Deliberations stretch on in Slender Man case

Deliberations stretch on in Slender Man case

Jurors were still trying to decide whether a Wisconsin girl accused of helping stab a classmate to please horror character Slender Man was mentally competent during the attack.

According to investigators, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed Payton Leutner in a suburban Milwaukee park in 2014, nearly killing her. All three were 12 at the time.

Weier and Geyser told detectives they believed they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man’s servants and protect their families from him. Weier’s attorneys tried to convince jurors she was mentally ill during the attack and should be committed to an institution rather than prison.

Wisconsin law requires that only 10 of the 12 jurors agree on a verdict in a mental-competency case but there were no indications the panel was close to a decision.

Even Cuba’s Castro baffled by harm to US diplomats

HAVANA

Raul Castro seemed rattled.

The Cuban president sent for the top American envoy in the country to address grave concerns about a spate of U.S. diplomats harmed in Havana. There was talk of futuristic “sonic attacks” and the subtle threat of repercussions by the United States, until recently Cuba’s sworn enemy.

The way Castro responded surprised Washington, several U.S. officials familiar with the exchange told The Associated Press.

In a rare face-to-face conversation, Castro told U.S. diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis that he was equally baffled and concerned. The Cubans even offered to let the FBI come down to Havana to investigate.

Protests follow ex-St. Louis officer’s acquittal in killing

ST. LOUIS

About 100 people gathered Friday in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of a white former police officer in the shooting death of a black man.

A judge on Friday found 36-year-old Jason Stockley not guilty in the 2011 death of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith.

St. Louis police say they made 13 arrests and that four officers were injured in protests. Hundreds of protesters marched through city streets

Equifax executives departing after huge data breach

NEW YORK

Equifax announced late Friday that its chief information officer and chief security officer would leave the company immediately, following the enormous breach of 143 million Americans’ personal information.

The credit data company – under intense pressure since it disclosed last week that hackers accessed the Social Security numbers, birthdates and other information – also released a detailed, if still muddled, timeline of how it discovered and handled the breach.

Equifax said that Susan Mauldin, who had been the top security officer, and David Webb, the chief technology officer, are retiring. Mauldin, a college music major, had come under media scrutiny for her qualifications in security. Equifax did not say in its statement what retirement packages the executives would receive.

Associated Press