Judge orders release of woman who stabbed boyfriend to please ‘slim man’

A woman who stabbed her friend 19 times a decade ago to impress a shady fictional character called Slender Man when she was 12 will be released from a psychiatric hospital, a Wisconsin judge ruled Thursday.

The woman, Morgan Geyser, 22, requested an early release from her 40-year commitment to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in October. Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael O. Bohren granted the release Thursday, concluding after a hearing that she no longer posed a danger to herself or others.

Ms. Geyser, who has been held at the facility since she was 15, will be released under conditions set by the state Department of Health, according to court records.

Ms. Geyser had asked to leave the psychiatric center several times since 2022, but then abandoned some of those requests. A motion she filed a year ago was rejected in April by Judge Bohren, who said there was a significant risk that Ms. Geyser would harm herself or others.

Ms. Geyser was charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder after she and a classmate, Anissa Weier, lured her then-12-year-old boyfriend, Payton Leutner, to a wooded area in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on May 31. 2014. Ms. Geyser stabbed Ms. Leutner 19 times with a kitchen knife while Ms. Weier watched and pushed her further.

Ms. Leutner was able to crawl out of the area and was found by a cyclist. She survived her injuries after several months of recovery.

Both Ms. Geyser and Ms. Weier were caught on the way to a mansion they believed belonged to Slender Man, an Internet character often depicted as a large creature in a suit with a blank face. The two later told authorities that they carried out the stabbing to appease the fictional character.

Ms. Geyser was sentenced to 40 years in a psychiatric hospital after lawyers and doctors said she suffered from delusions caused by schizophrenia and psychotic spectrum disorder.

Her accomplice, Ms. Weier, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 25 years in a psychiatric hospital. She was released in 2021 to live with her father under electronic monitoring. In September 2023, Judge Bohren allowed her monitoring device to be removed.

Emily Schmall contributed to reporting.