Slender Man Stabber Denied Early Release From Psychiatric Hospital

A Wisconsin judge on Thursday said that one of the women institutionalized for attempting to murder a middle school friend in a deranged bid to impress the fictional character “Slender Man” remains a danger to the public. The woman, Morgan Geyser, now 21, was a tween in 2014 when she lured Payton Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times as another girl, Anissa Weier, cheered her on. In 2018, Geyser was sentenced to 40 years in the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She requested an early release in January, only for her petition to be slapped down by Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday. “The scales tip in favor of the public, and it tips that way by clear and convincing evidence,” Bohren said, according to the Associated Press. He said that he was concerned by Geyser’s shifting explanations of her motive in the attack, most recently attributing it to a desire to get away from her abusive father. “Her credibility is at issue. She’s changed her position,” Bohren said. “Until that credibility is resolved, the risk [to the public] is high.” Weier, who was sentenced to 25 years in a mental institution, was granted a conditional release in 2021. Meanwhile, Geyser can apply again for release in six months. “Time will show she is a healthy and stable person who needs to be released to the community. Time has shown that,” Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton told the Associated Press after the ruling.