Victim’s screams heard on audio played at Cody Chubey murder trial in Melfort

She said the shouting eventually escalated into violence from the man in the next room.

Donelle testified the man accused the woman of cheating on him and taking his phone, both of which she denied. She said he threatened to kill the woman, beat her until she looked like a balloon, and said no one would hear her scream or help her.

She called RCMP as the incident escalated, and she and Garth decided to record the argument on a cellphone.

In the first recording, which was enhanced but still muffled, the man in the adjacent room is heard yelling at the woman, saying ‘you think I’m [expletive] stupid,” and ‘you’re going to die if you don’t tell me.” The exchange referred to his accusations of cheating. The woman was heard screaming ‘help me’, while the man said, ‘shut your [expletive] mouth.’

The second recording, taken a few minutes later, was similar, with the man shouting, ‘you think yelling’s gonna help’ and ‘tell me and I’ll stop,” again referring to cheating accusations. Court also heard noises indicating a physical confrontation during the recordings.

Donelle called RCMP a second time to make sure someone was coming, and Cst. Benzel and Boissonneau arrived soon after. She testified she heard them speaking with the man in the next room, who told the officers ‘I beat her up a bit’.

Garth Olafson testified next, saying the people in the next room would argue, escalate to threats, then become calmer. He said the man and woman then had sex, followed by more arguing that eventually turned violent.

Garth said the man told the woman to go into the bathroom to clean up and not go to the hospital with what were presumed to be injuries he caused. Mr. Olafson added the man was accusing her of cheating and said she had his phone in the bathroom. Soon after, Mr. Olafson heard something hit the tub 10 or 15 times, then things went quiet. RCMP arrived shortly after.

Dobersheck’s body was discovered in the bathtub when RCMP entered the scene.

RCMP Cst. Tanner Maynard testified in the afternoon. He was off duty and not on call at the time of the incident, but was called by Cst. Benzel to help with the investigation. Maynard said he took a supervisory role and arrived at the detachment to meet Cst. Benzel and Cst. Boissonneau as they brought Chubey in by police vehicle.

Cst. Maynard activated an audio recorder before Chubey went to the cellblock area at 5:26 a.m. Asked whether he had alcohol in his system, Chubey replied he had consumed alcohol about 20 minutes earlier. Maynard said Chubey’s speech was slightly slurred, but he was otherwise responsive and alert. He testified that on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 sober and 10 passed out, Chubey was a 5 or 6. Chubey was first charged with aggravated assault, despite police believing Dobersheck was deceased.

Defence counsel Peter Abrametz asked why Cst. Maynard didn’t tell his client Dobersheck was deceased, and the constable said they take their cues from RCMP Major Crimes on what to charter Chubey for.

Cst. Maynard also said Chubey was cooperative with officers. When asked by Abrametz whether he asked Chubey how much he had to drink that night, the constable responded ‘no’. Maynard also replied no when asked whether he was an expert on the effects of alcohol.

The trial will resume on Wednesday.

*For those experiencing domestic violence, help is available by calling The North East Outreach & Support Services at 306-752-9455 or by calling 911 in an emergency.

cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

by Cam Lee

Victim’s screams heard on audio played at Cody Chubey murder trial in Melfort

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