WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) - Two young Wisconsin girls accused of stabbing their classmate to please the horror character Slender Man must stand trial as adults for attempted homicide, a judge ruled Friday.
Both girls face a count of being a party to attempted first-degree intentional homicide, which automatically places them in adult court under Wisconsin law. They each could face up to 65 years in the state prison system if convicted. Both defendants and the victim, Payton Leutner, were 12 at the time of the stabbing.
Both girls’ attorneys have argued that the girls legitimately believed they had to kill Leutner to protect their families from Slender Man’s wrath. Anthony Cotton, an attorney for one of the girls, called his client a schizophrenic in court Friday.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren found there was enough evidence to order a trial in adult court.
The defense teams had asked him to dismiss the charges during a hearing last month. They contended second-degree attempted intentional homicide would be a more fitting charge because the girls, as misguided as they were, thought they were defending themselves and their loved ones from Slender Man by attacking Leutner.
Second-degree attempted intentional homicide is a lesser crime that prosecutors would have to pursue in juvenile court. The girls could be held in the juvenile system only until they turn 25.
After delivering a half-hour analysis Friday of statutes governing homicide charges and potential defenses, Bohren rejected the self-defense claims. He noted that the girls also thought killing Leutner would make them Slender Man’s servants, earn them the right to live in his mansion and prove to others the creature was real. Those motivations outweigh self-defense, he said.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A 19-year-old biracial man who was unarmed when killed by a white Madison police officer was shot in his head, right arm and torso, according to preliminary autopsy reports released Friday.
The reports from the Dane County Medical Examiner don’t say how many times Tony Robinson was shot on March 6, or whether he was shot while facing or turned away from the officer, but they determined he died from “firearm related trauma.” The medical examiner didn’t say when a final report would be released, but said the results of toxicology tests aren’t expected for several more weeks.
Robinson was fatally shot by police officer Matt Kenny after the officer was summoned to a call that the young man was jumping in and out of traffic and had assaulted someone. Authorities said the officer heard a disturbance and forced his way into an apartment where Robinson had gone, and fired after Robinson assaulted him.
There have been numerous peaceful protests since the shooting, often drawing about 1,000 people.
The shooting exposed racial disparities in the capital city of 240,000, nearly 90 religious leaders wrote in an open letter released Friday.
“Tony’s death has laid bare the truth that our social contract does not provide the same benefit for all members of our community; and that our policies, practices, and attitudes stack the deck against and criminalize black and brown skinned members of our community at an alarmingly disparate rate,” the letter said.
Members of the local school and county boards and the City Council said in a separate letter released Friday that the community “must do better” at ending “shameful” racial disparities.
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LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) - Police say a body recovered from the Mississippi River in downtown La Crosse is that of a fisherman who had been missing since November.
A passer-by spotted the body in the river about 8 a.m. Friday. Authorities later determined the body was 27-year-old Joshua Xiong, of Onalaska, who went missing Nov. 9 while fishing alone near Lock and Dam 7 near Dresbach, Minnesota.
A life jacket and gas tank were found near the dam and his boat was found about one mile downstream. The boat had suffered significant damage.
La Crosse Police Sgt. Randy Rank says it’s too early to know if there was any foul play. An autopsy is planned.
Xiong left behind a girlfriend and two children.
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TOMAH, Wis. (AP) - Police say the death of a man at the Econo Lodge motel in Tomah has been ruled a homicide.
Officers were called to the motel Wednesday morning to find 43-year-old Derek Magnuson, of Tomah, dead in one of the rooms. Police initially said his death appeared suspicious.
In a statement Friday, Lt. Ron Waddell says the preliminary autopsy found that Magnuson was a homicide victim.
But police aren’t saying how he died and are providing few other details.
Waddell says only that “maintaining the integrity of this case” will benefit the investigation, and that details will be released “when appropriate.”
He says current information indicates there’s no threat to the public.
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