Slender Man stabbing: Doctors testify Morgan Geyser isn’t ready to be released
By Nick Bohr
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WAUKESHA, Wisconsin (WISN) — Thursday afternoon, the state told the court is does not think Morgan Geyser should not be released at this time.
One of the Waukesha middle schoolers who became world famous for stabbing their friend nearly to death in 2014 in the name of Slender Man says she’s ready to be released from a mental institution.
Morgan Geyser is now 21. In a petition for her conditional release filed in Waukesha County Court, Geyser said her treatment has taught her how to manage her mental health so she doesn’t pose a risk to herself or others.
It was nearly 10 years ago that a 12-year-old Geyser and Anissa Weier, also 12, stabbed their middle school classmate nearly to death in Waukesha. They left her for dead, but the victim Payton Leutner, survived 19 stab wounds.
Geyser was sentenced to 40 years of mental institutional care but now says she’s improved enough to be safely released.
Doctors testifying Wednesday at a hearing on her release request said they disagree.
“It’s hard to predict without having a better understanding of that past history of violence, it’s hard to predict the future,” said Dr. Brooke Lundbohm, a clinical psychologist appointed by the court.
Documents filed in the case obtained by WISN 12 News indicate Geyser is no longer diagnosed with schizophrenia but is on four medications for post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders. Two doctors testified they’re concerned with Geyser’s recent exams.
“We have issues with being able to reliably trust her own self appraisal,” Lundbohm said.
The doctors testified Geyser now says she made up many of the delusions she claimed to be having in the years following the Slender Man attack, because she didn’t want to return home to a father she claims was abusive.
“The conundrum occurred in the fall of 2022, when Ms. Geyser told her treating psychiatrist that she had never heretofore experienced psychotic symptoms, but rather that she was faking those,” testified Dr. Deborah Collins, another of the court-appointed psychologists who recently examined Geyser.
Both doctors said Geyser isn’t ready for release, but one said Geyser is getting closer.
“It’s my opinion to a reasonable degree of professional certainty that she currently presents a significant risk of bodily harm to herself or others if conditionally released,” Collins said. “If pressed to estimate the number of months, I would estimate six to twelve months. I know she’s not ready now.”
The hearing broke for the evening in the middle of Lundbohm’s testimony. A third and final doctor will also testify Thursday. Dr. Kenneth Robbins was appointed at the request of Geyser’s attorney Anthony Cotton, and may have a different opinion than the first two.
Judge Michael Bohren will then decide whether he’ll consider a conditional release plan for Geyser, in which she would transition first to a private mental hospital before being released to her own home with electronic monitoring and regular checks by state agents and mental health professionals.
Geyser’s co-defendant in the stabbing, Anissa Weier, was granted her conditional release in 2021.
Several of Leutner’s family members were in court for the hearing, but didn’t speak.
The hearing will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
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