A Green Bay, Wisconsin woman will stand trial after being accused of killing and dismembering her lover on February 23.
Taylor Schabusiness, 24, appeared before a judge on Thursday for a preliminary hearing during which some evidence was presented.
Schabusiness is charged with the February 23 murder of Shad Thyrion and the dismemberment of his body. According to WISN, Schabusiness told investigators that she and the victim were using drugs, including methamphetamine, and having sex when she strangled the man.
Her lover’s head was discovered in a bucket in a house. Other body parts were found in the young woman’s vehicle, according to prosecutors.
She is formally charged with premeditated murder, mutilation of a corpse and 3rd degree sexual assault.
Schabusiness, 24, underwent two psychiatric evaluations, one by a state expert and the other by a defense expert. On May 19, the judge ruled that she was fit to stand trial.
State-appointed expert Deborah Collins testified that she spoke with the defendant for approximately 75 minutes at the jail on April 4. According to her report, Taylor Schabusiness seemed to express strange or out-of-context emotions at times, but she never seemed distracted.
The defendant told him that she had abused alcohol, methamphetamine, acid, cocaine and Xanax, and that she had already been institutionalized, the first time when she was in 7th grade, after a suicide attempt.
Also according to Deborah Collins, Taylor Schabusiness has a history of mental health, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD), ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The accused showed no signs of psychosis, understood the legal proceedings brought against her, and the consequences.
According to defense expert Tracy Luchetta, the defendant was cooperative, but several aspects seemed disturbing.
In particular, she would have claimed that: “that her mother died at the age of 11 and took her heart to heaven and gave it to a pedophile, and that she was controlled by him.”
The expert also pointed out that she had to repeat her questions several times and that the defendant did not always answer them.
Judge Thomas Walsh sided with the prosecution by declaring the accused fit to stand trial.
Schabusiness is being held on $2 million bond. The next court hearing is scheduled for July 5 at 9:30 a.m.