By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-09 22:21:46 | Updated at 2025-01-10 05:47:14
7 hours ago
A judge has granted the supervised release of Slender Man stabber Morgan Geyser in a dramatic decision that goes against the wishes of the victim's family.
Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 when they attacked Payton Leutner, also 12, in a sickening attack that shocked America in 2014.
The teen defendant, now 22, has been held in a psychiatric facility for years, but today a judge granted her release with conditions.
A psychiatrist also told the court Geyser is now transgender and identifies as male.
Leutner miraculously survived the attack, which was inspired by the creepy fictional character Slender Man.
On Thursday, Geyser appeared in court with close-cropped hair, after attending a hearing in April 2024 with a partially shaved head.
A psychologist who testified at the hearing Thursday said that Geyser now identifies as a transgender male.
Leutner's family were hopeful the judge would keep Geyser incarcerated.
Morgan Geyser sported a new haircut in court Thursday at a hearing regarding the 22-year-old's potential release from a mental health facility. A psychologist who testified a the hearing said Geyser now identifies as a transgender male
Payton Leutner, pictured, miraculously survived the 19 stab wounds she sustained in the attack
'Morgan Geyser has withdrawn her request to be released twice. More recently, her request was denied.
'We are confident that the judicial system will make a decision that will ensure the community and my daughter remain safe,' the family said in a statement.
Geyser will remain incarcerated for another 60 days.
On the tenth anniversary of the attack, Geyser told doctors that she no longer identified as female, the court psychologist revealed today.
'On May 31 of 2024, the ten-year anniversary of the index offense, Ms. Geyser indicated to her treatment staff that she identifies as a transgender male,' Dr. Brooke Lundbohm said, before clarifying that she was using female pronouns for Geyser 'to be consistent with the collateral records.'
'In her treatment records, she's now identified with male pronouns and a separate name,' Lundbohm continued.
She also that Geyser now uses a breast binder.
Lundbohm said that her treatment team found no evidence that Geyser had psychosis or any other mental condition that inspired the change in gender identity.
'This is a process that has been going on for quite some time,' Lundbohm testified.
Geyser appeared in court on Thursday to ask Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren to be put on conditional release from Winnebago Mental Health Institute, the hospital she's been confined to since she was sentenced to 40 years there in 2018.
Geyser was last in court arguing to be released in April 2024, where many of the same psychologists testifying this week shared their insights into her mental state.
Dr. Kenneth Robbins recommended then that she be moved to a supervised group home, saying that she has 'improved quite dramatically.'
Dr. Kayla Pope, medical director at the Winnebago hospital, also argued for her release.
'She has actively participated in therapy, medication management and all the treatments that are available,' Pope said. 'At this point she is safe to return to the community. I don't know that much more could be done to make her safer.'
Other psychiatrists argued against her release, feeling she still posed a threat to society.
'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,' Dr. Deborah Collins said.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren asked a witness whether Geyser was 'faking' psychotic symptoms at the time of the stabbing in 2014
Geyser, left, stabbed Payton Leutner across her arms, legs and torso, hitting major arteries and severing her diaphragm. Geyser did this while Anissa Weier, right, egged her on
At the time, Judge Bohren rejected Geyser's request, believing there was 'clear and convincing evidence' to keep her in custody.
Geyser was in front of the same judge Thursday. He is expected to make a final decision on Friday after he's heard from all the mental health experts.
In 2014, Geyser stabbed Payton Leutner across her arms, legs and torso, hitting major arteries and severing her diaphragm. Geyser did this while Weier egged her on.
Geyser and Weier, who was freed from a mental hospital in 2021 to go live with her father, ordered Leutner lay down while they got help, leaving her for dead before the girl was found by a cyclist.
The girls claimed they were motivated by the fictional Slender Man, sparking a moral panic over potential copycat attacks as the character swept the internet.
Both Geyser and Weier told detectives they felt they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man's 'proxies,' or servants, and that the character would kill their families if they didn't follow through.
On Thursday, the judge heard from several psychologists who studied Geyser's mental health.
Much of Lundbohm's testimony on revolved around how Geyser blames family members and how she has negative feelings toward them.
The girls claimed they carried out the attack to become servants for the fictional horror character Slender Man (Depicted in artwork, above)
'Frankly a lot of people in the community don't have great relationships with their family and in and of it itself that doesn't necessarily suggest that [Geyser] would be at a higher risk for violence,' Lundbohm said.
'It's just one factor to consider, especially when we're creating a risk management plan for her discharge into the community.'
Dr. Robbins, who previously argued for her release from the hospital, expanded on Geyser's poor relationship with her family.
When the judge asked Robbins if she was 'faking' her psychotic symptoms back in 2014 when the stabbing occurred, he quickly responded 'no.'
'I think either she was experiencing transient psychotic symptoms, which is to say psychotic symptoms that didn't persist and gradually went away,' Robbins explained.
'Or the intensity of her fantasies based on some of the trauma she had experienced were so intense that she believed them to be true.'
The trauma Robbins was referring to was Geyser's claims of sexual abuse by her father, who died in 2023.
Geyser's symptoms more closely align with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and autism, Robbins added.
