On May 31st, 2014, in Waukesha, Wisconsin 12-year-olds Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, lured classmate Payton Leutner, into a wooded area. Geyser then proceeded to stab Leutner 19 times as Weier cheered her on. Thankfully, Leutner was able to survive the brutal attack by two girls she considered friends. The pre-teens reportedly committed this horrific act to impress the fictional character Slender Man.
On April 11th, 2024 Judge Michael O. Bohren denied Geyser’s request for a conditional release from her 40-year commitment to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh. After hearing testimony from three experts and the institute’s director, the Waukesha County Circuit Court judge decided she still posed a significant risk to herself and others. Leading him to rule that she should remain institutionalized.
While Geyser had no immediate comment on this decision. Her lawyer, Anthony Cotton, will file another petition for conditional release in six months, the minimum time frame allowed per Wisconsin state law. Some of Leutner’s relatives were at the hearing and are “vehemently opposed” to her release. None of Geyser’s family was in attendance during the two-day hearing.
The Attack on Payton Leutner
Despite her injuries, Leutner crawled out of the woods where a passing cyclist assisted her. A few hours after the attack police located Geyser and Weier near the highway. The pair claimed they were heading to a mansion in Wisconsin’s Northwoods that they believed belonged to Slender Man. The character is a popular Creepypasta who takes children. He is normally shown as a tall shadowy figure with no face.
During interrogations, both girls claimed they believed that stabbing Leutner would please the internet monster. They were steadfast in the belief that killing Leutner would turn them into Slender Man’s “proxies.” The case rocked the small Wisconsin town and the world, raising debates on when and how children should access certain corners of the internet.
The Hearing
During the recent hearing, psychologists testified about Geyser’s traumatic childhood and her psychiatric history after the attack. The problem is, it is difficult to gauge the mental well-being of someone who has spent their entire adolescence in a mental institution. In 2023, she revealed to psychologists that she had been sexually assaulted by her father, who died that same year. She claims that her mother failed to protect her from him.
Psychologist Deborah Collins opposed Geyser’s conditional release because she attempted to hang herself in October 2021. She also claims that Geyser stopped taking antipsychotic medications in 2022, and feigned mental illness to escape her abusive father. Dr. Collins cited a medical record from last year where Geyser told a therapist; “How do you think I was able to repeatedly stab my best friend? I didn’t care, I can’t care, I’ve never known how to care.”
Dr. Collins and another psychologist describe Geyser as an intelligent and empathetic person, who was psychotic at the time of the attack. However, her statements raised serious doubts about her credibility.
The Ruling
“This is a brutal attack on a person,” Judge Bohren said. “This is hands on, if you will. This is bloody, this is gory. That kind of dangerous conduct is what the risk is.” Until questions about her credibility are resolved “that risk is high.”
Geyser’s accomplice, Weier pleaded guilty in 2017 to attempted second-degree homicide. A jury found that she was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the stabbing and decided that she should receive treatment rather than jail time. She was committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute for 25 years. In July 2021, she was granted conditional release and is serving the remainder of her term at her father’s home with electronic monitoring.
Leutner had to endure a month-long recovery from the attack before he was able to return to school. She declined requests for interviews. “I want to be a normal person, and I want to heal in peace,” she wrote in a text message.
