By Morgan Geyser, now 22, who was accused of stabbing a classmate in 2014 to please the fictional horror character Slender Man, has filed her third petition in two years seeking release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
Geyser submitted the request to Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren on Friday, marking her latest attempt to leave the psychiatric facility where she has been held since pleading guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
The one-page petition doesn’t present arguments for Geyser’s release but cites state laws requiring Judge Bohren to appoint at least one expert to examine her within 20 days and produce a report within 30 days. The petition also requests a hearing, which Bohren has scheduled for November 1.
Geyser’s previous attempts at release have been unsuccessful. She withdrew her first petition in 2022, two months after filing. Her second request was denied by Judge Bohren in April, citing that she remained a risk to the public.
The case stems from a 2014 incident where Geyser and Anissa Weier, both 12 at the time, lured classmate Payton Leutner to a Waukesha park and stabbed her 19 times. The girls claimed they were trying to please Slender Man, a fictional internet character, and feared harm to their families if they didn’t carry out the attack. Leutner barely survived the assault.
Weier, who pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, was granted release in 2021 to live with her father under GPS monitoring.
As Geyser pursues this latest bid for release, the case continues to draw attention to issues surrounding juvenile offenders, mental health, and the long-term consequences of crimes committed by minors influenced by internet phenomena.
