Wisconsin Judge Orders Return of 'Slender Man' Attacker to Psychiatric Hospital After Group Home Escape

A Wisconsin judge has ordered Morgan Geyser, 23, to return to a state psychiatric hospital after she escaped from her group home last month. Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner approved the state Department of Health Services' request to revoke Geyser's release privileges during a brief hearing on Tuesday. Geyser, through her attorney Tony Cotton, indicated last week that she would not contest the revocation.

In 2014, Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier, both 12 at the time, lured their classmate Payton Leutner to a park in Waukesha, where Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier encouraged the attack. The assault was intended to impress the fictional character Slender Man. Leutner survived the attack. Both Geyser and Weier were subsequently committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute—Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.

Weier was granted conditional release in 2021. Despite concerns from state health officials, Geyser received conditional release in September 2025 and was placed in a Madison group home. On November 22, she removed her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. They were apprehended the following day at a truck stop near Chicago, approximately 170 miles south of Madison. The companion stated that they had become friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the past month. Geyser reportedly escaped due to fears that the group home would prevent their continued contact.