WARNING: This story includes graphic information that may be sensitive to readers.
GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The trial for a woman charged in connection to killing and dismembering Shad Thyrion inside a Green Bay home last year is underway.
Taylor Schabusiness, 25, is facing felony charges of first-degree intentional homicide, third-degree sexual assault, and mutilating a corpse.
The state and defense each gave their opening statements to the jury before witnesses for the prosecution testified.
"She lifts a towel that's covering the bucket," Deputy District Attorney Caleb Saunders said. "It's a beach towel. And unfortunately, sees a mother's worst nightmare, that her son's head is in the bucket...It's evidence that you'll hear and hear from the defendant's own mouth that shows this is an intentional act."
"The defense does not have to prove anything in the case," Schabusiness' attorney Christopher Froelich said. "Why? Because the complete burden of proof lies with the district attorney's office with the State of Wisconsin...In a case like this, really any case, you have to assess the credibility of each and every witness."
Eleven witnesses for the state took the stand on Monday, including Thyrion's family members, Green Bay Police staff, and Brown County personnel from the 911 dispatch center as well as the medical examiner's office.
A staff member from the Brown County 911 dispatch center was the first to testify.
During her testimony, the initial phone call to police the night the killing happened was played for the jury.
Steve Hendricks, the boyfriend of Tara Pakanich, also testified recounting what happened.
Pakanich is Thyrion's mother.
Hendricks initially called the police before handing the phone off to Pakanich.
"I woke up by the dead sleep, and I'm just, I'm tripping out," Hendricks said. "She wakes me up crying telling me she found her son's head in a bucket. Yeah, it's a little disturbing."
Bodycam video was also shown to the jury.
In the video, it's seen where an officer walks down the stairs in the basement of the home where he discovered the gruesome scene.
"Lifted the towel off, and there was, in fact, a human severed head in the bucket," Green Bay Police Officer Alex Wanish said.
"Did you see any other parts of a human body?" Saunders asked Wanish.
"No other parts of a human body, no," Wanish said. "Beyond the stack of mattresses, there appeared to be blood on the floor."
Details of where other body parts were found and photos of the crime scene were also shown to the jury.
According to the criminal complaint, Schabusiness told police she and the victim were smoking marijuana and meth before having sex.
The complaint explains the victim died after being strangled, and police say Schabusiness said she assaulted the body.
The trial is being done in two phases. The first is regarding Schabusiness' charges. If the jury finds her guilty, the second phase 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.
