Schabusiness trial: Victim's mother talks about finding her son's severed head in bucket

Doug Schneider, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Updated ·6 min read
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Note: The Green Bay Press-Gazette has chosen not to publish many of the graphic details of this crime. However, readers may find material in this report disturbing.

GREEN BAY - Jurors in the trial of Taylor Schabusiness Monday heard about the heartbreaking moment when Shad Thyrion's mother began to believe her son had been slain.

Tara Pekanich testified Monday in Brown County Circuit Court about the night that she and her boyfriend, Steve Hendricks, called the Green Bay police after she made a gruesome discovery after she went to the basement of her Stony Brook Lane House on Green Bay's west side to turn off a light that had been left on.

"I figured (Shad) was sleeping," she told jurors in the homicide trial of Thyrion's friend, Taylor Schabusiness. "I wanted to go back to sleep. I went to go back upstairs, there was a bucket there. That's where I found Shad."

She went to the second-floor of the house, woke Hendricks and told him she had seen Thyrion's head in the bucket, and convinced him to notify authorities. The call brought Green Bay patrol officers Alex Wanish and Ethan Plonke to the house. Wanish went downstairs, confirmed that there was a human head in the bucket.

RELATED: Taylor Schabusiness trial starts today in beheading case; here is timeline of events in the case

Schabusiness, 25, of Green Bay, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, third-degree sexual abuse, and mutilating a corpse in the death of Thyrion, 24, of Green Bay.

Much of Monday's testimony involved witnesses for the prosecution discussing their roles in the investigation, and what they found linking the victim and the defendant. Assistant District Attorney Caleb Saunders is prosecuting the case; he is assisted by Brown County DA David Lasee. Christopher Froelich is the defense attorney.

Investigator finds human remains in crockpot box inside van

Petra Schwab, operations director of the Brown County Medical Examiner's office, testified about how she collected Thyrion's remains from the basement of the house on Stony Brook Lane, and recovered other samples of human tissue from a minivan it appeared the killer had access to.

"We were informed there were potential human remains in a van that had been towed to the Green Bay Police Evidence-Storage Unit," she said. "We ultimately did find a crockpot box that did have human remains (that included) parts of both lower limbs."

Forensics employees recover 'choke chains' from crime scene

Michelle M. Czarneski, the first of two members the Green Bay Police Department's Forensics Unit to testify, discussed how she was involved in processing the crime scene, and evidence she collected, which included two silver-colored dog choke-collar chains. Police have indicated a chain was used to strangle Thyrion. Czarneski also collected a knife from the crime scene. Officers have said that knives were used remove parts of Thyrion's body.

Taking the stand

The following people also testified Monday:

  • Amy Shannon, a supervisor at the Brown County 911 center.

  • Green Bay Patrol Officer Alex Wanish.

  • Green Bay Patrol Officer Ethan Plonke. He and Wanish were the first officers on the scene.

  • Green Bay Patrol Sgt. Kurt Brester.

  • Steve Hendricks, boyfriend of Thyrion's mother. He testified about the discovery of Thyrion's head.

  • Eva Wheelock, Thyrion's sister who is now 17.

  • Baileigh Andre, Green Bay Police forensic specialist.

  • Green Bay Detective Phillip Scanlan identified a number of crime-scene photos taken from inside the Stony Brook Road home's basement.

  • Preceding testimony were opening statements from the prosecutor and the defense attorney.

Coming Tuesday

David Graf is among the Green Bay Police detectives whose names are on the state's list of potential witnesses yet to testify. Much of the criminal complaint filed against Schabusiness is based on Graf's investigative work. Green Bay detectives Kevin Kempf, Jason Leick and Craig Pakkala, and roughly six other officers are among a number of Green Bay police also listed as potential prosecution witnesses.

Lasee said he plans to call a number of officers who were involved in the investigation and arrest. He expects that the prosecution will be complete Wednesday.

Brown County Circuit Judge Thomas Walsh has scheduled five days for the trial.

Timeline of events in Schabusiness case

Email Doug Schneider at DSchneid@Gannett.com, call him at (630) 373-0799 and follow him on Twitter @PGDougSchneider

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Schabusiness trial begins with testimony from victim's mother, police