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Slender Man stabbing, Geyser seeks release
Morgan Geyser, convicted in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing of a classmate, has filed a petition for her conditional release from her DHS commitment.
WAUKESHA, Wis. - Morgan Geyser, one of two convicted in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing of a classmate, has again filed a petition for her conditional release from a state mental health facility.
In 2018, Geyser was committed to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for 40 years – found guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide but not guilty due to mental disease/defect.
Court records show Geyser, now 21 years old, withdrew previous petitions for early release from her commitment in 2023 and 2022.
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"She’s asking the judge to allow her to be released into the community under very strict conditions," said Defense Attorney Jonathan LaVoy, who is not associated with the case but has followed it for the past decade.
Anissa Weier, who was also committed in 2017 for the attack, was granted conditional release in September 2021. She was required to receive outpatient psychiatric treatment and subjected to GPS monitoring – the latter condition waived in September 2023. LaVoy said that can help Geyser's case.
Winnebago Mental Health Institute
"If she would have gotten out and had problems, the opposite effect would have occurred for sure," he said.
Geyser and Weier were charged in the stabbing of a classmate when they were all minors.
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Prosecutors said Payton Leutner was lured to a wooded area in Waukesha by Geyser and Weier after a sleepover in May 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner repeatedly as Weier urged her on, prosecutors said. They claimed it was to appease Slender Man, a fictional horror character.
Leutner was left for dead but survived the attack; she crawled out of the woods and was found by a bicyclist. Weier and Geyser were later found walking along Interstate 94.
"The young age and the amount of violence was such a significant event," LaVoy said. "I think the issue of undiagnosed mental health, really raging in a situation causing this horrific event to occur.
A judge will have 30 days to appoint doctors to evaluate Geyser. Then, they will all be back in court.
"I’m optimistic the doctors will provide a good evaluation, and if she’s not ready, she’ll continue to treat," said LaVoy.
FOX6 News reached out to Geyser's attorney, Anthony Cotton, for comment on Thursday. His office had no comment.