Slender Man Stabbing Accomplice Approved for Conditional Release from Mental Hospital After More Than a Decade

A Wisconsin woman who nearly killed a classmate at age 12 in an infamous attack inspired by the fictional character Slender Man will be conditionally released from a psychiatric hospital more than a decade later, a judge ruled Thursday.

Morgan Geyser, now 22, has been confined to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute since she was found not criminally responsible for the 2014 stabbing of her friend, Payton Leutner, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. On Thursday, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Scott Wagner signed off on a new conditional release plan developed by the Department of Health Services. The plan comes after an earlier version was rejected in April over concerns raised by Leutner’s family, including that Geyser’s proposed group home was located just eight miles from Leutner’s residence.

The exact details and timing of Geyser’s release have not been made public for safety and privacy reasons. Her attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On May 31, 2014, Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier, both 12 at the time, lured Leutner into the woods at David’s Park following a sleepover. There, Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times with a kitchen knife while Weier encouraged her. One of the stab wounds narrowly missed Leutner’s heart. Severely injured, Leutner managed to crawl to a nearby bike path where a passerby found her and called for help. She miraculously survived the attack after emergency surgery and weeks of recovery.

The motive, according to investigators, was chilling: Geyser and Weier believed that murdering Leutner would please Slender Man, a fictional internet character, and prove themselves worthy to become his “proxies.” They feared that if they didn’t comply, Slender Man would harm their families. After the stabbing, the two girls began walking toward northern Wisconsin, claiming they were trying to find Slender Man’s mansion, which they believed was in the Nicolet National Forest. They were arrested hours later on Interstate 94 in nearby Waukesha County.

In 2017, Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide as a party to a crime but was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness. In 2018, she was committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute for up to 40 years.

Weier also pleaded guilty in 2017 to attempted second-degree intentional homicide with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 25 years in a mental health facility. She was conditionally released in 2021, agreeing to live with her father and wear a GPS monitor.

Prosecutors and state health officials initially opposed Geyser’s release. In March 2024, they cited concerning behavior, including her reading a novel involving murder and organ trafficking and communicating with a man known to collect “murderabilia.” Geyser reportedly sent him a graphic sketch and a suggestive postcard. However, her defense attorney countered that her reading materials were approved by staff and that her communication with the man had ceased after she learned he was selling items she had sent. The presiding judge at the time, Judge Michael Bohren, concluded she wasn’t concealing anything and allowed the release planning to proceed. Judge Wagner assumed the case after Bohren retired in April.

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