Ep. 2 Taylor Schabusiness - Drug-Soaked Chaos

The Crime:

In February 2022, 24-year-old Taylor Schabusiness killed Shad Thyrion, also 24, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The crime happened in the basement of Thyrion’s mother’s home during a drug-fueled encounter involving methamphetamine and Trazodone. Schabusiness strangled Thyrion with a chain during sex, claiming she “went crazy” and kept going even as he coughed up blood. After his death, she admitted to sexually assaulting his corpse, then dismembering it with kitchen knives over several hours. She scattered his body parts—his head was found in a bucket by his mother, Tara Pakanich, while other pieces, like his torso and organs, turned up in bags, boxes, and her minivan.

 

The Interrogation:

The interrogation was grimly revealing. Schabusiness confessed to detectives with a mix of detachment and odd amusement, saying she enjoyed choking him and laughing about the mess she left. She told police they’d “have fun” finding all the organs, showing no real remorse. Her statements were detailed—she described using a bread knife for the decapitation and admitted she planned to take the parts but “got lazy.” Despite claiming a blackout, her recall was sharp, and detectives noted her calm demeanor didn’t match someone too impaired to understand her actions.

 

The Courtroom:

The court case unfolded over 2023. Schabusiness faced charges of first-degree intentional homicide, third-degree sexual assault, and mutilating a corpse. She pleaded not guilty, including by reason of mental disease or defect, but the insanity defense didn’t hold. Her trial was chaotic—she attacked her first attorney, Quinn Jolly, in court, leading to his replacement by Christopher Froelich. Competency hearings delayed things, but she was ruled fit to stand trial. In July, a jury convicted her on all counts after less than an hour of deliberation, rejecting her mental health claims—experts said drugs, not a disorder, drove her actions. On September 26, Judge Thomas Walsh sentenced her to life without parole, calling the crime an offense to “human decency.” She’s now at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, with an appeal reportedly in the works as of mid-2024, though her attorney has since said there’s little ground for it.