A Wisconsin woman who made headlines for helping stab a classmate as a pre-teen to please a fictional horror character is set for release from a mental health institution on Monday, a judge ruled Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Anissa Weier, now 19, and friend Morgan Geyser, who were preoccupied with the character Slender Man, lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a park in a Milwaukee suburb the day after a sleepover in May of 2014. Weier and Geyser shocked the community when Geyser stabbed Leutner multiple times as Weier cheered her.
The girls were 12 at the time of the incident. Weier spent nearly four years receiving treatment at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Going forward, she will be monitored via GPS and will continue to receive outpatient psychiatric care per the judge's order.
Judge Michael Bohren said the report prepared for Weier's release was fair to all three girls, including Leutner, as it "provides for the protection of the community."
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
They left Leutner for dead, but a passing bicyclist found her. She suffered 19 stab wounds and barely survived. Police found Weier and Geyser later that day walking on Interstate 94 in Waukesha. They said they were traveling to Slender Man's mansion and attacked Leutner because they thought it would make them Slender Man's servants and prevent him from killing their families.
Bohren had ruled in July that Weier no longer posed a threat and ordered state officials to draw up a release plan.
The Slender Man character grew out of internet stories. He's depicted as a spidery figure in a black suit with a blank white face. Sony Pictures released a movie about Slender Man stalking three girls in 2018. Weier's father blasted the film as an attempt to capitalize on a tragedy.
Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. Borhen sentenced her to 25 years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in December of 2017. She argued in a petition for conditional release that she has exhausted all her treatment options at the facility and needs to rejoin society, vowing she'd never let herself "become a weapon again."
Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Bohren sentenced her to 40 years in a mental health facility in February of 2018. She has argued that her case should have been heard in juvenile court, but an appellate court ruled last year the case was properly heard in adult court.
