Retired Alberta butcher gets no jail for dismembering woman’s body

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Warning: this story contains disturbing details. 

Heinous. A monster. Satan’s helper.

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Those were some of the words used by friends and family of Treasa Lynn Oberly to describe the man who dismembered and burned the beloved Beaumont mother’s body.

But Joseph Donald Skelly, a 69-year-old retired butcher from Beaumont, will not serve jail time for the crime.

Skelly was sentenced in the Court of King’s Bench Thursday to a two-year conditional sentence order on a count of offering an indignity to the body of Treasa Lynn Oberly. The sentence includes 12 months of house arrest, followed by a period of curfew.

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The Crown had asked Skelly serve three-and-a-half years in prison.

Skelly’s son Kenneth — Oberly’s boyfriend — is charged with second-degree murder in her death. That case is next in court Aug. 16, 2024, for a preliminary hearing.

Justice John Little acknowledged his decision will not satisfy Oberly’s friends and loved ones, but said the Crown nonetheless put forward a quality argument.

Destroyed evidence

Skelly pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to helping dispose of Oberly’s body.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Kenneth Skelly arrived at his father’s home on the evening of July 15, 2023 — one day after she was reported missing — and told him Oberly’s body was in the garage.

Joseph Skelly, who was drunk, agreed to destroy the body to prevent it from being identified by investigators. Over the course of the night, Joseph Skelly dismembered Oberly’s body, burning some of the remains in a backyard burn barrel. Thinking he was too drunk to drive, he waited until the following day to dispose of the rest, transporting them in his truck to an area near Whitecourt and burying them in a shallow grave.

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Joseph Skelly then returned home, burned the tarps used to conceal Oberly’s body and cleaned his garage and vehicle.

RCMP approached Joseph Skelly less than a week later. He initially said Oberly was a “nasty person” and claimed she returned to the United States. He took other steps to conceal the truth until July 24, 2023, when he admitted to RCMP what he had done and led them to the field in Whitecourt.

Oberly’s remains were unidentifiable except though DNA testing. Joseph Skelly admitted his actions “prevented investigators from determining the cause of (her) death, which is suspected to be from a head wound.”

‘Worst possible choice’

Little heard victim impact statements from three of Oberly’s loved ones, who described the 40-year-old as a loving mother and dear friend.

“I do not understand how you could do this to your grandchild’s mother,” friend Zina Hinkley told Skelly. “You are not a person in my mind. You are a monster, and I hope you never get the chance to live in society again.”

Oberly’s mother said Joseph Skelly treated her daughter “like a piece of trash.” 

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“You are Satan’s helper, and you will live with Satan when you die,” she said told him. “I wish nothing but for you to be miserable for the rest of your life.” 

Samantha, who asked her last name not be used, said she misses her friend every day. 

“She was my biggest support and had the best answers for everything. She loved my kids like they were her own.”

Prosecutor Christina Darosa said that while Skelly should receive credit for his guilty plea, his actions merit prison time.

Not only did the coverup deprive investigators of evidence, Oberly’s loved ones must now “live with the knowledge of what was done to her.”

“This was not a quick and panicked process,” she added. “At every opportunity, the accused made the worst possible choice.”

She dismissed the defence request for a two-year conditional sentence order — to be served on house arrest and a curfew, followed by probation — as “extreme.”

Nicole Stewart, Skelly’s defence lawyer, argued a sentence served in the community was appropriate for the case. She said the Crown failed to give Skelly proper credit for his guilty plea and expressions of remorse.

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She said Skelly had become an alcoholic and a “hermit” in the wake of his wife’s death from cancer 12 years ago and was acting out of misguided “fatherly instinct.” He has since been attending Alcoholics Anonymous and is seven months sober.

Stewart added as soon as she became Skelly’s lawyer, he indicated an intention to plead guilty.

Nine of Skelly’s friends and family submitted letters on his behalf, describing him as a good neighbour, a family man and a well-known member of the community. Skelly’s eldest son — who is not Kenneth — said his father enjoyed a long career with Costco and “assisted in opening almost every Costco meat department” in Edmonton.

He said his father was in a “fragile mental state” at the time of the “tragedy.” 

Joseph Skelly himself apologized in a letter read in court by his lawyer.

“I don’t expect forgiveness, but for every single day I have left I will try to make amends, even if you don’t see them,” he said. “I am so, so sorry.” 

Little ultimately agreed that allowing Skelly to serve his sentence in the community would not endanger the public.

“Mr. Skelly, you behave yourself,” he concluded.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jonnywakefield

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