She Beheaded Her Lover — Now No One Will Represent Her
The courtroom attacks were just the beginning.
Convicted murderer Taylor Schabusiness didn't just make headlines for the gruesome killing of her lover, Shad Thyrion — what followed was a legal saga marked by violent outbursts, attorney firings, and a complete breakdown in her defense team. Now, she's left alone to face the legal system.
The Crime That Shook Green Bay
On Feb. 22, 2022, in a Green Bay, Wisconsin, home, 25-year-old Taylor Schabusiness killed her 24-year-old lover, Shad Thyrion, during what she told police was a meth-fueled sexual encounter that turned violent.
She strangled him with a chain, then decapitated and dismembered his body using a kitchen knife. His severed head and genitalia were later discovered in a bucket by his mother.
Despite entering a plea of "not guilty" by reason of mental disease or defect, Schabusiness never denied her role in the killing.
A jury ultimately rejected her insanity defense, finding her legally sane at the time of the crime and convicting her of first-degree intentional homicide, third-degree sexual assault, and mutilating a corpse.
She was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole plus an additional 10.5 years.
A Legal Defense in Turmoil
What followed her conviction was not closure but chaos. Schabusiness' legal defense team began to unravel well before her trial concluded — and even more rapidly afterward.
Her first lawyer, Quinn Jolly, withdrew after she physically attacked him during a pretrial hearing.
He was replaced by Christopher Froelich, who continued through the trial but stepped down shortly after the sentencing. Froelich's replacement in the appeal process, Gregory Petit, submitted a "no-merit" report in November 2024, asserting there were no viable grounds to challenge Schabusiness' conviction.
Petit claimed Schabusiness had approved the filing before abruptly firing him in early 2025.
Meanwhile, in a completely separate criminal case, Schabusiness faced new charges for allegedly attacking a prison nurse with a metal tray at Taycheedah Correctional Institution in July 2024. During an April 2025 hearing on that matter, she again assaulted her defense attorney — this time Curtis Julka — prompting his withdrawal.
No More Lawyers, No More Appeal
After Petit stepped down in March 2025, the court granted Schabusiness an extension to respond to the no-merit filing and find new legal representation.
But she missed the May 14 deadline, failing to respond or secure counsel.
That same day, Petit submitted formal consent to withdraw, stating that the Wisconsin State Public Defender's Office would not assign any more attorneys to her case.
"The defendant-appellant has been informed that the State Public Defender's office will not be appointing successor counsel pursuant to their rules and that her options are, if the Court allows the withdrawal of counsel, to proceed on her own or to retain counsel of her own choosing," Petit wrote in a filing reported by PEOPLE.
As of now, she has done neither.
Unless Schabusiness finds an attorney willing to represent her or mounts an appeal on her own — which appears unlikely — her conviction stands, and her last chance to challenge it has expired.
More Charges Still Ahead
Even as her murder case concludes, Schabusiness remains tangled in Wisconsin's legal system. She has accepted a plea deal related to the prison assault, and her sentencing in that case is scheduled for June 6, 2025.
Christopher Froelich — one of her former murder trial lawyers — is now back on her legal team, representing her in the prison case.
What remains uncertain is whether anyone else — public or private — will step in to defend her again.
References: She Beheaded Her Lover, Then Attacked Her Lawyers in Court — Now, Public Defender's Office Has Backed Out of Case | Attorney for Convicted Murderer Taylor Schabusiness Seeks Withdrawal from Her Appeals Case | Taylor Schabusiness Misses Date in Murder Appeal; Defense Attorney Asks to Withdraw
