Wisconsin Girls Charged In Friend's Stabbing Claim Inspiration From Website
(CBS) -- In a crime that shocked the nation, two 12-years-old Wisconsin girls are accused of stabbing their best friend and they may have been influenced by a website.
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier have been charged as adults and are accused of stabbing their best friend 19 times. According to the criminal complaint, the girls pointed to the website creepypasta.com when asked why they did.
"Both suspects had a fascination with a fictitious character that often posted to a website that's a collection of small stories about death and horror," said Chief Russell Jack of the Waukesha Police Department.
One of the horror stories is about a mythical serial killer named 'Slender Man' and according to criminal complaint, the girls wanted to kill someone to prove Slender Man was real.
Rami Gabriel, a professor of psychology at Columbia College, says the website may have been a factor.
"It's a misconstrual of the nature of the website but these are twelve-year-old children," said Gabriel.
But makers of the website cry foul, responding with a five page blog writing..."I remember reading scary stories and watching slasher movies when I was a child and young teenager and while they certainly gave me nightmares, they did not instill within me a desire to murder my friends."
In a world where children can overdose on the internet Gabriel says parents need to pay more attention.
While the bloggers at Creepypasta defended the website, they also offered sympathy and prayers to everyone involved.
