GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Taylor Schabusiness is competent to stand trial for allegedly killing and decapitating a man, with a judge setting a March 6 trial date during a hearing Tuesday.
Schabusiness, 24, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault for allegedly attacking Shad Thyrion on Feb. 23.
Mental competency refers to a defendant’s ability to understand the court proceedings and assist in her own defense. Schabusiness was found competent to stand trial by a judge in May after a psychological exam, but her attorney again raised concerns about her mental state last month.
In court Tuesday, defense attorney Quinn Jolly asked for another exam to be done by a psychiatrist from another other office, but Judge Thomas Walsh denied the motion. Given the results of three exams so far – signaling she is indeed competent to stand trial – he then set a trial date.
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Judge Walsh noted the defense could have another exam completed as part of its strategy in the case, but he was not going to hold up scheduling a trial to wait for one.
There is a second aspect to the psychiatric issues in this case, as Schabusiness has entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The so-called plea relates to her mental condition at the time of the crime, and her ability to discern right from wrong.
The results of an exam on that issue were not specifically discussed, but Judge Walsh alluded to the results as being similar to those from the competency exams.
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.
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