Wisconsin seeks to block Morgan Geyser’s conditional release after escape from group home

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WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin authorities have asked a state court to revoke the conditional release of Morgan Geyser, the woman who in 2014 almost killed her sixth grade classmate in the name of horror villain Slender Man and escaped from a group home earlier this week.

A Waukesha County Circuit Court judge agreed on Wednesday to seal the petition filed by the Department of Corrections late Tuesday seeking to revoke Geyser’s conditional release. A Waukesha County judge earlier this year approved releasing Geyser from a state mental institution to live in a group home.

Geyser cut off her GPS monitoring bracelet on Saturday night and fled the group home in Madison, Wisconsin, with a 43-year-old companion, authorities said. Geyser was found by police outside of Chicago on Sunday night, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) from Madison.

Geyser did not fight her extradition to Wisconsin in a Chicago court appearance Tuesday. Online records show she had been brought back to Wisconsin and was being held in the Waukesha County jail late Wednesday.

Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, did not respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment on the state’s request to revoke her release.

The judge set a motion hearing for Dec. 22.

If Geyser’s conditional release is revoked, she could be sent back to the mental institution where she spent most of the past eight years. She also could face new charges in connection with her escape.

Geyser’s companion has been charged with trespassing and obstruction, but The Associated Press isn’t naming the companion because the person hasn’t been charged with aiding Geyser’s escape. The AP’s attempts to contact that person have been unsuccessful.

The companion did call WKOW-TV on Monday, however, saying the two became friends at church and had seen each other daily for the past month. Geyser decided to flee because she was afraid her group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the person said.

“She ran because of me,” the friend told the television station.

Geyser and her companion took a bus overnight into Illinois, the friend said.

Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, lured one of their classmates, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times, narrowly missing her heart, while Weier cheered her on. All three girls were 12 years old at the time. Leutner barely survived.

Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man and becoming his servants. They said they were afraid Slender Man would hurt their families if they didn’t carry out the attack.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

Both Geyser and Weier were ultimately committed to a state mental institution — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25. Wisconsin law allows people committed to state institutions to petition for release. Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Geyser, now 23, won conditional release in September after four requests and was placed in the group home.

State health officials tried to block her release in March, telling the judge that Geyser didn’t volunteer to her therapy team that she had read “Rent Boy,” a novel about murder and selling organs on the black market. They also alleged that she has been communicating with a man who collects murder memorabilia, and has sent him her own sketch of a decapitated body and a postcard saying she wants to be intimate with him.

The judge concluded that Geyser wasn’t trying to hide anything and proceeded with her release, which was finalized in September.

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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.