‘Shock’ after man who dismembered woman’s body given house arrest

Warning: this story contains disturbing details. 

Family and friends of Treasa Lynn Oberly say they are in disbelief after the man who dismembered her body was spared jail time for the crime.

Earlier this month, Joseph Skelly walked out of the Edmonton Law Courts to begin a conditional sentence for committing an indignity to Oberly’s body.

Skelly, a 69-year-old retired butcher from Beaumont, admitted to cutting Oberly’s body into pieces in his garage, burning it and burying the remains in a shallow grave near Whitecourt.

The damage was so severe homicide investigators were unable to determine Oberly’s cause of death and could only identify the remains by DNA.

During Skelly’s sentencing hearing March 7, Court of King’s Bench Justice John Little sided with the defence and agreed to a conditional sentence that will see Skelly serve house arrest followed by a curfew.

He acknowledged Oberly’s loved ones “will not be satisfied with my ruling, and I accept that.”

Little nonetheless assured them they “were heard” and that the Crown prosecutor — who sought a three-and-a-half year prison sentence — “put forth her best argument.”

The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service said it is reviewing Little’s decision. It has one month from the date of sentencing to file an appeal.

Kenneth Skelly, Joseph Skelly’s son and Oberly’s boyfriend, is charged with second-degree murder in her death. A preliminary hearing in the case is set for August.

‘He needs to serve time’

Kay Zimath, Oberly’s mother, watched the sentencing remotely from her home in Delaware.

“It’s horrible. It’s outrageous,” she said. “There are so many people that are in shock here in the States, all her friends and family. And me, I can’t sleep. I couldn’t eat for a week after I heard the verdict.”

Zina Hinkley, a friend who attended court, said realizing Skelly was going to avoid jail time felt like “a horror movie.”

Particularly jarring for Hinkley was the attention Little paid to the letters of support Skelly received from friends and family — which described him as a “selfless” volunteer “who was always willing to help others” — as well as Skelly’s recent success in Alcoholics Anonymous.

She described Oberly, 40, as a loyal and selfless friend who was a “fierce mama bear” to her little boy.

Samantha, another friend, was taken aback by Little’s conclusion that Skelly acted out of “fatherly instinct.” A parent herself, Samantha (who asked only her first name be used) disagreed that dismembering a body is an understandable reaction to the circumstances.

“Fatherly instinct should be to protect your children, but you still teach your children to do the right thing,” she said.

‘Completely misguided’

In Canada, interfering with a body carries no minimum prison term, and conditional sentences are not ruled out under the law.

Crown prosecutor Christina Da Rosa argued a conditional sentence for Skelly would be “extreme.” She highlighted multiple aggravating factors she argued merited a prison sentence, including the degree of damage Skelly caused to Oberly’s body, rendering the remains all but unidentifiable.

Skelly also lied to police and only revealed what he had done after investigators seized his cellphone.

Little, however, was unconvinced. He agreed with defence lawyer Nicole Stewart that Skelly feels real remorse — as evidenced by his eventual co-operation with police, guilty plea and apology to Oberly’s family in court.

Little said in “standalone” dismemberment cases — in which a person destroys a body but is not involved in the person’s death — punishments typically range from two-year conditional sentences to 18-month jail terms.

“Mr. Skelly’s actions were completely misguided, and the way that the crime was carried out was gruesome in the extreme,” Little said. “Nevertheless, he had nothing to gain by it other than a father’s instinct to attempt to protect his son.”

Little concluded that allowing Skelly to serve his sentence at home meets the objectives of sentencing and poses no danger to the public.

“In fact, I am satisfied, given his reference letters and volunteering efforts, that he can further serve the community while serving his sentence,” Little said.

Skelly’s two-year conditional sentence includes 12 months of house arrest. He will then be under a curfew, followed by one year of probation. He is required to attend counselling and AA meetings and must complete 200 hours of community service.

‘Public outcry’

Katherine O’Neill, CEO of YWCA Edmonton, called Skelly’s sentence “disgraceful.”

She said house arrest is “woefully inadequate” when it comes to denouncing what she sees as a crime of gender-based violence.

“I looked at the mitigating factors — the fact he is remorseful, the fact he did plead guilty, the fact he is getting help for an alcohol abuse problem — I get all of that,” she said.

“But at the end of the day, the crime and the severity and the prevalence of gender-based violence in the community should have weighed more heavily in the sentencing here.”