Judge agrees to new psychological evaluations for Wisconsin woman involved in Slender Man attack

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Morgan Geyser appeared in court Monday, Jan. 29, in her latest attempt to secure her release from a state-run mental health facility.

The now-21-year-old has been in custody for nearly a decade for her role in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing.

Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 years old in 2014 when they lured 6th grade classmate Payton Leutner to a Waukesha park after a sleepover. Geyser stabbed Leutner repeatedly while Weier egged her on. Leutner suffered 19 stab wounds and barely survived, according to medical staff who treated her.

The girls left Leutner for dead but she crawled onto a bike path and was found by a passerby. Police captured Geyser and Weier later that day as they were walking on Interstate 94 in Waukesha. They told investigators that they stabbed Leutner to earn the right to become Slender Man’s servants and protect their families from him.

Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors and a judge sent her to the psychiatric institute after determining she had a mental illness.

Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was also sent to the psychiatric facility after a jury found she was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the attack.

Weier was granted a conditional release in 2021 to live with her father and was ordered to wear a GPS monitor.

On Monday, the court agreed with both attorneys to once again have three doctors individually evaluate Geyser's mental state.

Geyser spoke only briefly in response to the judge's yes-or-no questions, but her attorney told us he thinks she is ready to be released.

Attorney Anthony Cotton said, "There comes a point where you do something as a juvenile and you're not legally responsible, you ought to come home at some point."

Cotton said so far Geyser has done everything she's supposed to do while spending years in a state-run mental health facility after stabbing a classmate 19 times in 2014.

She said little Monday afternoon while appearing virtually at her latest hearing.

Geyser is once again petitioning to be released under supervision.

Cotton said, "This is not a situation where you just walk out the doors and there's no supervision, no control over the person. It's actually a very highly regulated process."

But she must be evaluated first.

During the hearing, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren said, "The court's responsibility, then, is to appoint doctors to examine Ms. Geyser."

The same three doctors that examined her previously will do so again.

Cotton said, "She's made incredible strides, and I think she's in a position to come home."

Geyser's attorney said there's nothing more she can do at her mental health facility to prove she's ready for supervised release. Cotton said she has achieved the maximum number of privileges, and she's allowed to walk the grounds and take supervised trips.

Cotton said, "A person doesn't stay committed forever, especially when they're a child that commits a crime due to a mental illness. At some point they have to come out. We think that time is now."

Anissa Weier was also committed to a mental health facility for her role in the stabbing. Weier was granted her conditional release in July of 2021.

Cotton said that shows that Geyser's release is also possible.

But he would not predict what will happen until the evaluations are completed. "Until I see the doctor reports, I can't give you any level of confidence. From what I know from talking to her and how she's done in the facility, I'm very confident that doctors will support this."

During the psychological evaluations, the three doctors will each talk with Geyser about her prognosis and future plans, then they'll make a recommendation for what they think should happen.

Those reports are due March 1, then Geyser will be back in court in April.