Shad Thyrion, a 24-year-old from Green Bay, Wisconsin, was brutally killed and dismembered by his lover, Taylor Schabusiness, on February 23, 2022. His body was later found cut apart.
Shad Thyrion had a difficult life, including struggles with drug addiction. His relationship with Taylor Schabusiness was unstable, filled with a dangerous mix of love and chaos.
On February 21, 2022, Schabusiness picked him up from his mother’s home. They spent the evening using drugs, like marijuana and meth, with a friend before returning to Thyrion’s family house.
The Murder
At home, the couple went to the basement, where their sexual activities became violent. Schabusiness later told the police they had engaged in choking before, but this time it went too far.
She strangled Thyrion until he coughed up blood. Even though it was clear he was in distress and dying, she continued choking him for three to five minutes until he was dead.
In her confession, Schabusiness admitted she enjoyed the act.
After killing him, Schabusiness spent hours performing sexual acts on Thyrion’s body before dismembering him with kitchen knives.
The Dismemberment
Schabusiness dismembered Thyrion’s body, putting his head in a bucket to contain the blood.
During the trial, it was revealed that she removed his organs one by one, placing them in containers throughout the basement.
Investigators found his severed head in a green bucket, devastating his family. Other body parts were scattered in the basement and inside a minivan nearby.
The medical examiner noted that there was very little blood at the scene because much of it had drained during the dismemberment.
Discovery
On February 23, Thyrion’s mother, Tara Pakanich, came home and went into the basement. There, she found her son’s severed head in a bucket. Shocked, she called the police.
Officer Alex Wanish testified about this horrifying discovery: “Just to verify we had an actual head in the bucket, lifted the towel off, and there was in fact a human head in the bucket.”
Officer found more remains hidden in plastic bags and boxes throughout the basement.
The medical examiner testified that Thyrion’s torso had been cut in half and his organs carefully removed. One of his feet had been stuffed into his chest cavity.
Trial
Taylor Schabusiness was arrested shortly after the discovery and charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, and third-degree sexual assault.
Her trial started in July 2023 and got a lot of media attention.
During the trial, Schabusiness acted erratically, attacking her lawyer and smirking at the graphic evidence.
The prosecution described her as a cold-blooded killer who enjoyed her actions.
Judge Thomas Walsh spoke about how serious her actions were: “The offense in this case can’t be overstated… These actions are foreign. They shock the community; there aren’t really words for it.”
On September 26, 2023, Judge Walsh sentenced Schabusiness to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He explained that this decision was made to protect the public from her unpredictable behavior: “In a place where this kind of offense is possible… absolutely anything is possible.”
Judge Walsh added: “This crime offends human decency… It really does.”
He also expressed his frustration with claims from Schabusiness’s father that “the system” had failed her: “It’s not the system’s job to raise people’s children… To suggest that it is somehow the system that failed… it disturbed me when I read that piece.”
