Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, who were just 12 years old at the time, carried out an attack on sixth-grader Payton Leutner at a park in Waukesha on May 31, 2014. The incident occurred following a sleepover, during which the three girls were supposedly friends.
Geyser and Weier explained to investigators that they stabbed Ms. Leutner in order to gain Slender Man’s favor and safeguard their families from him. Slender Man, a tall, faceless figure dressed in a suit, originated as a fictional character on the internet, but soon became a terrifying presence in children’s imaginations.
Geyser admitted to attempting first-degree intentional homicide as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. The judge, recognizing her mental illness, sentenced her to 40 years at the psychiatric institute.
Weier admitted her guilt for attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was subsequently sent to a psychiatric facility. A jury determined that she was experiencing a mental illness during the time of the attack. In 2021, Weier was granted a conditional release to reside with her father, with the requirement of wearing a GPS monitor. However, on September 12, 2023, a judge decided to remove this stipulation.
This week, Geyser, who is now a 21-year-old woman, is appearing in court to request that Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren release her from Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
In 2022, she had made a similar request for conditional release but decided to withdraw the petition just two months after filing it.
In January, she made a virtual appearance on Zoom during a hearing where she sought release. The subsequent hearing, scheduled for this week, was set to span two days. During the previous hearing, her lawyer, Anthony Cotton, expressed his belief, stating, “She has made remarkable progress, and I firmly believe that she is now ready to return home.”
According to him, Morgan was only 11 or 12 years old when this incident occurred, and now she has spent almost half of her life in custody.
During the latest hearing on Wednesday, doctors who have known Geyser for a decade expressed their concerns about her readiness for release, pointing out several red flags.
The hearing is set to continue on Thursday, April 11th.
How a friendship nearly turned deadly
However, things took a turn for the worse when Geyser befriended Weier in sixth grade and they started discussing Slender Man.
She admitted that it did scare her a little, but she decided to be there for her friend and show her support for her interests.
As Geyser’s fascination with Slender Man intensified, Ms. Leutner contemplated the idea of terminating their friendship.
“I noticed a shift in my daughter’s behavior when she started hanging out with Anissa in sixth grade,” she remarked. “That’s when I began to feel the urge to distance myself from their friendship.”
However, despite their differences, they stayed friends, and she had no clue about what awaited her when she showed up at Geyser’s house for her 12th birthday sleepover.
“When I reflect on it, I can’t help but think how strange it was,” she remarked. “Why didn’t I perceive any signs? Why didn’t I realize something was amiss? However, I refuse to blame myself for it. After all, who could have predicted such a situation? No one could have anticipated something like this.”
The attack
The girls’ desire to impress Slender Man was the driving force behind their plan to harm Ms. Leutner.
The criminal complaint states that the original plan was to execute the plan on May 30, 2014, which was the night of Geyser’s sleepover to celebrate her 12th birthday.
After arriving at the park, Weier proposed the idea of taking a stroll and engaging in a game of hide-and-seek in the nearby woods, as per her account to investigators.
Ms. Leutner was abandoned by the girls, left for dead. However, despite her dire condition, she managed to crawl onto a nearby bike path. Fortunately, a kind passerby discovered her and came to her aid.
Geyser and Weier were apprehended by the police later that day while they were walking on Interstate 94 in Waukesha.
Who is Slender Man?
Slender Man, a fictional supernatural character, first came into existence in 2009 as an internet meme known as a “creepypasta.” This eerie creation can be credited to Eric Knudsen, who used the username “Victor Surge” on the Something Awful forum.
Users were challenged to enhance real photos using Photoshop to give them a supernatural touch.
Slender Man is often portrayed as a slender figure dressed in a black suit, with a white face that lacks any discernible features. He is commonly seen as both a menacing presence and a vengeful guardian.
Geyser and Weier stumbled upon Slender Man on Creepypasta Wiki and became convinced of his reality. They made a bold decision to become “proxies” of the character in order to demonstrate their unwavering loyalty and silence the doubters, as stated in the criminal complaint.
The girls were convinced that in order to demonstrate their unwavering commitment, they needed to take someone’s life. They ultimately chose their friend Payton as the intended target.
In 2014, Mr. Knudsen expressed his condolences to the media regarding the tragic incident in Wisconsin: “I feel immense sadness for the families impacted by this horrific act.”
Parents across the nation were struck with fear of Slender Man after the stabbing of Payton Leutner.
Russell Jack, the former police chief of Waukesha, issued a warning to parents, emphasizing the significance of the Slender Man stabbing incident. He emphasized that it should serve as a wake-up call, highlighting the abundance of dark and disturbing content found on the internet.
The trial
Geyser admitted her guilt for attempting first-degree intentional homicide as part of a plea agreement with the prosecutors. The judge, recognizing her mental illness, ordered her to be sent to a psychiatric institute.
According to Rolling Stone, Geyser was diagnosed with early-onset schizophrenia after being taken into custody.
Weier admitted guilt for attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was subsequently sent to the psychiatric facility. A jury determined that she was experiencing a mental illness during the time of the attack.
In December 2017, Weier pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree intentional homicide and was subsequently sentenced to the maximum of 25 years in a mental health facility.
In February 2018, Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide and was subsequently sentenced to 40 years in a mental hospital.
In 2021, Weier’s request for a conditional release was approved, allowing her to live with her father. As part of the conditions, she was required to wear a GPS monitor.
Slender Man and Hollywood
Hollywood wasted no time in seeking out the terrifying figure once news of the attack spread worldwide.
The HBO documentary “Beware the Slenderman” was broadcasted in 2017.
In 2018, Sony Pictures released a movie called “Slenderman” which showcased the terrifying character.
Bill Weier, the father of Weier, expressed his strong disapproval of popularizing a tragedy that is not based on a real-life case. He described it as “absurd” and “extremely distasteful”.
The eerie character served as inspiration for episodes of both Supernatural and Law and Order.
Payton Leutner rebuilds her life
According to Stacie Leutner, the mother of Ms. Leutner, her daughter had to go through a series of 25 surgeries in order to fix the damages caused by the attack on her heart, liver, stomach, and pancreas. This information was shared in an interview with ABC Action News in Tampa Bay, Florida.
In 2019, Ms. Leutner made her first public statement about the events that took place in the woods.
“I believe it’s about time for people to get a glimpse of my perspective instead of solely relying on other accounts,” she expressed during a one-on-one interview with David Muir from ABC News.
At the age of 17, she mustered the courage to share her story, revealing that she had dedicated the past five years to healing and rebuilding her life.
“I have learned to embrace all of the scars I carry,” Ms. Leutner stated.
“It’s simply a part of who I am. I don’t give them much thought. They will likely diminish and fade away over time.”
After successfully completing high school, she embarked on her journey towards a promising career in the medical field. As of September 2021, she was already a sophomore in college, balancing her studies with a part-time job, as reported by The Associated Press.
“I never thought I would say this considering what I went through,” she remarked, choosing to emphasize the positive. “But honestly, I genuinely feel that without that entire ordeal, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
