About this episode
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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.