WAUKESHA — A conditional release plan from a Wisconsin mental health institution for one of the co-defendants in a high-profile 2014 stabbing case must now include updated location information.
At issue was the close proximity between the group home were 22-year-old Morgan Geyser is set to be placed and the home of the victim, Payton Leutner.
“These two locations, the victim’s residence [and] this proposed location for Ms. Geyser, are less than eight miles from each other.” said attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz Monday.
Leutner’s mother made an appearance Monday over Zoom, asking for the conditional release plan to be reconsidered with this information now public.
“Payton has worked incredibly hard to heal from the profound trauma she endured and has established a meaningful life within this community. She deserves the right to engage in everyday activities such as grocery shopping or visiting the library, without the agonizing fear of encountering the individual who held her down and stabbed her 19 times when she was just 12 years old.” said Stacie Leutner.
“Even in the best of circumstances, oftentimes there’s inadvertent contact that occurs. Not meant to happen, but it happens. The closer people are to each other, the more likely that that type of inadvertent contact can occur. We don’t want that to happen in any type of case. Certainly in this case with regard to the particular history of it.” said Judge Michael Bohren.
Geyser has lived at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute since 2017 after she and Anissa Weier were found not guilty by reason of mental defect in the 2014 stabbing of their then-12-year-old friend Leutner. Geyser and Weier had been attempting to appease the fictional character “SlenderMan”. Weier was granted conditional release in 2021.
After multiple petitions to the court for her release, Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren approved Geyser’s latest appeal in January 2025. In March, he upheld his decision when Wisconsin Department of Health Services officals attempted to revoke her release, citing concerns about her reading material and a man from outside the health insitutute she’d had contact with.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Judge upholds conditional release for SlenderMan stabber Morgan Geyser
“The state has not met its burden by clear and convincing evidence to show that Miss. Geyser is a risk of safety to herself, danger to herself, danger to others or danger to property,” Judge Bohren said at the time.
Geyser’s review hearing last month was canceled due to Wisconsin Community Services needing more time to work on her plan to transition from Winnebago to a group home.
The conditional release plan will include provisions that she remain under communal supervision and undergo periodic reevaluations.
Judge Bohren ruled an amendment to the plan must be provided within 30 days. A hearing is set for June 9th.
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