Teen convicted in ‘Slender Man’ stabbing to be released Monday

A 19-year-old woman convicted in the 2014 “Slender Man” stabbing is scheduled to be released Monday from a Wisconsin mental health institution, where she has been held for nearly four years. 

Anissa Weier, who along with her friend Morgan Geyser attempted to kill their classmate when they were all 12 years old, will officially leave the Winnebago Mental Health Institute under a court-approved conditional release plan, The Associated Press reported Friday. 

Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren ruled in July that Weier, who in 2017 had been sentenced to 25 years at the mental health facility, no longer posed a danger to society, and ordered state officials to develop plans for a release. 

Bohren officially approved the release earlier this month, noting that a report from the institution showed Weier to be cooperative and understanding of her actions. 

Both Weir and Geyser pleaded guilty to attacking their classmate, Payton Leutner, in an attempt to please the “Slender Man,” a fictional character who the girls feared would kill their families. 

Prosecutors said that Geyser stabbed Leutner multiple times while Weier encouraged her after luring Leutner into the woods at a local park. 

Despite suffering 19 stab wounds, including one that just missed her heart, Leutner survived the attack, and was found by a passing bicyclist after Weier and Geyser left the area, according to the AP. 

Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, while Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. 

The AP reported that as part of her conditional release, Weier will live with her father while submitting to continuous GPS monitoring. 

The teenager will also have a case manager to monitor her medication for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and a personality disorder, and she will be prohibited from using the internet outside her home, where all of her online activity will be monitored by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. 

Weier’s attorney, Maura McMahon, told the judge in court Friday that her client “looks forward to moving on into a productive life,” according to the AP. 

Geyser, who was sentenced to 40 years at the mental health facility in February 2018, has not filed a petition for an early release, and her trial attorney, Anthony Cotton, declined to provide further comments to the AP on Friday. 

According to court records, Bohren ruled during Geyser’s sentencing that a conditional release would “pose a significant risk of bodily injury” to herself and others.