WARNING: This story contains graphic information that is not suitable for readers.
Taylor Schabusiness has been convicted of killing and dismembering Shad Thyrion inside a Green Bay home in February of 2022.
On the third day of the trial, a jury found Schabusiness guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and third-degree sexual assault.
The jury reached the verdict after a little more than a half hour.
During closing arguments, the prosecution argued the case was crystal clear.
"This is bizarre," Brown County District Attorney David Lasee said. "This is strange. This is unnatural. But it is no way unclear. We know exactly what happened. We know exactly what Taylor intended to happen for all three of these offenses."
The defense argued the case was unclear.
"Can you trust what someone says when they're hopped up on meth, on drugs?," Schabusiness' attorney Christopher Froelich said. "The state wants you to look into Taylor Schabusiness' mind to find out what her intent was. That's a difficult task."
During testimony, the jury saw new video of Schabusiness' interrogation. During questioning, Schabusiness admitted to police she strangled Shad Thyrion and did other gruesome acts to him.
In the recording, when asked by police if Schabusiness wanted Thyrion to be dead, Schabusiness replied saying she did not and that it was "random."
"Initially that was some of her comments was that it hadn't intended," Green Bay Police Detective David Graf said. "But once she started to strangle Shad that, she found that she did enjoy it. And so, she kept on strangling him."
Graf testified that he had two separate interviews with Schabusiness.
"She was quite frank in being able to answer questions and ask questions," Graf said.
Graf testified that Schabusiness used knives from the kitchen of the home to carry out the grisly crime.
"She knew Shad was more than she could carry in terms of being a whole body," Graf said.
During interrogation, Schabusiness told the police exactly what she did.
According to the criminal complaint, Schabusiness and the victim were smoking meth at her apartment before going to the victim's mother's house and engaging in a sexual act that involved strangulation.
In the interrogation recording shown to the jury, Schabusiness told police she played with the body after she realized Thyrion was dead.
The criminal complaint states the victim's head was found in a bucket in the basement of the home. The complaint explains other body parts were found in the basement, and additional remains were found in a crockpot box in a van at Schabusiness' apartment.
According to the complaint, Schabusiness intended to take all the parts with her, but said she got lazy and forgot the head.
A total of 28 witnesses testified for the state. Witnesses for the prosecution included Shyrion's family members, law enforcement, a medical examiner, a DNA analyst, and a friend of Schabusiness' and Thyrion's.
The defense had a witness but told the judge they were unavailable to attend due to a medical issue. Judge Thomas Walsh denied the defense's motion for a mistrial.
The judge later asked Schabusiness if she wanted to testify, but Schabusiness denied.
The trial is being done in two phases. The first is regarding Schabusiness' charges. The second phase, which is scheduled for Thursday, will focus on whether Schabusiness is responsible for the crime, or if she was suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the killing.
TRIAL RECAP
