluated Anissa and testified at the trial, told “20/20.”. Morgan Geyser, 12, and Anissa Weier, 12, have been in police custody since they allegedly stabbed their 12-year-old friend 19 times in the woods of their Wisconsin neighborhood. "Anissa told me we had to," Morgan Geyser insisted in her interview. ", "We had been concerned to show Morgan the movie because she was a sensitive and empathetic child, at least towards other people, so we were afraid that when she saw the movie, that when Bambi's mother died, she would be devastated," Geyser said. Go crazy. In accordance with the plea deal, the court also found Geyser not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect despite her earlier guilty plea. "They were just typical girls.”. "As I got closer, I started to see a little bit more blood, and the closer I got, the more blood I saw.". It was a flawless plan, actually. I love and cherish you all and wouldn’t do you harm.”. “She does not [still believe Slender Man is real]. "I thought that maybe this was all about a boy -- this was a fight about a boy.". Weier said that their plan changed because they "were too sleepy and tired" from going to a local roller skating rink. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Tom Casey questioned attempted murder suspect Morgan Geyser. "They told her they were going to go get her help but Anissa flat-out said, 'No, we weren't getting her help. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times, while Weier shouted SEAN DOOLEY, EMILY WHIPP, KELLEY ROBINSON, ALEXA VALIENTE and LAUREN EFFRON. After Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier were located, police questioned the girls separately. "So I started walking away, and then, like, when I was 5 feet away, I said, 'Now,'" Weier said. When the police first reached Kristi Weier, she said they told her Anissa was missing and she feared her daughter had been abducted. "Because she said that he'd kill our families… A man. Detective Shelly Fisher said that as they approached the woods, they suggested playing a game of hide-and-seek. Westendorf diagnosed Anissa with a “shared psychotic disorder,” saying that Morgan’s schizophrenia coupled with both girls’ delusions about Slender Man created a perfect storm. Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser's moms say their daughters were "typical girls. You're a monster. WAUKESHA, WI — Morgan Geyser, one of two Wisconsin girls convicted with stabbing a classmate 19 times to satisfy the fictional horror character Slender Man lost her appeal on Wednesday. "I was really scared, knowing that Slender [Man] could easily kill my whole family in three seconds," Weier added. 1 GUNDRUM, J. Both girls' mothers told "20/20" that they never saw any warning signs from their daughters that they would harm someone else. It was the case that rocked the town of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and stunned the nation: Two then 12-year-old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, arrested on May 31, 2014, for stabbing then 12-year-old Payton Leutner, with the intent to kill her to appease the online fictional character, "Slender Man." Afterwards, police told the girls’ parents, who had been waiting in the police station lobby, what Anissa and Morgan had said. After two experts testified about Morgan Geyser’s psychological evaluations, a Wisconsin county court judge ruled the 12-year-old girl is not mentally competent to stand trial – at least for now. "I think Anissa latched onto it because she sees what Morgan is liking and let me go into it full steam ahead.". The first sign that something was wrong, she said, was when the police were at her front door. Two had hit major organs, damaging her liver and stomach. We will know what to look for in the future,” she said. ", Police spoke to the two girls in separate rooms for hours. Leutner told Klein it was her best friend Morgan Geyser who attacked her in the woods. Anissa Weier pleaded guilty last year to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, as a party to a crime, with the use of a dangerous weapon as part of a plea deal. “I was vacuuming in the basement and my son, who was 6 at the time, came downstairs and he told me that the police are here, and they're looking for Morgan,” Angie Geyser said. That’s not the way she acts.”, “She appears to have no remorse for what's happened, and she just talks about it in such a flat manner,” Angie Geyser continued. "I thought that they were in grave danger and that we may find these girls dead," Casey said. “If I had had any idea that she believed Slender Man was real, we would have done something about it. For the first time, the Leutners talk about the horrific day their 12-year-old daughter was stabbed 19 times. “I think that, as she got older, and she realized that, hey, maybe this isn't normal, that she did make a conscious effort to hide it,” Angie Geyser said. Should her attempted murderers be held accountable as adults? Angie Geyser said the police didn’t believe her and started searching the house, thinking she was hiding Morgan. Earlier this year, the court also accepted a plea deal for Morgan, now 15, who pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. That girl was Payton Leutner, who had been stabbed 19 times by her best friends, who were also 12 years old at the time, in the name of a fictional internet character named "Slender Man." "From where Waukesha is, the Nicolet National Forrest would be approximately [a] four to four-and-a-half hour drive," Trussoni said. Police said they couldn't believe what they had heard. “I frequently drive by these places that hold horrible memories. Officer Dan Klein was the first to respond to the call after a bicyclist had found sixth-grader Payton Leutner lying in the grass at the end of a dead end road. Payton Leutner was 12 years old when two friends of the same age stabbed her 19 times. “Once you find this character on the internet, you can read all these stories that look real. "The morning comes and they wake up and they get up, start playing with Silly Putty and playing with their iPad and playing dress up," Trussoni said. From left: Payton and Morgan together in an undated family photo. But the most dramatic shift, Geyser said, came after Morgan's initial commitment to the state mental hospital. I felt no remorse.”. Angie Geyser, Morgan’s mom, apologized to the Leutners in the "20/20" episode. Morgan Geyser's lawyers also cut a deal with prosecutors. "I have never gone into an interview so blind as I have in this one," Trussoni added. "I mean, you don't often see this with adults, and to have this happen between 12-year-olds is absolutely horrifying.". "I figured that I'd get into trouble eventually, though, because mommy always says that whatever you do catches up to you eventually, and it did," Morgan Geyser said. "It wasn't until we started talking with the girls that we really knew it was two 12-year-old girls that have planned for six months to kill their friend," Casey said. "He's, like I said, a tall guy who constantly wears a suit. "After spending 25 years in a mental institution with other adults, I don't know if she's going to be any better. Anthony Cotton, Morgan’s attorney, said it was clear to him the moment he met Morgan that she was struggling with mental illness. From left, Payton Leutner Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier seen together in an undated photo. Angie Geyser believes her daughter is not dangerous. How did two 12-year-old girls become this dangerous?”. The girls told police their plan was to walk to the mansion to be with Slender Man. 12-year-old 'Slender Man' stabbing survivor found clinging to life: Part 1. "We were like, talking on the bus. "Is she dead? "I didn't really understand what we were doing but I really didn't wanna make Anissa mad," Morgan Geyser said. "There was one of them called Slender Man… He can be anywhere from 6 feet to 14 feet tall," Weier said. “Just knowing how long she was sick and suffering inside her own head before we had any idea… makes me sad,” Angie Geyser said. “[Anissa’s father] and I, although we were divorced, we were still very active parents. In December a Wisconsin judge ordered Weier, now 16, to be placed under a mental health commitment for a period of 25 years, with credit for her three-and-a-half years already spent in jail. Payton had also talked to her parents about Slender Man before the attack. That day plays out almost every night in my nightmares.". "In looking through the Geyser home computer, there was literally thousands of internet searches that were done: 'how to get away with murder,' 'what kind of insane am [I]?'