(NewsNation) — Two psychologists testified Wednesday that a Wisconsin woman is not ready to leave a psychiatric center nearly a decade after she and another woman stabbed their classmate in an attempt to please the fictional character Slender Man.
Morgan Geyser, who is now 21 years old, originally made the request in June 2022 but withdrew the request shortly after, according to Associated Press reports at the time. She then came forward with a similar request in January, and another hearing on the matter was scheduled for Wednesday, April 10.
According to one psychologist, Geyser said she had been faking psychotic symptoms. That claim, however, doesn’t align with years of observation and treatment, the psychologist said, according to the AP.
“If the person is not able to have insight into their mental health condition, the potential warning signs, the triggers that could cause decline, have insight into the kinds of treatment that may be beneficial — it raises a lot of concerns” about being discharged, said Brooke Lundbohm, who has seen Geyser since 2014.
Another psychologist, Deborah Collins, said Geyser has made progress but may still pose a risk to the public. Geyser may be in a better position for release in six to twelve months, Collins said, according to the AP.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Thursday.
Geyser and another woman, Anissa Weier, were 12 years old when they lured a sixth-grade student of the same age to a Waukesha park where the stabbing happened. Geyser stabbed the 12-year-old girl 19 times as Weier encouraged her. The pair then took off, leaving the girl to crawl to a bike path, where a passerby discovered her.
Medical staff who treated the victim said she barely survived. Geyser and Weier later told investigators they thought stabbing the girl would earn them the right to become Slender Man’s servants and thereby protect their families from the supernatural internet, movie and video game character, according to reporting from the AP.
The girls told police they believed Slender Man was real and that stabbing their classmate would keep their families safe.
Geyser ultimately struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. A judge sent her to the psychiatric institute after determining she had a mental illness.
She began treatment for early-onset schizophrenia while in custody in 2015, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She has remained at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute since she was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect in 2017 and has been serving a 40-year commitment term since 2018, the newspaper reported.
Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. She was similarly sent to a psychiatric facility based on a jury’s findings that she was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the stabbing.
Weier was granted a conditional release in 2021 to live with her father, where she is continuing to serve her 25-year commitment term while under GPS monitoring.
Geyser has improved under treatment and can “be a safe and productive” person outside of the institution where she currently spends her time, her attorney Tom Cotton said in an official statement published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in January.
“At the age of 13, Morgan committed a terrible crime while she was in the throes of mental illness,” Cotton said in an email to the newspaper. “Morgan accepted responsibility for her behavior and has been punished immensely. She missed out on her adolescent years, high school, college and has spent nearly a decade in custody. We believe it is time for her to be released.”
At the time of the January hearing, the judge appointed three psychiatric experts — one on behalf of Geyser, one on behalf of prosecutors and the third as a court appointee. Each was tasked with examining her and writing a report on her mental condition by March 1, according to the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
