A Wisconsin judge nixed the request for conditional release from a woman who was sentenced to 40 years in a mental institution after she and a classmate nearly stabbed another classmate to death in 2014 when all three were 12 years old.
Morgan Geyser, now 21, pleaded guilty to attempted first degree homicide but not criminally responsible because of mental disease or defect, as CrimeOnline reported. The plea kept her out of prison, but she was sentenced to the maximum of 40 years in the state facility. It was the third time Geyser had petitioned for release, although in 2022 and 2023, she withdrew the petitions before they reached a courtroom.
Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier said they attacked their friend, Payton Leutner, to appease the fictitious Slender Man, a horror character created for a indie video games. They lured Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times, then left her for dead. But Leutner survived the attack.
Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren, who denied Geyser’s request on Thursday, has been on the case from the beginning, WISN reported.
“Under these circumstances, this court’s satisfied that the scales tip in the favor of the public, and it tips that way by clear and convincing evidence,” the judge said. “So in the matter, after hearing all the credible evidence, which I’m satisfied was very well presented by both the state as well as by the defense, I am satisfied that the petition should be denied.”
Prosecutors noted in court that Geyser had improved in the 10 years she’d been under the care of doctors at Winnebago Mental Health Institute but said it was not enough. The doctors who testified were split on whether she should be released.
Psychiatrist Dr. Kenneth Robbins testified that Gyeser “needs things the institution can no longer offer,” while psychologost Dr. Brooke Lundbohm said there were still “clinical factors [that] continue to exist, and are quite prominent.”
A third doctor agreed with Robbins, as did the director of the facility where Geyser is housed, who said she thought it was time for Geyser to be moved to a group home, according to WITI.
“I do think at this point it is critical to make the transition to the community to help with her ongoing development,” said Kayla Pope.
Leutner’s family opposes the release.
Geyser’s attorney, Anthony Cotton, said she will likely try for release again in six months.
Weier pleaded guilty to second degree homicide, also not criminally responsible, and was sentenced to 25 years in a state facility. She petitioned for and was granted conditional release in September 2021. Weier’s release was contingent on continued psychiatric treatment and wearing a GPS monitor. The GPS monitor condition was dropped last year.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: FILE- Morgan Geyser is escorted out of the courtroom following her sentencing on Feb. 1, 2018. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool, File)]
