A Wisconsin judge has put a temporary hold on the release of Morgan Geyser, the woman convicted in the chilling 2014 Slenderman stabbing case, from a mental health facility. The decision comes just weeks after her conditional release was approved, following fresh concerns raised by staff at the institution.
Morgan Geyser, now 22, has been at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh since 2017 after being found guilty of attempting to murder her classmate, Payton Leutner, when they were both just 12 years old. The attack — a horrifying act reportedly done to please the fictional character Slenderman — left Leutner with 19 stab wounds. Miraculously, she survived.
Earlier this year, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael O. Bohren ruled in favor of Geyser’s conditional release. But that decision changed after staff at the facility flagged some troubling behavior. According to court reports, their concerns centered around disturbing reading material Geyser had been focused on — books with themes of murder, sexual violence, and the sale of human organs. The hospital staff claimed they were unaware of her interest in such content.
In addition, there were concerns over her communication with a man outside the facility. Prosecutors argued this raised red flags about her readiness for release.
Geyser’s lawyer, Tony Cotton, pushed back, saying that she doesn’t have internet access and only reads material approved by the institution. He also noted that the facility monitors visits and has oversight of her meetings.
A new hearing is set for March 6, where the court will revisit the question of Geyser’s release.
This case first captured national attention nearly a decade ago when Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate into the woods during a sleepover and attacked her. Both girls claimed they did it to appease Slenderman, an eerie fictional character from online horror stories. Leutner somehow managed to crawl to a bike path, where she was found and rescued by a passerby.
While Geyser remains at the mental health facility, her co-defendant Anissa Weier was released in 2021 after nearly four years of treatment.
The upcoming hearing will determine whether Geyser will finally be allowed to leave the institution or if the court believes she still poses a danger to the community. For now, the decision remains up in the air.
