Woman convicted in ‘Slender Man’ stabbing to be released early from mental institution

One of the women convicted in the 2014 “Slender Man” stabbing has been granted conditional release from a mental institution where she’s been since December 2017, NBC News reports.

Anissa Weier, who with Morgan Geyser attempted to kill their friend Payton Leutner in 2014, will be released early from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Wisconsin.

Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide in 2017 over the attempted murder, which occurred when all three girls were 12 years old. Weier and Geyser committed the offense in attempt to gain favor with Slender Man, a fictional character they feared would harm them.

Weier, now 19, was not charged with any crimes over the act of violence due to a jury finding her not mentally competent, and was instead sentenced to 25 years in a mental health institution.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael O. Bohren on Thursday agreed to Weier’s early release, for which she filed a petition in March. According to court documents, Bohren found “no clear and convincing evidence that the defendant poses a substantial risk of harm to others, herself, or serious property damage.”

Bohen said he read several reports about Weier’s mental state while at the facility, which deemed her cooperative and understanding of what she had done. Weier has also not been prescribed anti-psychotic medications while in the institute, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. 

Weier will remain in the Winnebago institute until the next court hearing on Sept. 9.

Geyser continues to carry out her 40-year sentence in a mental health institute, having last petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court in September to rule that her case should have been tried in a juvenile court.