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A judge has denied the petition for conditional release for one of the two young women who were convicted in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing of a classmate in Wisconsin.
Thursday’s ruling comes after two days of testimony regarding Morgan Geyser’s mental health.
Geyser, 21, was found not guilty by reason of mental disease and was initially sentenced in 2018 to a maximum of 40 years of state mental health supervision.
Geyser has been in the facility for nearly a decade, but despite Thursday’s ruling, her defense attorney Anthony Cotton said Geyser will try again in six months.
WISCONSIN WOMAN CONVICTED IN ‘SLENDER MAN’ STABBING CASE PETITIONS FOR CONDITIONAL RELEASE
FILE: Morgan Geyser is escorted out of the courtroom following her sentencing on Feb. 1, 2018, in Waukesha, Wis. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Court records show Geyser asked a Washington County judge to be released but withdrew previous petitions for early release from her commitment in 2023 and 2022.
Geyser’s attorneys now want her moved to a group home. The director of the facility, Geyser, is now in agrees with her attorneys.
“I do think at this point it is critical to make the transition to the community to help with her ongoing development,” Kayla Pope, Winnebago mental health institute director, told FOX6 Milwaukee.
However, there was also testimony about Geyser telling doctors she faked her mental illness, claiming she was sexually abused as a child.
‘SLENDER MAN’ CASE: WISCONSIN JUDGE ORDERS CONDITIONAL RELEASE FOR WOMAN INVOLVED IN STABBING
Morgan Geyser, 15, left, appears before sentencing for Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren. Geyser is one of the two girls who tried to kill a classmate with a knife to appease fictional horror character Slender Man, right. (AP)
Doctors testified stating that Geyser had not been violent towards anyone else since the stabbing. She has also been off anti-psychotic medication since December 2022. Doctors told FOX6 Milwaukee she has had no issues.
“Morgan has improved quite dramatically,” Kenneth Robbins, MD. explained.
Medical experts also diagnosed Geyser with schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The victim’s family is vehemently opposed to the release of Morgan Geyser,” prosecutor Ted Szczupakiewicz countered back.
Ultimately, Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren agreed with the prosecution, saying Geyser’s credibility is an issue and said he believes the public would be in danger if Geyser left the 24/7 care she is currently receiving.
“Under these circumstances, the court is satisfied that the scales tip in favor of the public, and it tips that way by clear and convincing evidence,” the judge ruled.
Anissa Weier listens as former teachers testify during her trial in Waukesha County Court, in Waukesha, Wis, in September 2017. (AP/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 years old when they stabbed another girl, Payton Leutner, to appease the fictional horror character Slender Man back in 2014.
Prosecutors said Geyser and Weier lured Leutner to a wooded area in Waukesha after a sleepover in May 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner repeatedly as Weier urged her on, prosecutors said.
Both Weier and Geyser told authorities they felt they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man’s “proxies,” or servants, and protect their families from him.
Leutner was left for dead but survived the attack after she crawled out of the woods and was found by a bicyclist.
Weier, who was also committed in 2017 for the attack, was granted conditional release in September 2021 and was required to receive outpatient psychiatric treatment and subjected to GPS monitoring.
“Slender Man” started with an online post in 2009, as a mysterious specter whose image people edit into everyday scenes of children at play. He is typically depicted as a spidery figure in a black suit with a featureless white face. He was regarded by his devotees as alternately a sinister force and an avenging angel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
