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Wisconsin Woman Pleads Not Guilty In Sex Partner’s Allegedly Meth-Fueled Murder, Dismemberment
Taylor Denise Schabusiness will stand trial in October in the murder and mutilation of Shad Thyrion, whose head was found in a bucket in the basement of his mother's Green Bay home in February.
A Wisconsin woman who allegedly strangled, decapitated and then dismembered her lover while high on methamphetamines pleaded not guilty to the violent slaying in court this week.
Taylor Denise Schabusiness, 24, was arraigned at a Brown County courthouse on Tuesday for the murder of Shad Thyrion in February. Schabusiness, clad in an orange jumpsuit, pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault in the grisly murder. She appeared briefly alongside her lawyer.
The judge set a trial date of Oct. 24, according to case filings obtained by Oxygen.com.
Thyrion’s mother found her son’s head in a bucket near a staircase in the basement of the family’s Green Bay home on Feb. 23, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Oxygen.com.
Investigators found his “male organ" and other body parts scattered in bags throughout the room, while his torso and other organs were found in a storage tote, according to charging documents. Kitchen knives were ultimately found as well. His body showed signs of strangulation, according to a pathologist.
Schabusiness, who was found at her nearby apartment covered in blood, was taken into police custody. Police then located Thyrion's legs inside her van. The Wisconsin woman allegedly confessed to choking Thyrion to death with a metal chain during a sexual encounter in his mother's basement and then molesting his corpse, which she later dismembered.
The 24-year-old allegedly claimed she’d been using drugs and “blacked out” as she strangled Thyrion to death while the two were having sexual intercourse, authorities said. Suspected methamphetamine, including a glass pipe, were seized by police from the Green Bay residence where the murder occurred.
“Schabusiness stated that the Victim had a chain that he had put around his neck,” charging documents allege. “The strangulation was part of the sex act.”
Schabusiness allegedly claimed that she and Thyrion had previously experimented with consensual sexual asphyxia. At the time of the alleged strangulation, Thyrion was lying facedown on the bed, police said.
“Schabusiness stated she just went ‘crazy,’” charging documents added. “At one point during the interview, Schabusiness allegedly stated she could feel the victim’s heart beating still as she was choking him, so she kept pulling and choking him harder, but the victim would not die.”
She allegedly later told investigators that they were “going to have fun trying to find all of the organs” belonging to Thyrion.
Schabusiness was declared mentally fit to stand trial in April following a state competency evaluation, earlier court records show.
Quinn T. Jolly, Schabusiness’ attorney, declined to comment on the open case when contacted by Oxygen.com on Wednesday afternoon. Jolly previously disclosed that Schabusiness had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Schabusiness is being held at a Brown County detention facility on a $2 million bond, online jail records show.
