A forensic psychologist testified she does not believe Taylor Schabusiness is mentally competent to stand trial for the gruesome murder of Shad Thyrion.
The woman accused of the meth-fueled murder of her paramour claimed to have close ties to a local serial killer, according to a forensic psychologist.
Taylor Schabusiness said "she had a thing with Jeffrey Dahmer a year ago," forensic psychologist Diane Lytton testified in court on Thursday.
Lytton says that after speaking to Schabusiness she does not believe that the 25-year-old murder suspect is fit to stand trial because she cannot participate in her own defense and does not fully understand the criminal proceedings.
The married mother is accused of murdering, decapitating, dismembering, and sexually assaulting Wisconsin resident Shad Thyrion during a meth-fueled rampage back in February 2022.
Schabusiness also does not know "how to act in court" said Lytton, who referenced the defendant's attack on her former defense attorney during a pretrial hearing in February by way of example.
Lytton said she witnessed that anger firsthand when she met with Schabusiness in February. The psychologist testified that Schabusiness refused to speak about the case during their first meeting, and at one point hurled a chair at Lytton.
Lytton said she believes Schabusiness is suffering from "command hallucinations" that can cause her "to hurt herself or other people," she said in court on Thursday.
She also noted Schabusiness' claim that she had a relationship with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who died 29 years ago at the hands of a fellow inmate.
Schabusiness allegedly admitted to killing Shad Thyrion, 25, while being questioned by police and said she took pleasure from sexually abusing his corpse before dismembering his body with a bread knife.
When speaking about how she allegedly choked the victim to death with a chain, Schabusiness allegedly commented, “Yeah, I liked it.”
Schabusiness' new attorney filed a motion with the court last month seeking a competency evaluation and asking the judge to push back the start of the trial, which is set to begin later this month.
Christopher Froelich argued that the previous evaluation completed in November 2022 "is no longer current" in his motion for a new competency evaluation, which was obtained by Inside Edition Digital
Froelich also wrote that he had "concerns that the defendant may have been suffering from a mental breakdown or other mental defect before and after the alleged incident on Feb. 23, 2022."
He also voiced "concerns about the defendant's ability to assist in her own defense at this time."
Judge Thomas Walsh granted the competency evaluation but said the trial would begin as scheduled on July 24.
The state will put their competency expert on the stand the morning of July 21 according to the court record, with jury selection set to begin that same afternoon. Judge Walsh will then make a ruling on the motion.
Schabusiness has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault.
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