Slender Man case: Judge grants Morgan Geyser conditional release

 

WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Twenty-two-year-old Morgan Geyser was granted an early release Thursday by a Waukesha County judge.

Geyser was just 12 years old in May of 2014 when she and Anissa Weier stabbed their 6th grade classmate more than a dozen times, telling police they did it for a fictional character called Slender Man.

Both were found not guilty by mental defect and committed to psychiatric facilities.

Weier was released in 2021.

This was Geyser's fourth petition for early release.

In the last three months, three doctors completed evaluations on Geyser's mental health diagnoses and behavior at Winnebago Mental Health Institute, where she has been committed since 2017.

The doctors unanimously supported her release to a supervised group home, agreeing there's no recent evidence that Geyser poses a danger to herself or others.

"I would not be in support of her petition for conditional release if it was essentially just going into the community without a variety of different support services, as well as the ability to effectively monitor her behavior, her relationships," said Dr. Brooke Lundbohm.

Since last May, Geyser has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and gender dysphoria, but her doctors say the diagnoses aren't a cause for concern, and her mental health has been steadily improving.

She had been previously diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, but her doctor said she no longer needs medication treatment.

"She can't go any further as far as treatment is concerned," said Judge Michael Bohren. "To me, in order to be able to really adequately be rehabilitated, they have to be able to exist in the community somehow."

Geyser's attorney Anthony Cotton was emotional after the judge's decision, saying his client is ready for this next step.

"We never know 100% anything, but I think that Morgan, really now with this maturity level, with the amount of treatment that's been done, has really appreciated - appreciates what condition her needs are," Cotton said.

Geyser's treatment team now has 60 days to draft a plan for her conditional release for the judge to review.

She could be released as early as March 3.