‘Slender Man’ Stabber Begs for Release From Mental Institution

but miss geyser and and Miss H attempt to kill and wanted to kill the the the the the victim the reports show that she was stamped 19 times in the body torso the uh you know just was left basically left to bleed to death it's been nearly a decade since two pre-teen girls lured their classmate to a Wisconsin Park and stabbed her repeatedly nearly killing her all to appease of faceless online and fictional character known as Slender Man now nearly 10 years later one of the former pre-teens is asking a judge to release her from a psychiatric hospital Ana wire and Morgan geyser were just 12 years old when they attacked and stabbed their classmate Payton lner 19 times leaving her for dead geyser held the knife and stabbed the victim while wire egged her on she thankfully survived the horrific attack after crawling to a nearby Road flagging down a cyclist passing by who then called 911 wire and geyser told police at the time they stabbed Payton to earn the right to become Slender Man's servants and protect their families from him wire would ultimately plead guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide she was sentenced to a psychiatric facility but in 20121 she was granted conditional release in order to wear a GPS monitor but the monitor was removed 2 years later in September of 2023 now in her 20s Morgan geyser wants her turn as she's asking a Wisconsin judge to free her from the psych Hospital like wire geyser was back in court this week as her defense attorneys argue for her release the first witness from the state during the two-day hearing was Dr Deborah Collins who has evaluated geyser since 2014 Just months after the stabbing Dr Collins said her initial impression of the then 12-year-old was that she was not well and presented as odd my initial Impressions included that Miss geyser was not well psychiatrically that she had experienced trauma certainly in the commission of the offenses and that she also presented as quite odd during the 2 and a half hour interview I had with her so her mannerisms were odd her expressed emotions were inconsistent sort of in congruous to what had occurred at one point she burst into tears when the threat of her Harry Potter friends um not being present to her or coming back was broached Dr Collins would go on to evaluate geyser on several occasions since she was first arrested in 2014 she testified at the time of the stabbing geyser suffered from unspecified schizophrenia what was the mental condition that you diagnosed her as suffering from at that time as I recall the mental condition was unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and and other psychotic disorder do you know at what point between June of 2014 and authoring that report in 2016 that you um came to a diagnosis of unspecified schizophrenia Spectrum I do not know precisely it was a process though it wasn't a conclusion arrived at within a day or a month or of contact with her for example did you believe that she still carried that diagnosis at that time or or was it just there was a history of it I was certain that there was a history of it I acknowledged in my report the diagnostic conundrum that had been presented by this case in the interim between the 2022 evaluation and present and what is that conundrum that was presented the conundrum occurred in the fall of 2022 When Miss geyser told her treating psychiatrist that she had never her to for suffered from psychotic symptoms but rather that she was um faking those or mimicking those from others in order to and that she had begun to do that immediately following the um offense in this case the index offense and that she had done that to assure that the home in which she was sexually abused by her father repeatedly was one to which she would not be returned and that she would stay in a mental health Institute what did did you think when you were presented with that information of her indicating she had never experienced psychotic uh symptoms what I acknowledged in my report again is that diagnostic conundrum what I also knew is that in the wake of disclosing that she had never suffered psychotic symptoms or her perspective in 2022 she underwent a significant treatment change withdrawn from her treatment was an antis psychotic medication and in the wake of that medication change so in the fall of late 2022 through the time I met with her she had exhibited no objectively noted recurrence of psychotic symptoms was she offering any explanation uh either to you or in any of the records you reviewed at that time um why this under line offense occurred she has maintained that it had to do with the delusional my word delusional or characterization of imperative of becoming a proxy for Slender Man and avoiding her family and her codefendant family from being [Applause] killed but wasn't she now claiming that none of that was true that she didn't really believe that at the time the offense occurred no it's not that she said she didn't believe that it's that she said that wasn't accompanied by psychotic symptoms she described it more like a fantas belief of a 12-year-old who had been from an abusive family geyser petitioned the court for conditional release twice before but Dr Colin says she wasn't ready specifically pointing out one in ENT where Morgan attempted to commit suicide in 2021 she made the suicide attempt at night when her roommate was asleep and it was quite serious as I recall she told me that she had um broken blood vessels in her eyes for example she had exited her room and staff immediately intervened after she attempted suicide was her exit of her room to try to get help because she couldn't free herself from the cord she had put around her neck I believe so and staff ultimately had to cut that cord to free it I believe so yes and there was some significant injury as a result yes it's described in the record and in fact by Miss geyser herself as a serious attempt at least between the offense on May 31st of 2014 there had been no attempt to harm anyone until this har attempt to harm herself is that right not precisely why is that there had been other attempts at self-injurious Behavior not suicide but self-injurious Behavior so previously at the age of 18 or 19 for example M geyser had swallowed batteries for example Le she was also known on occasion to scratch or cut not serious suicide attempts but those were other acts of self-injury and I think I was a little confused in reading the reports maybe you can clear this up was there multiple occasions of swallowing batteries or just one to my recollection there was only one and that wasn't the only cause for concern Dr Collins also testified she made concerning statements during her individual therapy at the State Mental Hospital so the comment she made during an individual therapy session kind of an emotion charged individual therapy session in which Miss geyser has invested herself so she's she's done a lot of work in individual therapy but the comments that were memorialized in the clinical notes from the session on October 24th included quote how do you think I was able to repeatedly stab my best friend and referring to the codefendant thought she was all the brains I was pulling her her along too I didn't care I couldn't care I've never known how to care end of quote that's something that stood out to you in your review of the records true it stood out I wasn't sure how to put context to it so I knew for example that that had been said I acknowledged in my report that that could have been merely emotion charg comments made in the face or in the context of therapy which sometimes happens for anyone who's been in therapy would know on the other hand this is quite recent to petitioning for conditional release and suggests at least in that moment a callous perception of herself she later talked with her therapist about that and put that in terms of a question so she reframed it and said um how could I have cared if I did this to my best friend but the recency of it relative to her petition for conditional release the reference to her codefendant um and to herself that was a potential red flag at least for me enough to give you pause as to whether or not she's appropriate to be released at this point enough when taken in the context of the totality of information in this case not just in isolation when when asked if Morgan geyser still presents a significant risk or harm Dr Collins said yes but under cross-examination geyser's attorneys offered a different reason as to why the stabbings happened as they mentioned the sexual abuse geyser suffered through by her own father tell the court a little bit about that abuse what is what has she reported she reports that the abuse the sexual abuse was perpetrated by her father and that it goes back or it started as early as her she was forming memories she reports that she tried to tell or communicate that to her mother that there were red flags but those weren't heated she recalled for example during one interview with me that she would resort to sleeping on the floor because she knew her father couldn't get down to the floor and back up ostensibly she said she did it to be near her guinea pigs or pets but it was really to avoid the sexual abuse she reports that her father watched her shower she reports that her father was often um she knows now under the influence of drugs and alcohol right and her mother was where often at work not not in the home to protect her correct and compounding it is that when Miss geyser told her mother her mother did not either heed what M geyser told her mother or believe her Dr Collins testified geyser has made progress over the years but when asked by geyser's defense attorney if there would ever be a time she would be ready for release Dr Colin said yes but not right now but if it is if it's granted and if over the next coming months call it two month you don't say a number of months in your report let's call it two months 3 months four months over that period of time if Morgan continues on the track she's on and continues doing the things that you describe here then you would say it's appropriate for her to be in the community right there will be a point when it's my I anticipate she will be or believe she will be ready for conditional release in the coming months okay how many months is that if you had to estimate is it two I don't know uh let's just assume hypothetically the path that you've seen with Morgan the positive trajectory you've seen let's just assume it continues exactly as you've seen is two month two more months at Winnebago sufficient my best estimate would be 6 to 12 months the next psychologist to take the stand was Dr Brooke lbound who had evaluated geyser since 2014 shortly after the stabbing she also testified about geyser previously saying she had faked her psychotic symptoms but that claim didn't line up with years of observation and treatment did you ask Miss geyser um about her claims that she intentionally manipulated the court and mental health providers into believing that she was ngi in this case I did and what was Miss geyser's response to that well there were there was quite a bit of conversation about that because it is inconsistent with the the data um so I did in fact confront her with various observations and U contradictions that have existed across time including my own OB observations um at she throughout all of that um again was insistent that she had essentially faked it um she had told me that she decided essentially once reaching the age of adulthood um that she felt safe that she would never have to go home to her family home and that's why she essentially decided to come clean um when I had asked her about well how could anybody um essentially trust herself report given this claim that she for the long term and in a very Advanced manner apparently faked mental illness how could anyone believe herself self-report she essentially told me well I guess you can't um in my report There's an actual quote um but that just was well I guess you can't so there's an acknowledgement by Miss geyser that credibility is a huge problem here correct there there does seem to be a a significant issue with the change and conceptualization and her own way of describing her mental illness that raises significant complications and being able to understand her mental illness in particular but also being able to understand the trajectory of it what may um result in Decline potentially and how to effectively manage that mental illness and that's very important given that all indications suggest that her illness um was in large part to uh the the index offense that severe violence in large part related to the symptoms she was experiencing is planning safety planning and thinking about stressors one might encounter on conditional release an important part of um an evaluation of whether someone's ready it is when you asked Miss geyser if she thought she might face stressors that could cause her to decompensate what did she tell you uh she did not believe that she would face stressors that could cause psychiatric um decompensation or behavioral decompensation she to her credit was aware that she may face stressers or barriers related to um having this index offense on her record and having a level of notoriety because of the high public high publication of her um of her story does that make Miss geyser a danger to the community the what what is very concerning to me is that that contradiction of her self-report compared to years worth of data um I mean thousands upon thousands of pages of mental health records to compare her self-report to it's in consistent it doesn't line up and so there's a a significant concern about the reliability of what she says in her presentation and being able to understand where things actually are within any given moment of time under cross-examination Dr lbound similarly echoed Dr Collins's concerns about geys are being freed on conditional release now I want to turn to kind of the big elephant in the room here regarding the kind of change in her conception of her psychosis um back in 2014 and in the Years following would you say that that is your biggest concern in what gives you kind of pause to say that she is ready for a conditional release or not I would say it is a concern I have several though as I document in my report um but it is a significant concern um as part of this particular petition and fair to say neither you nor really any of the medical professionals can say for sure you know kind of what the truth is in terms of symptoms at the time being fainted or not right well so what I can say is this there is um her her mental health is well documented very closely um observed from 2012 until today um as she was a juvenile she actually had one toone supervision um which led her to be under close microscope if you will um where staff was in constant communication with constant observation of her behavior her adjustment um through all of that for several years there was consistency and both her self-report as well as with the observations of her um which substantiated the presence of psychosis um that has alleviated so there's also evidence of um when she has taken anti psychotic medications there was noticeable improvements with that um particular treatment um so I would say that the evidence is supportive of um a history of psychosis there's also evidence of anxiety depression and post-traumatic stress um there's also at her young age fantasy that can complicate things um there is indication both by her self-report but also in the records of some exaggeration at times of symptoms um potentially to uh get out of things that maybe she doesn't want to partake in or um to facilitate um more comfort for her in the institution although she testified geyser hasn't thought of the fictional Slender Man for a while Dr lbound was adamant there are still concerns about her release geyser elected not to testify during her hearing so the only witness called for the defense was Dr Kenneth Robbins who testified geyser had enough treatment at Winnebago what's your opinion specifically about Morgan and her uh petition for conditional release um my opinion is that this is a appropriate time for her to be conditionally released um you in your report you said that it's an ideal time for her to be released why is it an ideal time right now uh because Morgan has improved quite dramatically uh and needs um needs things that the institution can no longer offer I think she's benefited a great deal by being at Winnebago and in many different ways but I think she's reached the end of what Winnebago is able to help her with uh there's no suggestion that she is dangerous at this time and the kinds of things that Morgan needs in my view uh help with socialization help with education uh help with becoming independent uh are things that Winnebago can no longer uh provide in an effective way okay so there's there's no more treatment she can do at w there's no more treatment she at Winnebago so there's more treatment I just don't I think I think the downside of being at Winnebago uh is greater than the any benefit that she could receive from the treatment that's offered there when geer's defense attorney asked Dr Robbins if he believed she faked her symptoms he said no and didn't think it was possible from all the reports you've read or medical records you've read is there any Doctor Who truly thinks she faked her symptoms um I'm not aware of anyone at Winnebago who believes Morgan faked her symptoms well isn't isn't concern that she was a sophisticated 12-year-old uh who who was trying to come up with fictional inventions in her head to get out of trouble is that is there anybody who who endorses that theory yes I think most everyone who has worked with Morgan has endorsed that theory okay the theory that she was in her head believing she heard the voices at the time correct is there anybody who who believes that she just made it up to escape responsibility I'm not aware of anyone who at at Winnebago who believes that to be true is it easy or hard to diagnose schizophrenia in a 12-year-old or a pre-adolescent individual it's very challenging to try to tease is a part what's Fantasy Versus what's uh psychosis psychiatrist Dr Kayla Pope who works at the State Mental Hospital where geyser currently lives was called to testify by the judge and she echoed Dr Robin's conclusion it's critical for Morgan geyser's development to be granted conditional release so it has has already been identified by the experts Morgan has already reached the highest level of privileges at Winnebago she has actively participated in therapy medication management and all the treatment GR that are that are available at this point she has optimized all that is available for Morgan and as Dr Robbins pointed out we have very little ability to provide Morgan with experiences in the community and I would agree with him that at this juncture it's critical for have for her to have those experiences to help her continue with her development and socialization with uh if she remains at uh at Winnebago what impact does that have on the risk assessment as to her dangerousness I don't think it would have much impact I think at this point She is safe to return to the community and I don't know that there's much more that could be done to make her safer Dr Robbins in his report and in his testimony uh recommended uh if she is released release to a a uh group home to facilitate uh further acclamation into the community has that been if you have experience with that type of Remedy I do your honor and I do think that would be an appropriate placement for her during final arguments the state reaffirmed geyser isn't ready to be release I think their experience in this area is extensive and their opinions present clear and convincing evidence uh each of them also judge has a great deal of experience with Morgan Geyer Dr Collins presumably because of her expertise was hired by the defense in this case uh right after the offense happened she was hired and I believe met with Morgan for the first time um sometime around June 4th or 5th five days after the offense actually happened she knows Morgan better than any of the doctors that have testified she's had a longer period of time with her she knew her back then immediately after the offense occurred and has had the most contact with her throughout the course of the almost 10 years both of these doctors judge drafted lengthy reports that were thorough and detailed I guess I can't really say say that quantity uh equals quality but I think when you look at the reports of lunal and Collins uh certainly the quantity um shows the amount of effort and detail that they've put into writing their reports and that they put into arriving at their conclusions certainly in my opinion much more so than Dr Robbins his report is six pages long it doesn't have the same detail it doesn't have the same thonus it doesn't have the same recitation of what's gone on at Winnebago with Morgan in terms of treatment and therapy their reports judge I submit are better they're more well done and I think the fact that they are that uh gives them better quality than the report and ultimately the a better conclusion than is arrived at by Dr Robbins but the defense argued out of the four doctors who testified about Morgan's conditional release only one was in complete opposition and so when I hear the state suggests that it's just Dr Collins who has significant experience with Morgan that's not true Dr Robbins was involved in this case right out of the gate just like Dr Collins look at the the case history reflects his involvement right away so he has just as much historical years with Miss geyser as Dr Collins does and what's significant is that while Dr Robins supports released right now the two reports aren't that far apart if we're being if we're looking at them closely Dr Collins does say today this moment Morgan should not be released in her opinion but she offers the opinion that it should happen in the coming months that's the language she used in her report and whether that's 3 months or 6 months or however many months it is by giving the green light today for Winnebago to begin the transition process that's consistent with Dr Collins's recommendation that's consistent with Dr Robins recommendation and it's consistent with what Dr Pope said in fact the only doctor really truly coming up here maintaining total opposition is Dr lumbal one of the three one of the four when it came time for the judge to render his decision he noted just how brutal the stabbing was there a brutal attempted murder the uh and another aspect of the case is that everybody involved the victim the two asants are all 12 years old they're all kids but the but miss geyser and and Miss H attempt to kill and wanted to kill the the the the the the victim the reports show that she was stamped 19 times and the body tore torso the uh you know just was left basically left to bleed to death it is fortunate that somebody came by and and either saw her or heard her please and were able to get the authorities there the fire department the paramedics to save her otherwise she would have died now there's a lot that can be said about that type of situation but you think first of the of the effort to uh stab somebody 19 times if you read the complaint and go through the history you know she's on the ground the knife is going in 19 times and it's uh Miss geyser that's wielding the is wielding the blade but then she's not dead but then they leave and I you know that the only consequence of leaving under those conditions of course that she'll bleed to death if they thought they they were able to think through that sophisticated maneuver that she'd bleed to death and die and the the positive justification for the attempted murder was to appease Slender Man and become one of his disciples thus the the defendants Miss geyser and Miss then had packed up gear they left and they started to to walk up north to a n to a national forest where Slender Man maintained his his mansion and ultimately they're apprehended later on on the on the freeway but that's what happened so we can't forget what happened the brutality of it the callousness of it if you will keep in mind that the the defendants are young their kids but that's what they did the judge also questioned geyser's credibility into how the stabbing occurred the Slender Man situation to her father and that her father had been sexually abusing her for a number of years and that she this is her way to get out of the family she knew she couldn't wouldn't go back but that's why she did a lot of these things now we don't know whether that's true or whether the Slender Man situation is true necessarily there's tremendous background tremendous factual support witness support professional support that the that the Slender Man rationale for the murder the attempted murder was what was presented and what and was viewed as true and accurate Miss geyser now reports that that's not true and accurate and the uh then we have the the the uh allegations with regard to the father you the father is now ceased comment as well that Miss geyser is essentially arranged from her mother it's not clear whether there's been a reproach ma with the mother it appears there may have been some effort at that the uh but that's still an issue that's that that's outstanding so now we have two new developments in the case that uh that the uh that affects the diagnosis and really affects the risk assessment and that is that the that the that that Miss geyser changed what her R what was the basis of the of the diagnosis and what was going on from uh schizophrenia From Slender to to non non schizophrenia type situation that changed her medication while the judge noted geyser's progress he ultimately ruled geyser still presented a risk to herself and the community this court is Satisfied by evidence that's clear and convincing that Miss geyser does pose a significant risk of bodily harm to herself to others or of serious property damage for the reasons that I've stated now she works hard she continues to do what she's supposed to do but that doesn't change this risk remember that uh what the the community is concerned with risk dangerous risk the community is concerned to a great extent as well with what happens to Miss Kaiser but the primary concern in the balancing and we talked about balancing earlier in the um in the Randall case they talk about the balancing that goes on in the Court's decision the ultimate DET the ultimate determination of dangerousness requires requires a careful balancing of society's interest in protection from harmful conduct against the equit 's interest in personal Liberty and as well as autonomy so that's the balance but the balance is the public interest in staying away from harmful conduct under these circumstances this court satisfied that the the scales tip in favor of the public and it tips that way by clear and convincing evidence so in this matter after hearing all the credible evidence which I'm satisfied was very well presented by uh both the state as well as by the defense I'm satisfied that the petition should be denied the judge ordered Morgan geyser be remanded back to the Winnebago Health Institute the victim in this case pton lner did not appear in court for the hearing however according to local reports several of her family members were in court according to the judge Morgan gyser only has to wait six months before she can file for conditional release again reporting for long crime I'm Elizabeth Milner

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Length: 34min 23sec (2063 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2024