The Slender Man stabber who nearly killed a classmate when she was 12 is too dangerous to be discharged from a psychiatric hospital, a court heard.
Morgan Geyser, now 21, asked to leave Winnebago Mental Health Institute on parole, 10 years after he was ordered to serve 40 years there for the 2014 stabbing of Payton Leutner, who was also 12 at the time. .
But on Wednesday, two psychologists said doing so would be a bad idea, with one of them calling the would-be killer’s behavior “insensitive.”
“It is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of professional certainty, that she currently presents a significant risk of bodily harm to herself or others if released on parole,” said Dr. Deborah Collins.
Another psychologist, Dr Brooke Lundbohm, told the court: ‘That would be quite remarkable. That would also be very insensitive,” regarding Geyser’s claims that she had previously faked symptoms of psychosis.
Geyster appeared in court Thursday handcuffed, with her head partially shaved and a distressed expression on her face. She was wearing a tweed dress and black stockings.
Morgan Geyser is pictured in a Milwaukee courtroom on Thursday after two experts warned she was too dangerous to release.
Geyser photographed in 2014 in her mugshot after the notoriously brutal attack
Payton Leutner almost died in 2014, when she was just 12 years old, after Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier stabbed her with a Milwaukee stick and then claimed that a supernatural figure called Slender Man told them to do it.
Geyser was ordered to spend 40 years there following the gruesome attack she and her friend Anissa Weier carried out on Payton Leutner. The couple lured Leutner to a wooded area of ​​a Milwaukee suburb in 2014, where they stabbed her 19 times.
They then caused a sensation after claiming that a supernatural figure called Slender Man had ordered them to do so.
Collins added that if he had to estimate when he thought Geyser might be released from the hospital, it would be between six and 12 months.
“I know she’s not ready right now,” Collins said.
“We have trouble being able to reliably trust her own assessment of herself,” Lundbohm added.
“If the person is not able to understand their mental health status, the possible warning signs, the triggers that could cause deterioration, and the types of treatment that may be beneficial, that raises a lot of concerns,” Lundbohm testified. .
Anissa Weier, 19, was released from Winnebago Mental Health Institute in 2021 after a judge ruled she no longer poses a threat to anyone.
Weier seen in her 2014 mugshot after she and Geyser stabbed Payton Leutner 19 times
Psychologist Dr Deborah Collins told the court Geyser was still too dangerous to release.
Weier was previously granted parole from a mental institution in 2021.
Geyser’s attorney, Anthony Cotton, is expected to continue cross-examination and introduce a third medical professional, Dr. Kenneth Robbins, to discuss his request for release.
Judge Michael Bohren will then determine whether to consider Geyeser’s release, which would cause her to move from the mental institution to her home.
If she is sent home, she will be monitored electronically and state agents and mental health professionals will visit her periodically.
Leutner’s relatives were present at the hearing but did not speak.
After the brutal stabbing, Weier and Geyser admitted that they intended to kill Leutner because they wanted join the cult of the ‘Slender Man’ after reading about it online.
The girls left Leutner for dead, but she survived by crawling out of the woods to a trail where a passing cyclist found her.
Both Geyser and Weier told detectives that they felt they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man’s ‘representatives’ or servants, and that the character would kill their families if they did not comply.
Both Geyser and Weier told detectives that they felt they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man’s ‘representatives’ or servants, and that the character would kill their families if they did not comply. (pictured: Geyser in court on Wednesday)
Responding to the cruel crime, Eric Knudsen, who created Slender Man in 2009, said he was “deeply saddened” to learn.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragedy in Wisconsin and my heart goes out to the families of those affected by this terrible act,” Knudsen said.
Geyser, who is schizophrenic, admitted to manipulating Weier into believing in Slender Man.
Weier was sentenced to 25 years in mental prison after being found not guilty of second-degree murder by reason of insanity.
In 2020, Geyser, then 18, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and, in 2017, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
His then-attorney, Matthew Pinix, appealed the ruling, arguing that Geyser should have been charged with second-degree intentional homicide, which would have moved the case to juvenile court instead of adult court.
Leutner spoke about the ordeal, which left her traumatized for months and covered in 25 scars, for the first time in a docuseries called Inside The Verdict: Slender Man last fall.
The girls claimed they carried out the attack to become servants of the fictional horror character Slender Man (depicted in the artwork, above).
She described how during the attack Geyser told her: ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m just a little kitten.
The girls then fled the woods, leaving Leutner for dead.
They later told detectives they believed Leutner would not survive.
“So we told him we were going to get help, but in reality we didn’t. We were going to run and let her die,” Weier told detectives.
Geyser, after describing the crime in a separate interview, became concerned about how much he had revealed.
In a fragment of his interrogation, he confessed: “It’s better to say it, we were trying to kill her.” Will I regret giving you this information later?
Both Geyser and Weier apologized for their actions during sentencing hearings, but the judge determined that neither was mentally fit to be released.