The woman who stabbed her school classmate to please the “Slender Man” is set to be released.
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier were convicted of brutally stabbing their friend, Payton Leutner, on May 31, 2014, when all three were 12 years old.
The victim barely survived after suffering 19 stab wounds at a Waukesha park. She was able to crawl out of the area where she was found by a passing cyclist and later rushed to the hospital.
After the horrific act, police caught the two suspects walking along Interstate 94, and the girls told investigators that they were going to Slender Man’s mansion in the northern part of Wisconsin.
Both suspects claimed that they attacked their school friend after the sleepover so they could be the online horror character’s servants and so that he would not kill their families.
Geyser, who stabbed the girl, was sentenced in 2018 to 40 years in Winnebago Mental Health after she pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide, per BBC News.
Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. She was also sent to the psychiatric center but was granted release in 2021 to live with her father and was ordered to wear a GPS monitor.
Geyser, who is now 22, has petitioned for release four times since June 2022. After withdrawing her first two requests, her third petition was denied by Judge Michael Bohren in April, who determined she still posed a danger to the public, per The New York Post.
Geyser submitted her most recent petition for release in October. After a full-day hearing, Judge Bohren granted her release after three experts testified she had made considerable progress battling her conditions.
Dr. Brooke Lundbohm testified that Geyser had successfully discontinued anti-psychotic medications by early 2023 and had experienced no adverse symptoms since, and Dr. Deborah Collins alleged that Geyser told her that she regrets what she did to Leutner and couldn’t forgive herself.
Collins added that although she is always at risk of reoffending because she almost committed murder, she has worked on her coping skills, improved her emotional control, and doesn’t fantasize as much.
The third expert, Dr. Ken Robbin, told the judge that Geyser could become a risk to society if she remained confined at a mental institution. “The longer she’s there, at this point, the harder it’s going to be to re-integrate,” he added.
Meanwhile, Waukesha County Assistant Deputy Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz argued against Geyser’s release, saying that she could not be considered reliable.
He pointed out her claims during evaluations last year, where she alleged that her delusions about Slender Man – a paranormal figure with spidery limbs and a blank face that kills children – were fabricated and that the attack on Leutner was an attempt to escape her abusive father.
The attorney suggested this narrative was a calculated attempt to increase her chances of release but Judge Bohren dismissed this argument, noting that mental illnesses can evolve.
Bohren has instructed the state health department to develop a plan for Geyser’s placement in a group home, with regular supervision, for review within 60 days.
“She’s done what she’s supposed to do,” he said, per ABC, adding: “She appears to have a good attitude.”
The judge acknowledged the “brutal and horrific nature” of Geyser’s crime but said she has stressed that rehabilitation demands her return to society.
