GREEN BAY (Court TV) — A Wisconsin woman convicted of murdering her lover before dismembering and scattering his body, is also a wife and mother, according to court documents.
Taylor Schabusiness is seen sitting in court on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Court TV)
Taylor Schabusiness pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to Shad Thyrion’s murder. Prosecutors said Schabusiness choked Thyrion during sex, then used a bread knife to dismember his body and put pieces of him into multiple receptacles, including a bucket and backpacks.
In court documents filed shortly after her arrest and obtained by Court TV, Schabusiness’ attorneys reported her to be 25 and the married mother of a child, born in 2021. The child has a different last name from her and currently lives in Texas with his paternal grandparents.
Attorneys said the child’s father and Schabusiness’ husband, Warren Schabow, is currently in custody at a federal prison, but did not offer the reason for his incarceration.
READ MORE: WI v. Taylor Schabusiness: House of Horrors Murder Trial
Schabusiness was born in Chicago on Nov. 23, 1997, and was raised by her parents until the family moved to Wisconsin when she was in the fourth grade. She attended public schools in Wisconsin until her senior year, at which point she was expelled for fighting with another student. She then moved to Texas, where she completed school while living with her paternal grandparents.
Schabusiness told her lawyers that her mother, Marla, died in 2009 from cirrhosis and alcoholism. Her father is still alive, and she has family in the Green Bay area.
Defense attorneys have not yet offered any argument or evidence about the specifics of her Schabusiness’ insanity plea during the guilt phase of the trial. In preliminary hearings, attorneys and doctors pointed to a pattern of drug use that included methamphetamine.
In court documents filed after her arrest, Schabusiness’ attorneys said she first recalled receiving mental health treatment when she was in 7th grade to address attention, concentration and behavior problems in school. At the time, she was medicated to address “symptoms presumed to stem from ADD or ADHD.” Her attorneys said Schabusiness was later prescribed a mood stabilizer, an anti-depressant and an antipsychotic until age 18, when she weaned herself off medications.
Schabusiness, through her attorneys, said she was hospitalized after a suicide attempt in April and May 2021, at which point she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and bipolar disorder, adding to her past diagnoses of severe depression, ADD and ADHD.
WATCH: Taylor Schabusiness Confesses to Murder in Recorded Police Interview
A criminal complaint filed in a 2020 case involving Schabusiness offers a glimpse of bizarre behavior and potential drug use. Schabusiness was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest after allegedly behaving oddly after she was found walking in the middle of the street. Police had been called to the area for a woman seemingly under the influence of narcotics who was knocking on doors. When officers arrived and asked her what was going on, she stated she was “not sure and was on a different planet right now.” Schabusiness allegedly told officers she had “just shot up” and showed them track marks on her arms.
During that incident, Schabusiness allegedly kicked at officers who tried to prevent her from walking into oncoming traffic.
Schabusiness’ conviction for battery means she is a “repeat offender” in terms of sentencing during the punishment phase of her trial. She is facing life in prison.
