Morgan Geyser, one of two people convicted in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing, is expected to be released in the coming days.
A Waukesha County judge approved a revised conditional release plan Thursday, allowing Geyser to be transferred from a psychiatric hospital to a group home in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
The decision to place Geyser in Sun Prairie followed objections to an earlier plan that would have placed her just eight miles from the home of Payton Leutner, the victim of the 2014 attack.
Geyser, now 22, appeared virtually for the hearing on July 31, which officially set a plan in place previously approved July 17 by Circuit Judge Scott Wagner.
She will be released from Winnebago Mental Health Institute after seven years in state custody. The exact release date has not yet been set, but is tentatively scheduled for August 4 or 5, pending the judge’s final approval of the modified plan, Court TV reported.
In 2014, Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier, both 12 at the time, lured Leutner into a wooded area and stabbed her 19 times in an attempt to appease the fictional character Slender Man.
The girls then forced Leutner to lie down on the ground and with a kitchen knife Geyser had brought from her home, she began to repeatedly stab her while Weier egged her on.
Leutner barely survived the attack, according to medical staff who treated her.
Geyser and Weier were captured later that day and eventually pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide but was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness and was committed for up to 40 years. Weier was released in 2021 under similar conditions.
“Morgan’s got to be placed in a facility that’s suitable for her – and this is a suitable facility. She’s going to be safe,” said Geyser’s attorney, Anthony Cotton.
“She is going to be closely monitored, closely supervised as she transitions back into the community.”
Under the conditions of her release, Geyser will remain under state supervision, wear a GPS monitor, and be subject to strict oversight. The Department of Health Services will continue to manage her care, and the exact location of the group home will not be made public.
The new location was chosen because of increased access to treatment and resources.
Earlier this year, concerns were raised when state health officials claimed Geyser had been reading violent material and communicating with a man who collects murder memorabilia.
Her attorney argued the communication was known to staff and had ended in 2024, and the reading material was permitted by the facility.
Judge Michael Bohren, who retired in April, found no intent to deceive and ordered state officials to proceed with a new release plan.
Judge Wagner took over Geyser’s case after Bohren’s retirement and formally approved the revised plan this month.
