PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A hearing to determine if Taylor Schabusiness is competent to stand trial for allegedly killing a man and decapitating him will begin Jan. 6.
Schabusiness, 25, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault for allegedly attacking Shad Thyrion on Feb. 23. She has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Competency refers to the defendant’s ability to understand the court proceedings and assist in their own defense. While she has been found competent to stand trial, the defense has requested another psychiatric review to be performed.
Defense attorney Quinn Jolly told the court Thursday he does not have that scheduled yet. He will update the court in a week on its status.
Judge Thomas Walsh, hoping to still start the trial on March 6, decided Thursday to at least hear from the psychiatrist who performed the most recent competency review for the state. If the defense witness is also available Jan. 6, that testimony could be included then, too.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a residence on Stony Brook Lane early in the morning of Feb. 23. There, police found a severed head inside a bucket in the basement.
Schabusiness said she and the victim were using drugs, including meth, and engaging in sexual play, when the man was strangled. She then sexually abused him, dismembered the body and placed body parts in various locations in the home and a vehicle, the criminal complaint states.
“Schabusiness made the comment that at one point, she did get paranoid and lazy and that she thought it was the ‘dope’ that was making her paranoid,” the complaint states.
Police say they took Schabusiness into custody later on Feb. 23 at an Eastman Avenue residence.
Schabusiness removed an electronic monitoring bracelet hours before the murder, according to the sheriff’s department. A warrant was issued for her arrest, but she was not located before allegedly killing Thyrion.
She is being held on a $2 million cash bond.
Comments