Father of murdered Beaumont woman's boyfriend to serve prison time after appeal

Treasa Lynn Oberly (Credit: RCMP)

Content warning: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some.

The man who cut up the body of his grandson's mother is going to prison after the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned his previous sentence.

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Joseph Skelly was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest and 12 months of curfew in March after he pleaded guilty to causing indignity to a body in the death of Treasa Oberly, 40, of Beaumont.

On Oct. 16 the appeals court found Joseph's sentence "demonstrably unfit" and sentenced him to 36 months in prison, less 21 days credit for 14 days of pretrial custody and credit for time served on the conditional sentence in March.

Joseph must turn himself in no later than 2 p.m. on Oct. 28.

Joseph's son Kenneth Skelly, who was Oberly's common-law husband and the father of her son, is charged with second-degree murder in her death.

According to the agreed statement of facts between Joseph Skelly and the Crown, Kenneth arrived at Joseph's home in Beaumont on the night of July 15, 2023 with Oberly's body in his truck.

In an attempt to protect his son, the document says Joseph, a retired butcher, used an axe, a boning knife and a handheld electric saw to remove Oberly's head and tattooed forearms. He placed them in a burn barrel in his backyard and burned them to ashes and put the ashes in his recycling bin, according to the agreed statement of facts.

The document states Joseph had been drinking when he dismembered Oberly's body.

Kenneth Skelly is due back in court in December 2025 on the second-degree murder charge.