Taylor Schabusiness pleads not guilty in February killing, decapitation of Shad Thyrion of Green Bay
Editor's 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 - The Green Bay woman charged with killing her friend and mutilating his corpse had not guilty pleas entered on her behalf this morning in Brown County Circuit Court.
Taylor Schabusiness, 24, who is being held in lieu of $2 million bail since her February arrest, is charged with killing Shad Thyrion, 24, of Green Bay.
She appeared in court but did not speak during a brief arraignment. Judge Thomas Walsh entered not-guilty pleas on her behalf on the homicide charge and two other charges stemming from the killing.
If convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, she could be sentenced to life in state prison. She also faces felony charges of mutilating a corpse, which can carry a sentence of up to 12½ years in prison and a $25,000 fine, and third-degree sexual assault, which can carry a penalty of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Schabusiness is charged with killing Thyrion by strangling him in the basement of Thyrion's mother's home on Green Bay's west side. After Thyrion stopped breathing, Schabusiness used a knife to cut off his head and other body parts, the criminal complaint says.
Thyrion's mother phoned 911 after she discovered her son's severed head in a bucket when she went to the home's basement because she noticed a light was left on, the complaint said.
What else to know about the case:
Before Thyrion's death
Schabusiness told Green Bay Detective David Graf that she and Thyrion used drugs the night of the killing. She said she and Thyrion smoked marijuana and methamphetamine; she later injected herself and Thyrion with the prescription antidepressant trazodone. Sometimes people who use meth become violent, experts say.
The two had sex, using choking as foreplay with one of the chains Thyrion provided, the complaint said. Schabusiness told Graf that she knew Thyrion was dying when his face turned purple and he began bleeding from the mouth, the complaint said.
Thyrion's body was mutilated
Police found additional body parts from Thyrion, including his legs, in a van Schabusiness was using. Thyrion's upper torso was found in a storage tote; the location of the tote was not made clear in the complaint.
Schabusiness' mental capabilities have been a key issue
A psychologist hired by the court, Dr. Deborah Collins, examined Schabusiness and found her fit to stand trial. The defense attorney for Schabusiness then asked to hire his own expert to examine Schabusiness. That expert, Dr. Tracy Luchetta, ultimately could not decide if Schabusiness was mentally healthy enough to assist in her own defense.
Walsh agreed with Collins, ruling the trial could proceed.
Collins testified that she knew Schabusiness used meth and other illegal drugs, but said in court there were no signs Schabusiness "had been … distracted by hallucinations" or other effects of regular drug use.
Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 431-8333, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Taylor Schabusiness to be arraigned Tuesday in killing, decapitation
