Content warning: The following article contains disturbing descriptions. Please read with cautioning for some words may seem triggering.
The horrific moment that two officers discovered Shad Tyrion’s severed head and genitals in his mother’s basement last February was shown in court this week, as prosecutors used police body cam footage as evidence of the gruesome killing.
The never-before-seen footage was shown to jurors as testimony in Taylor Schabusiness’ murder trial began this week.
The woman is accused of choking Thyrion to death in a moment of BDSM-gone-wrong before sexually abusing and then mutilating his body.
In the more than five-minute video of police’s initial response to Thyrion’s mother Tara Pakanich’s home, the two responding officers can be heard expressing their horror at the disturbing discovery.
“Oh my f—ing God,” one of the two officers could be heard saying to the other as they scanned the basement, where some of Thyrion’s body parts were found.
Officer Alex Wanish, whose body camera footage was shown, testified, “I found Tyrion’s severed head under a towel inside a green bucket that was next to the basement stairs. Thyrion’s mother had called police to inform us where to find the bucket she discovered after waking up to the sound of a door to the home slamming shut.”
Wanish’s body camera footage shows him calling for backup to respond to the home, telling his dispatcher, “We’ve got quite a bit of blood down here.”
Further body camera footage showed Schabusiness had what appeared to be blood on her left hand while officers placed her under arrest at an apartment complex later that night.
In a van parked outside the apartment, officers said they discovered a crock pot box containing what was said to be “additional human body parts including legs.”
Back at the house, investigators discovered an upper torso in a separate storage tote.
The medical examiner who performed Thyrion’s autopsy told the court this week that his cause of death was strangulation.
Schabusiness supposedly stated to police, “Me and Shad smoked meth while spending the day together. I used a dog collar on him during sex.”
Detective David Graf testified that Schabusiness knew that Thyrion was struggling to breath while she pulled the collar tight around his neck, but chose to continue anyways.
Police believe Thyrion was strangled before his body was mutilated. Schabusiness added in her testimony that she didn’t mean to kill him, but enjoyed the choking and continued to do it.
Graf then testified that Schabusiness said she used knives from the kitchen upstairs to dismember Thyrion’s body. Schabusiness responded that the police were going to have fun trying to find all of the organs as she dismembered the body.
Schabusiness stated, “I used knives from the kitchen and a bread knife worked the best because it was serrated.”
Schabusiness pleaded not guilty later on by reason of insanity, but has yet to be able to convince a judge she isn’t fit to stand trial.
Earlier this year, Schabusiness attacked her own defense attorney during a competency hearing before officers wrestled her to the ground.
