'Slender Man' stabber back in Wisconsin after leaving group home, arrested in Illinois

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Morgan Geyser, the woman who stabbed her fellow classmate to please the character, 'Slender Man,' returned to Wisconsin Wednesday after escaping a Madison group home over the weekend.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, a CBS 58 crew spotted a Cook County Sheriff's Office SUV arrive at the Waukesha County Jail's sallyport. 

Hillary Mintz, a spokeswoman for Waukesha County, confirmed Geyser was taken into the jail Wednesday, Nov. 26, by Cook County law enforcement.

Geyser's attorney, Tony Cotton, told CBS 58 Wednesday evening he planned to meet with her Friday.

"It is a setback because now she's in jail versus being more in the community," Cotton said. "But, I mean, with mental health, there's ups and downs."

Cotton added he did not think Geyser should be returned to a state institution because none of her actions while on the run indicated she was a threat to others.

"Is the bad decision one that demonstrates that she's violent or not?" he said. "If it's more of something that was an immature act or an impulsive act or a poorly thought through decision, that's certainly different than somebody who demonstrates a desire to harm others."

Geyser, 23, was arrested Sunday night outside a gas station in Posen, Ill., a southern suburb of Chicago. Geyser was with Chad Mecca, a man who prefers to be known as 'Charley.'

On Tuesday, Geyser waived her extradition hearing in a Cook County courtroom, signing papers that paved the way for her return to Waukesha.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne will decide whether Geyser faces new charges for escaping a group home in Madison Saturday night.

Ozanne said Tuesday his office has yet to receive a case referral in relation to the weekend incident, which has raised questions about why state officials did not alert Madison police about Geyser's disappearance sooner.

Mecca, 43, called WKOW-TV in Madison to say Geyser had made up her mind she was leaving the group home, and Mecca wanted to make sure Geyser would be safe.

"She already made it clear if I didn't go with her or not, she was still going and she was not going back to jail," Mecca said.

Geyser pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect in 2017 in connection to a 2014 incident in which the then-12-year-old Geyser stabbed a classmate 19 times in Waukesha. 

Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, told investigators they stabbed Payton Leutner to appease the fictional character, 'Slender Man.'

State lawmakers have indicated they plan to press officials with the Department of Health Services (DHS) and Department of Corrections (DOC), which oversee people who are placed on conditional release.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), who chairs the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said he was still gathering details about why so much time elapsed between Geyser's escape Saturday night and when Madison police were notified Sunday morning.

"My office has been in touch with both DHS and DOC about her escape, and we still don’t know all the details," Wanggaard said in a statement. "It appears a lot of balls were dropped, but we don’t know who dropped which ball, and which laws were followed, and which laws may not have been, yet. There are more questions than answers."

Wanggaard's office added it is looking into information it received indicating Geyser had been "shuttling between houses in the Madison area" since late September.

A DHS spokesperson shared a statement Tuesday about state officials' handling of the escape. The agency noted it issued a warrant for Geyser's arrest around midnight Sunday.

The agency added it "worked urgently to seek a nationwide extraditable warrant as soon as possible, in partnership with Waukesha County law enforcement."

However, the statement did not offer any specifics about when state officials directly contacted Madison police.

The DHS has since moved to revoke Geyser's conditional release. The state also opposed Geyser's release into the community back in the spring, but Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Scott Wagner instead approved a release plan for Geyser this summer.

On Wednesday, a hearing was set for December 22 to determine whether Geyser should be returned to a state institution. Cotton said, until then, his message to Geyser was simple.

"Hang in there," he said. "We'll talk soon, and we'll figure out a strategy and figure out what the right plan is."