Lawyer Asks Court to Return Slender Man Stabber to Mental Hospital After Group-Home Escape

Morgan Geyser, 23, who was involved in the widely publicized 2014 attack linked to the Slender Man case, is being held in the Waukesha County Jail after her arrest in Posen, Illinois. Authorities say she fled a Madison-area group home on the evening of Nov. 22 and was located the following day at a truck stop in Illinois with 43-year-old Chad Mecca.

Lawyer seeks transfer to mental health facility

Geyser's attorney, Anthony Cotton, has asked a Waukesha County judge to have her returned to a mental health facility rather than remain in a correctional institution. In a letter to Judge K. Scott Wagner, Cotton wrote that because she faces no new criminal charges in Waukesha County and was previously found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect on the underlying offense, she should be housed in a treatment setting instead of jail.

"Given that she has no new criminal charges in Waukesha County and given that she has been previously found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect on the underlying offense, it is our position that she should be housed in a mental health facility, not a correctional institution." — Anthony Cotton

Possible charges and pending hearing

Officials have said Geyser may face additional charges related to the escape, including potential felony counts tied to allegedly removing an electronic monitoring device as she left the group home. She remains in custody pending a Dec. 22 hearing, when Wisconsin Department of Health Services officials are expected to consider whether to formally revoke her conditional release.

Case background

The 2014 attack involved then-12-year-olds Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, who lured classmate Payton Leutner to a park. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier encouraged the attack; the victim survived. Both girls later told investigators they committed the assault to appease the fictional Slender Man and out of fear he would harm their families.

In 2017 both pleaded guilty to being parties to attempted intentional homicide but were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and were committed to long-term mental confinement. Under court orders, Weier's confinement was set at 25 years and Geyser's at 40 years. Geyser spent nearly eight years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute before receiving conditional release in January and moving into a group home in September.

The Dane County district attorney's office and Geyser's attorney have not provided additional public comment beyond court filings. The Dec. 22 proceeding will determine whether her conditional release is revoked and whether she will be transferred back to a treatment facility.