10 things about Waukesha, Wisconsin’s Morgan Geyser

Morgan E. Geyser is an American woman from Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States. She is Matthew “Matt” Geyser and Angela “Angie” Geyser‘s daughter.

Matt is Amy Geyser‘s former husband. Neither her nor Angie has a criminal history in Wisconsin.

BIOGRAPHY

On May 16, 2025, Morgan turned 23. Here are 10 more things about her:

1. Her father has schizophrenia and was hospitalized at least four times as a teenager to treat it.
2. She has one brother.
3. In fourth grade, her classmate Payton Leutner befriended her when she saw her sitting alone and nicknamed her Bella.
4. In sixth grade, she befriended her classmate Anissa Weier.
5. She, Weier and Leutner were all born in 2002.
6. When she and Weier started talking about Slender Man, a fictional character that started with an online post in 2009, Leutner thought it was odd but went along with it.
7. In 2014, she and Weier were arrested after trying to kill Leutner.
8. In 2017, she pleaded guilty to murder,
9. In 2018, she was sentenced to four decades in a psychiatric hospital.
10. In 2025, she escaped her group home but was immediately arrested.

TIMELINE

The crimes Morgan and Weier committed on May 31, 2014 inspired the movies “Terror in the Woods”, which aired on Lifetime on October 14, 2018, and “Mercy Black”, which was released on Netflix on March 31, 2019. Released on January 26, 2019, “Slender Man Stabbing: The Untold Story” is a documentary about the crimes.

2010s

• In December 2013, she started planning to kill Leutner.
• On May 30, 2014, she and Weier attended a slumber party at her home in Waukesha in celebration of her birthday.
• On May 31, 2014, she and Weier lured Leutner in David’s Park, a wooded area near Waukesha where she stabbed Leutner 19 times to appease Slender Man while Weier was urging her on. Leutner survived and underwent emergency surgery that day at ProHealth Waukesha Memorial Hospital in Waukesha. On the same day, she and Weier were arrested.
• On October 22, 2014, she was diagnosed with early-onset childhood schizophrenia.
• In December 2015, she started a consistent, long-term regimen of antipsychotic medication.
• In January 2016, a civil judge approved sending her to a state mental hospital.
• On March 23, 2016, she was returned to the county jail to await trial.
• In August 2016, she entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease.
• In September 2017, she pleaded guilty as charged but not be held criminally liable.
• In October 2017, she pleaded guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder in a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time. She was still hearing voices near the time of her evaluation that month, according to court-appointed psychologist Dr. Brooke Lundbohm. She was committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
• On February 1, 2018, she was sentenced to 40 years in a psychiatric hospital. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren granted the maximum penalty that prosecutors had sought for her. Before she was sentenced, she said, “I just want to let Bella and her family know I’m sorry. I never meant this to happen and I hope that she’s doing well.”

2020s

• In August 2020, an appeals court rejected her petition to be retried as a juvenile. 
• In September 2020, her attorney filed a petition of review with the Supreme Court.
• In January 2021, the petition her attorney filed in September 2020 was denied.
• She petitioned the court for release in June 2022 but withdrew the petition in August 2022.
• In June 2023, a man who collects murder memorabilia visited her three times at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
• In January 2024, she petitioned the court for release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
• On April 12, 2024, Bohren denied her request for release.
• On October 11, 2024, she filed a petition with Bohren seeking her release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
• On January 9, 2025, a judge ordered her release from a psychiatric hospital.
• On March 6, 2025, Bohren ruled she would be released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
• On April 28, 2025, she attended the final hearing to approve her release plan. Bohren gave the state of Wisconsin a 30-day deadline to find a new group home for her to live in, considering Leutner’s current residence.
• On the evening of November 22, 2025, she escaped her group home in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and cut off her ankle monitor. Later that day, she was found with Chad “Charly” Mecca, then 43, at a truck stop in Thornton, Illinois, USA and was arrested.