After Group-Home Escape, Wisconsin Moves to Revoke Morgan Geyser’s Conditional Release

Wisconsin officials have asked a state court to revoke the conditional release of Morgan Geyser after she left a supervised group home in Madison earlier this week.

A Waukesha County judge on Wednesday agreed to seal the petition filed by the Department of Corrections seeking to rescind Geyser’s release. Earlier this year a judge approved moving Geyser from a state mental hospital into a supervised group home following her conditional release in September.

Authorities say Geyser removed her GPS monitoring bracelet Saturday night and left the group home with a 43-year-old companion. She was found by police outside Chicago on Sunday night, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) from Madison. Geyser did not contest extradition during a Chicago court appearance on Tuesday; Wisconsin officials have 30 days to take her back to the state.

Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, did not respond to a request for comment. If the revocation is granted, Geyser could be returned to the state mental institution where she spent most of the past eight years. Officials also say she could face new criminal charges tied to the escape itself.

The companion traveling with Geyser has been charged with trespassing and obstruction but has not been accused of aiding in the escape; news outlets have not identified that person. The companion told WKOW-TV the two met at church and had been seeing each other daily for about a month. “She ran because of me,” the companion said, adding that they took an overnight bus into Illinois.

Background: the 2014 attack

In 2014, Geyser and Anissa Weier lured classmate Payton Leutner to a park in Waukesha. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times, nearly killing her, while Weier encouraged the assault. All three girls were 12 at the time; Leutner survived but suffered serious injuries.

Investigators said the girls told authorities they carried out the attack to impress the fictional online character Slender Man and believed they would become his servants. Slender Man originated as a doctored image posted online in 2009 and later became a widely known internet horror figure appearing in games, stories and other media.

Both Geyser and Weier were committed to a state mental hospital: Geyser for up to 40 years and Weier for up to 25 years. Wisconsin law permits people committed to state facilities to petition for conditional release; Weier received conditional release in 2021. Geyser, now 23, was granted conditional release in September after four petitions.

State health officials previously opposed Geyser’s release, alleging she had not told her treatment team about reading a novel called Rent Boy and that she had communicated with a man who collects murder memorabilia, sending a sketch and a postcard. The judge who approved her release determined she had not intentionally concealed information from her treatment team.

Authorities will decide whether to revoke Geyser’s conditional release and whether to pursue new charges related to her departure from the group home.