Official statements from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services or news reports

Wisconsin Judge Grants Conditional Release to Morgan Geyser After Fourth Petition in Slender Man Stabbing Case

Jan 9, 2025, 11:50 PM

Morgan Geyser, who at the age of 12 stabbed her classmate Payton Leutner 19 times nearly to death in an attempt to please the fictional horror character Slender Man, has been granted conditional release from a psychiatric hospital by a Wisconsin judge. Geyser, now 22, had been at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute for nearly seven years following her guilty plea to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in 2018. The judge's decision came after a day-long hearing where it was determined that Geyser had maximized her treatment options at the facility and no longer posed a safety risk. Diagnosed with early-onset schizophrenia, Geyser's release marks her fourth petition for freedom. The state Department of Health Services has been ordered to set up a plan for her housing in a group home and supervision, subject to the judge's approval within 60 days. Geyser's co-conspirator, Anissa Weier, who pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, was released in 2021 to live with her father under GPS monitoring.