Table of Contents
- The Crime That Shocked America
- The Guilty Plea That Changed Everything
- Mental Illness and the Courtroom
- Morgan’s Words: What She Actually Said
- Recent Developments in the Case
The Crime That Shocked America
In 2014, a horrifying attack unfolded in Waukesha, Wisconsin that would captivate the nation. Morgan Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier, both just 12 years old, lured their classmate Payton Leutner to a park following a sleepover. What happened next was absolutely brutal: the two girls stabbed Leutner 19 times with a knife.
The motive was chilling. The girls confessed that they committed the attack to appease Slender Man, a fictional online horror character they believed was real. They claimed they feared he would harm their families if they didn’t carry out the attack.
The Guilty Plea That Changed Everything
In 2018, four years after the stabbing, Morgan Geyser made a significant move in her legal case. She entered a guilty plea to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. This plea was not a simple admission of guilt—it came with a critical caveat.
Geyser didn’t just plead guilty. She pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness. This distinction proved crucial. The court recognized that despite her actions, Geyser’s mental state at the time of the crime was severely compromised.
Mental Illness and the Courtroom
What made Geyser’s case unique was the emphasis on mental health evaluation. The court appointed two doctors to assess whether her mental condition warranted her plea. Their findings were significant: Geyser was diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
This mental health component fundamentally altered her sentence. Rather than being sentenced to prison like an adult, Geyser received 40 years in a psychiatric hospital. The focus shifted from punishment to treatment and rehabilitation.
Her co-defendant, Anissa Weier, followed a similar path. Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was also committed to psychiatric care. She received a sentence of up to 25 years in a psychiatric institution.
Morgan’s Words: What She Actually Said
One of the most memorable aspects of Geyser’s case emerged during her arrest years later. When police officers apprehended her at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, she refused to identify herself at first.
“She repeatedly refused to provide her real name and initially gave a false one. After continued attempts to identify her, she finally stated that she didn’t want to tell officers who she was because she had ‘done something really bad,’ and suggested that officers could ‘just Google’ her name.”
This statement perfectly captured the weight of her guilt and the notoriety of her case. By that point, her name had become synonymous with one of America’s most disturbing crimes involving children.
Recent Developments in the Case
The legal journey didn’t end with the guilty plea. After years of incarceration at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, Geyser’s situation evolved significantly.
In January 2025, after multiple denied petitions, Geyser was finally approved for conditional release. In March of that year, Judge Michael Bohren ordered her release from the mental health facility to a group home. Three psychologists testified that she was prepared for supervised release, marking a major milestone in her case.
However, her freedom came with strict conditions. Geyser was required to wear an ankle bracelet and remain under constant monitoring. This conditional release represented a delicate balance between recognizing her treatment progress and protecting public safety.
Meanwhile, her co-defendant Weier had already been granted conditional release back in 2021 at age 19, allowing her to live with her father under GPS monitoring.
The victim, Payton Leutner, survived her injuries despite the severity of the attack. In a 2019 interview with ABC’s “20/20,” Leutner spoke about her healing journey and her determination to reclaim her story from the media narrative.