The attacker who conspired with a friend to stab their 12-year-old classmate in the infamous "Slender Man" case will be released after spending seven years in a mental hospital.
Morgan Geyser, 22, will be moved to a group home to continue monitoring her care after Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren ruled that she was able to be released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, as reported by NBC News
In 2014, Geyser and Anissa Weier, both 12 at the time, were convicted of stabbing Payton Leutner 19 times in a park in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Leutner was critically injured in the attack, but survived, as reported by The Independent.
Geyser and Weier previously testified they had decided to attack Leutner in an attempt to please the fictional character "Slender Man." Prosecutors said that Geyser stabbed Leutner relentlessly when Weier told her to keep going.
"There's nothing to suggest that she is a danger to herself or others. And I think there's very little at this point that Winnebago [Mental Health Institute] can do for her, and that's what they would say as well. I think it's in her interest and in everybody's interest to try to help her now become the person she can become," Dr. Kenneth Robbins, a psychiatrist treating Geyser, told the court.
Geyser was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, and pleaded guilty. She was found not guilty however on account of reason by mental disease or defect, as reported by ABC News.
Prior to Thursday's hearing, the victim's mother Stacie Leutner told ABC News, "Morgan Geyser has withdrawn her request to be released twice. More recently, her request was denied. We are confident that the judicial system will make a decision that will ensure the community, and my daughter remain safe."
Weier pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional homicide, but was also found not guilty by reason of mental disease of defect. She was sent to a psychiatric facility as well, but was released in 2021 and ordered to wear a GPS monitor.
Originally published on Latin Times
