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Woman Accused Of Murdering Lover, Leaving Severed Head In Bucket Is Competent To Stand Trial, Judge Finds

   DailyWire.com
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The woman who allegedly murdered her lover and left his severed head in a bucket has been deemed competent to stand trial, according to the judge in the case.

Taylor Schabusiness, 24, was determined to be mentally fit by a psychological evaluator after allegedly committing the gruesome crime. She faces “charges of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and third-degree sexual assault,” according to Law & Crime.

Schabusiness’ attorney, Quinn Jolly, said during a press briefing on Wednesday that his client “would be seeking a second examination.”

“The court must appoint one examiner but can appoint more. After review of the report and the examiner’s comments to the court, the court should remain sensitive in the event of any signs of fluctuations in her overall mental status and behavioral stability, such changes may signal fluctuation in her capacity,” he added.

Law & Crime previously reported that Jolly said Schabusiness had been receiving mental health treatment since the 7th grade and that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Brown County District Attorney Dave Lasee said he didn’t feel strongly about whether a second evaluation was needed or not.

“I would note, Dr. Collins is highly respected, and she’s the head of that particular unit and does a number of these, very experienced and does a number of these evaluations,” Lasee reportedly said in court. “We’ve accepted her reports on countless occasions. I’m not sure that the county or state should pay for a second evaluation. I know there are other alternatives. The defense is entitled to have an expert evaluate their client at any time under the statute, so I won’t take a strong position one way or the other. I just wanted to note that we highly respect Dr. Collins’s opinions on this issues.”

The Daily Wire previously reported that police in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said they responded to a call from a mother who said she found her son’s head in a bucket in their basement. When they arrived at the home, police found the head in a bucket with a towel on it, along with dried blood on a nearby mattress. The mother told police that her son and Schabusiness had been in the basement earlier that day while the mother and her boyfriend were out of the house. The mother further told police she woke up around 2:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning after she heard a storm door slamming. She assumed Schabusiness left. She then went down into the basement, where she found her son’s severed head in a bucket.

Schabusiness allegedly told police she went “crazy” while having sex with the victim, who she said put a chain around his neck as part of a sex act. Schabusiness claimed she didn’t intend to kill the man but enjoyed choking him and kept doing it until he died, according to police. The police complaint said:

Schabusiness stated she then began to choke the Victim, and she described it as the Victim lying face down on the bed with her on top of him pulling on the end of the chain. The Victim coughed up blood and she was just waiting for him to die while she was watching his face. Schabusiness made the comment that she was “already this far” so she just kept on, referring to choking the Victim. Schabusiness said in a lower tone of voice, “Ya I liked it,” and Detective Graf believed her to be referring to when she was choking the Victim. Schabusiness stated she thought it took 3-5 minutes for the Victim to die. Detective Kempf clarified with Schabusiness that when the Victim began to cough up blood she just did keep on choking the Victim because she wanted to see what happens. Schabusiness made comments that she blacked out while choking the Victim but when she woke up that the Victim was already purple, so she kept on going. Schabusiness stated she enjoyed choking him and made comments to detectives asking if they knew what it was like to love something so much that you kill it.

Schabusiness also allegedly told police she engaged in sexual activity with the victim’s corpse for two to three hours before dismembering his body with a bread knife.

“Schabusiness responded that the police were going to have fun trying to find all of the organs,” prosecutors wrote, according to Law & Crime. “Schabusiness stated all of the body parts should be in the basement. Schabusiness stated there should be a foot or a leg in the minivan. Detective Graf asked Schabusiness what she did with the head, and Schabusiness stated she had put the Victim’s head in a black bucket and put a blanket over it.”

Schabusiness allegedly told police that the knives she used to dismember the victim’s body would be in a black bag in the basement along with the man’s body parts.

“Schabusiness indicated that she would use whatever bags she found in the basement to place the body parts into. Schabusiness made the comment that at one point, she did get paranoid and lazy and that she thought it was the ‘dope that was making her paranoid,” prosecutors wrote.

Schabusiness also allegedly told police she planned to take all the body parts with her but got “lazy” and only managed to take a “leg/foot.” She allegedly told police she forgot his head.

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