Taylor Schabusiness Laughs as Judge Rules Jury Can See Photo of Victim's Decapitated Head at Murder Trial

Dr. Vincent Tranchida of the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office testified that the victim, Shad Thyrion, was decapitated, his back "filleted," and his body dismembered.

Taylor Schabusiness arrived in court on Tuesday morning for day two of her murder trial.

The meth-fueled murder suspect smiled, smirked, and appeared to be napping at one point, while the jury learned about the murder and mutilation of Shad Thyrion. 

Schabusiness even burst out laughing at times, once during a discussion over whether the jury would be able to see photos of the victim's decapitated head in a bucket.

The mother-of-one is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and third-degree sexual assault. She reiterated her plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday at the start of the trial.

Dr. Vincent Tranchida of the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office testified that Thyrion was decapitated, his back "filleted," and then dismembered.

He also said that the body showed multiple wounds and evidence of attempts to remove the victim's flesh from his bones.

Diagrams of Thyrion's body and head showed the extent of the wounds and injuries he suffered, much of which occurred after he had died of strangulation, said Tranchida.

The dismemberment of the victim's body would have taken a few hours, Tranchida said on the stand while noting Thyrion's torso had been cut in half.

Schabusiness displayed a range of emotions throughout the day at the defense table, and seemed to be catching a little shuteye when the lights dimmed in the Wisconsin courtroom.

Brown County Court

The criminal complaint obtained by Inside Edition Digital alleges that Schabusiness told law enforcement that she killed Thyrion. 

Schabusiness allegedly told investigators that she and Thyrion ended up back at his home after doing drugs earlier in the day, including methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

The medical examiner said in court on Tuesday that Thyrion had traces of meth, cocaine, and marijuana in his system at the time of his death. He also noted that none of those substances contributed to the victim's death.

The complaint says that the two then began to engage in a sex act act.

"At one point during the interview, Schabusiness stated she could feel the Victim’s heart beating still as she was choking him, so she kept pulling and choking him harder, but the Victim would not die and that he just kept 'rebuilding into muscle,'” the complaint reads.

Schabusiness allegedly told officers that she knew Thyrion was dead when his "face turned purple, blood was coming out of his mouth, but she did not stop."

She then allegedly told officers that she mutilated Thyrion's body with knives she found in his kitchen and sexually assaulted his corpse.

"Schabusiness stated the plan was for her to bring all of the body parts with her but she got lazy and only ended up putting the leg/foot in the van and she forgot the head," the complaint reads.

Members of the Green Bay Police Department were forced to search for the victim’s body parts as a result, which had been scattered around.

“Schabusiness responded that the police were going to have fun trying to find all of the organs,” wrote Caleb Saunders, assistant district attorney for Brown County, in the complaint.

The authorities have alleged that the victim’s head and a “male organ” were in a plastic container in the basement of his mother’s home. His legs were located in a crockpot box behind the driver’s seat of the vehicle Schabusiness had been driving, they said further. According to the complaint, the rest of the body she placed in various bags she found in the basement. 

Schabusiness is facing life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.

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