07-03-2025
Morgan Geyser can proceed with conditional release after judge rejects revocation petition
WAUKESHA - Morgan Geyser has retained her planned conditional release from a mental health institute to which she has been committed for the last seven years in connection with the 2014 Slender Man-inspired stabbing of a friend.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday set aside concerns about the Geyser's release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and reaffirmed his January decision to allow the 22-year-old to create a plan for her transition into the community, likely beginning in a group home in the near future.
In doing so, he set aside an 11th-hour petition by state officials who had asked he revoke her conditional release.
In 2017, Geyser was found not guilty by reason of mental defect in the stabbing of her 12-year-old friend Payton Leutner in 2014. Leutner was stabbed 19 times by Geyser, who was aided by Anissa Weier, in a wooded area near David's Park in Waukesha. All three girls were 12 years old at the time. Geyser and Weier said they believed they were doing the bidding of Slender Man, a fictional online character.
As part of the post-trial proceedings in 2018 involving Geyser, Bohren issued a four-decade commitment order for treatment, though that order allowed her to petition every six months for conditional release. Her most recent petition was approved by Bohren in January and was expected to result in the court's review of a plan to move her into a group home under electronic monitoring.
But that changed just days before the corresponding March 4 review hearing.
Thursday's motion hearing was set after Bohren determined Feb. 28 probable cause existed to consider revoking Geyser's conditional release. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, in charge of monitoring her treatment progress at the Oshkosh facility, had raised concerns recently, citing the violent nature about a book Geyser has been recently reading as well as a problematic relationship she has had with a man fixated on her violent past.
The details of those concerns, listed in the DHS petition to revoke her release, were not made public ahead of Thursday's hearing. But they were revealed in detail during testimony from state officials.
Deputy District Attorney Abbey Nickolie used the testimony of three individuals who have been involved with Geyser's conditional release plan to shine a light on concerns she felt could endanger the community if Geyser was allowed to interact more freely with people.
Nicole Whiteaker, a conditional release program supervisor with Wisconsin Community Services, said her team members became concerned about one book Geyser was reading. The book, "Rent Boy," dealt with "dark" themes that were "related to the index offense," the 2014 stabbing incident, she said.
"It was a dark novel that revolved around murder involving the selling of body parts along the black market," Whiteaker said, who added that Geyser push backed against officials' efforts to monitor her reading.
A second concern involved an older man whom Geyser had corresponded with, and then met with at Winnebago at one point, during her treatment there. Among other correspondence, the man claimed he had received some of her artwork drawings depicting what Whiteaker also described as disturbing.
"They were very dark in nature," Whiteaker said, noting the man was offering these materials for sale on Facebook. "I would describe (one of them) as a horror-type picture."
Geyser's attorney, Tony Cotton, noted it was Geyser who cut off visits from the man after he had visited her at Winnebago three times in June 2023. Whiteaker concurred, acknowledging Geyser subsequently requested a no-contact order, and also agreed the man, who was named in court, seemed intent on focusing on her notorious case regardless of Geyser's feelings.
"It appears he is fixated as true crime, as a whole," she said, and also had expressed getting sexual gratification from violent imagery.
In cross examination, Cotton pushed the point that the Winnebago doctors, including those who supported her conditional release, were aware of her dark artwork. "So this wasn't something new," he said, adding Geyser was forthcoming with the information they sought. "Morgan should be commended for her honesty, ... don't you agree?" Cotton asked.
But under additional questioning from Nickolie, Whiteaker said such details were enough to raise concerns of risk to the community if Geyser's conditional release moved forward.
Kathleen Martinez, a DHS forensics mental health manager, voiced similar concerns over Geyser's choice of reading materials. Those concerns were shared with Geyser's doctors to get their perspective, she said. Those treating her were not fully aware of these details, she added.
"The social worker indicated she had not told the treatment team about the (Facebook) posts, the content of the drawings and about the specific content of 'Rent Boy,'" Martinez said, adding later, "You can't write a treatment for problems of which you are unaware."
The Department of Health Services found such details enough reason to ask for revocation of her conditional release. "It's based on safety to the community and Miss Geyser," Martinez said.
But in response to Cotton's questions, she also acknowledged that Geyser had broken no rules, "as far as I know," that directly warranted revocation of her conditional release.
Lisa Portmann, a therapist at Winnebago who is currently working with Geyser, said she was unaware of Geyser's interest in reading material depicting "sexual sadism" or some of her violent artwork, including one of a decapitated figure with blood spewing from the neck.
But Portmann said she has no current concerns about Geyser's behavior or therapy, or any heightened risk after reading about the recent DHS concerns.
Geyser had petitioned three previous times for conditional release, citing her progress in treatment at the Oshkosh facility. In December 2024, Geyser gained support from ongoing caregivers in a reversal of earlier mental health evaluations. Those doctors were also asked to address the recent concerns.
Dr. Kenneth Robbins, who earlier testified on behalf of Geyser in two previous hearings, said he talked with a medical director at Winnebago, who in turn said the staff was previously aware of the "Rent Boy" book and her drawings. Any claims to the contrary surprised him, he said.
Regardless, he reiterated his support, as he testified in April 2024 and again in January, for Geyser's move outside of Winnebago, saying the elements stated in the revocation petition carried little weight. "It doesn't change my opinion about her suitability for conditional release," Robbins said.
He dismissed concerns about the contents of "Rent Boy," which he dismissed as comedic, not gruesome, and merely was part of Geyser's broader reading interests, including the Bible and books about Vincent Van Gogh and the Vietnam War.
"It was very clear she doesn't take pleasure in gore and in violence," Robbins said.
Responding to questions from Cotton, Robbins also acknowledged that state doctors had earlier referenced Geyser's artwork, including the one referenced in the revocation hearing. Dr. Brooke Lundbohm, one of those doctors, supported her conditional release in January despite knowledge of the drawing, he said.
Lundbohm was asked by Bohren to offer her opinion, especially of whether she still supports conditional release. She did, adding that doctors were aware of Geyser's reading materials and her relationship with the man who sold her artwork all along.
Dr. Deborah Collins, the other medical expert, also concurred.
Nickolie and Cotton, not surprisingly, voiced competing opinions about what the information the court heard, with each insisting Geyser was being misrepresented by the facts at hand.
Nickolie said the testimony raised "red flags" concerning the community's safety. She said that's why she strongly supported the petition of revocation.
But Cotton said DHS officials ignored their responsibility by raising issues without talking to any of the doctors who had filed reports and testified in January that she could safely be conditionally released under a negotiated plan.
"All of this is really a hit job on her," Cotton said.
"The time has passed for the plan to be brought to this court," he said, adding, "Morgan is not more dangerous today."
Bohren sided with the doctors who supported Geyser's conditional release, stating that none of the testimony he heard Thursday changes his earlier decision. He could not find "lying or subterfuge" by Geyser to manipulate the process.
"I don't see a risk to the public, I don't see a risk to her," Bohren said. "I'm satisfied the state has not met its burden."
The conditional release plan can advance, but the date the court could review that plan is not certain. It could happen as early as March 21, the date Bohren set Thursday. But it could happen as late as April 28 if the plan isn't ready for review this month.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Slender Man defendant Geyser again gets court support for release
