Anissa Weier, one of the women in the Slender Man stabbing, should be released from a state mental hospital, her attorneys say – Milwaukee Journal…

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Anissa Weier listens as her attorney, Maura McMahon, questions a witness during an earlier hearing in the Slender Man stabbing case. Weier, who was committed to 25 years for her role in the stabbing, is seeking her conditional release from a mental health facility.(Photo: Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Anissa Weier, one of two women institutionalized for her part in the Slender Man stabbing, should be released from a state mental hospital because she doesn't have any violent tendencies ordelusions and has "extraordinary compliance" to treatment, her attorneys recently said.

She has also had contact with Morgan Geyser the other woman committed in the case and there haven't been any incidents, Weier's attorneys said.

Weieris seeking conditional release nearly seven years after she and Geyser nearly stabbed a middle school classmate to death in a Waukesha park so they could gain favor with afictional internet horror character named Slender Man. The girls, who were 12 years old at the time, said they believed Slender Man would harm them or their families if they didn't kill someone.

Weier, now 19 years old, is serving a 25-year commitment after a jury in 2017 found her not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. Weier wrote to a judge in March that shehas "exhausted" all the resources available to her at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.She's asking for a chance to be "a productive member of society."

While prosecutors said they believe Weier "cannot safely be released," the defense said the court-ordered doctors who evaluated Weier in recent months recommend Weier be conditionally released.

A judge will decide whether Weier poses a significant risk to herself or others or ofseriously damagingproperty during a conditional release hearing June 11.

WHAT WE KNOW: Here are answers to questions about Anissa Weier's conditional release request

If released, Weierwould be assignedcase managers from the stateDepartment of Corrections and Department of Health Services until she turns 37, the length of her commitment.

The three mental health experts said that if Weier is placed on conditional release they don't believe she would be less compliant withsupervisors than she is now at Winnebago.

Weiers father, Bill,has offered his home as an option where Anissa could live, as well as financial assistance for educational and employment opportunities.

Weier wrote that she wants toget "someformof higher education." Weier's attorneys said she has finished high school and has been employed at the institute.

Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Osborne called Weier "adanger to others" in a recent brief to the court.

Maura McMahon, one of Anissa Weier's attorneys, makes a closing argument before Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren during a trial in 2017. McMahon is calling on a judge to have Weier conditionally released from a state mental health facility.(Photo: C.T. Kruger/Now News Group)

The defense, however, said there are multiple examples at Winnebago that show Weier is no longer a threat, as she has advanced to "the highest level attainable while institutionalized and earned numerous privileges," according to attorneys Maura McMahon and Joseph Smith.

McMahon and Smith said Weier hashandled knives and electric power tools, including a bandsaw, without incident, in a kitchen and at the institute's Log Cabin Workshop, which offers volunteer woodworking opportunities and the ability to gain work skills.

Weier also had a roommate after she turned18 in November 2019, and there haven't beenany episodes of reported violence or threats of violence, her attorneys said.

Weier has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and personality disorderly, but the doctorssaid she no longer has a psychotic or delusional disorder.She is prescribed an antidepressant.

TIMELINE: How the Waukesha Slender Man stabbing case played out over the years

Years ago, three mental health experts, includingMelissa Westendorf, aforensic psychologist, said that at the time of the stabbing, Weier suffered from a shared delusional disorder. The condition is a mental health disorder when a delusional belief is held by one person and shared with at least one other person. Westendorf said Weier's friendship with Geyser, who had early onset schizophrenia, created the "perfect storm" of events for the crime.

At Weier's sentencing in December 2017, Bohren mentioned a "startling" report that said Weier had talked of making aOuija board at the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center and of it unleashing spirits.

At Winnebago, Weier was befriended by peers who introduced her tothe pagan witchcraft Wicca religion, her attorneys said. But Weier separated herself about a week after being introduced to the practices and told her mental health providers that she had allowed herself to be drawn into a practice that she realized was not healthy for her.

"She has even expressed distaste for individuals serving commitments who pretend to be well in order to get released," her attorneys wrote.

RELATED: In interview with ABC's '20/20,' Slender Man stabbing victim Payton Leutner says 'without the situation, I wouldn't be who I am'

Robert Rawski, another forensic psychiatrist ordered to evaluate Weier for the conditional release, questioned whether she had ever had a psychotic or delusional disorder. Buthe acknowledged he did not have full access to records the other mental health experts had during the insanity defense evaluations. He added Weier now has "no treatment needs that require institutional care."

Over the past year, Weier has resided in the same unit and wing as Geyser, who is serving a 40-year commitment after she reached a plea and was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

While Weier's attorneys wrote that the two have come into contact with one another, Weier has not developed a re-emergence of her prior delusional belief system or any violent actions.

ContactChristopher Kuhagen at (262) 446-6634or christopher.kuhagen@jrn.com. Followhim on Twitter at @ckuhagenand our newsroom Instagram accounts at MyCommunityNow and Lake Country Now.

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Anissa Weier, one of the women in the Slender Man stabbing, should be released from a state mental hospital, her attorneys say - Milwaukee Journal...