Tammy Felbaum, who served time in spouse's death, found dead in Seward home

Tammy Felbaum, a transgender Seward resident who served prison time for the botched castration and 2001 overdose death of her sixth husband, was found dead this week after mail piling up at the residence prompted a welfare check by police.

Felbaum apparently had been dead for several days when her body was discovered about 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson. Felbaum, 65, was pronounced dead at the Seward Street home, and her death was attributed to natural causes, Carson said.

Volunteers are caring for about 20 pets that were in the home. Other animals found in Felbaum’s home were dead.

Members of the Westmoreland County Animal Response Team arrived to “take what we could that was alive,” said Lori Mozina-Ogurchak, chief coordinator of the volunteer group. That included a dog, four kittens, four pet rats and about a dozen goldfish.

Mozina-Ogurchak didn’t get details from the responding team members about other deceased animals they discovered in the home, including at least two kittens.

“They were trying to deal with the smell, trying to get in and out of there as quickly as possible,” she said. “They could see that other animals had passed away, probably because of starvation.”

She said the group must take on the burden of caring for the surviving animals until it has been determined that no next of kin will claim them. Then, she said, the pets could be placed with other organizations for possible adoption.

“The person had been deceased for a little while,” Mozina-Ogurchak said. “Needless to say, there were some starvation issues. They were locked up in the house.”

Related

• 2002: Tammy Felbaum sentenced to 5.5 to 11 years in jail
• 2017: Transgender ex-con arrested for alleged threat to shoot Westmoreland County judge

Carson said his office has been unable to locate any blood relatives of Felbaum.

Three semi-feral adult cats were living outside the home and were being fed by an elderly neighbor, according to Mozina-Ogurchak. The neighbor is “going to take care of them, and we’re going to try to help her cover the cost to get them spayed and neutered,” she said.

Mozina-Ogurchak said donations can be made to help defray costs of caring for animals in such situations by visiting paanimalresponse.org and selecting the “Donate” heading.

Felbaum was born a man — Thomas Wyda — in Uniontown but underwent a sex-change operation after self-castration. Fayette County court records show that Wyda was granted a name change to Tammy Lynn Wyda on Aug. 18, 1978.

Tammy Felbaum was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and related counts in December 2001 in the death of her husband, James Felbaum, 40, and was sentenced to 5 1⁄2 to 11 years in prison. Tammy Felbaum cut off her husband’s testicles in a makeshift surgical laboratory in the couple’s filthy, unheated mobile home in Marion Township, Butler County, according to trial testimony.

James Felbaum was a onetime handyman in Westmoreland County. Tammy Felbaum maintained her innocence during the trial.

Tammy Felbaum had other run-ins with the legal system, as recently as this year.

Felbaum was sentenced in April 2008 to 21 to 60 months in jail followed by two years of probation on terroristic threats and aggravated harassment by a prisoner while she was incarcerated in her husband’s death. Felbaum pleaded guilty to writing threatening letters to a Butler County assistant district attorney, two judges and others in October 2006.

According to online court records, Felbaum was sentenced to up to one year of probation and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and follow recommended treatment after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, stemming from an incident at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in February 2017.

Westmoreland County park police said Felbaum claimed to have in her purse “guns and an Uzi … also a rocket launcher” when Felbaum went through metal detectors prior to a scheduled civil court hearing in the county courthouse, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

According to court records, Felbaum was found guilty of a July 2019 charge of failing to maintain animals in a clean environment within property boundaries. That case was decided in a summary trial at the district court level.

Felbaum was sentenced to up to 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to a charge by state police of theft of property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake, related to an incident on Oct. 20, 2020, in St. Clair Township.

Felbaum was scheduled to appear later this month in Westmoreland County Court for a summary appeal trial after being found guilty in district court of several charges filed by St. Clair Township police stemming from an incident on May 25. According to court documents, the charges include failing to keep a dog confined within the owner’s premises; an unprovoked attack by a dog on a human; and failing to have a pet dog or cat vaccinated against rabies before it is older than 16 weeks.