Morgan Geyser, a Wisconsin woman who at age 12 stabbed her sixth grade classmate nearly to death to please online horror character Slender Man, will be released from a psychiatric hospital, a judge ordered Thursday after experts testified that she has made considerable progress battling mental illness. Geyser, now 22, has spent nearly seven years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She has asked Judge Michael Bohren, who committed her, for release four times since June 2022. Bohren denied her third request last April, finding she still presented a threat to the public, the Associated Press reports.
Bohren decided to grant her release after a hearing Thursday, finding that she had maximized her treatment options and is no longer a safety risk. He ordered the state Department of Health Services to house her in a group home and supervise her pending a hearing within 60 days. The judge said her crime was a “brutal, terrible offense” but Geyser has grown up and to be truly rehabilitated she must be part of society. “She’s done what she’s supposed to do,” Bohren said. “She appears to have a good attitude.” Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 in 2014 when they lured classmate Payton Leutner to a park after a sleepover. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier egged her on. Leutner barely survived. The girls said they attacked Leutner to earn the right to be Slender Man’s servants and they feared he would harm their families if they didn’t follow through. Like Geyser, Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. She was sent to the psychiatric center but was released in 2021 to live with her father and was ordered to wear a GPS monitor.