Victim’s family frustrated after Chubey trial is adjourned

While acknowledging the need for the accused to have a full defence, Crown prosecutor Jennifer Souter said a long delay would be taxing on the victim’s family and everyone involved in the case.

Justice Sean Sinclair approved a conference call for July 10 with counsel, and a date to resume the trial will be set then. Abrametz had earlier requested a resumption date sometime in October.

Dobersheck’s father was upset by the delay.

Darris Dobersheck told northeastNOW the situation is frustrating.

“I just would have liked to have seen some kind of finalization,” Dobersheck said. “It seems like we’re not any closer to finalizing this.”

Dobersheck said waiting at home for the case to proceed hasn’t been good for him.

“The last few days it seemed like we were getting somewhere, and I was actually starting to feel a little better knowing that there was closure, but obviously this is a huge step back for myself.”

Since the trial began on Monday, the gallery at Melfort Court of King’s Bench has largely been made up of Dobersheck’s family members and former colleagues at North East Outreach and Support Services (NEOSS), where she worked in the TreeHouse emergency receiving house for children. Dobersheck said his daughter meant a lot to many people.

“As people have heard, she’s touched many lives and has always been joyful and [brightened] a room,” Dobersheck said. “The amount of support has been incredible. It’s very heartening to see how much support, and how many lives she has affected.”

Dobersheck said Danielle’s brutal death had a ripple effect on the whole family. Two of her siblings took their own lives after the murder.

He said he has had great support from his employer and many others, but waiting for closure has been daunting.

“Been waiting for two and a half years,” Dobersheck said. “When this is all said and done, if we do get what we’re asking, then it will have been worth it; but right now, it’s just super frustrating.”

The Crown closed its case Wednesday afternoon after four witnesses took the stand.

The first was Andrew Oh, the owner and manager of the Carra Valla Inn, the hotel where the murder took place. He testified through a Korean interpreter.

Oh told the court it was Danielle who rented the motel room and that a man later asked him to open the door after accidentally locking himself out. The Crown asked Oh whether shovels, like the one found in the bathroom of Chubey and Dobersheck’s room, were ever left in rooms. He said they were usually leaning in corners or on a pillar outside the rooms.

Oh added the bathroom door had not previously been in the state of disrepair it was in after the murder.

A video of Danielle’s daughter Daysha that was taken by Prince Albert RCMP on the day after the murder was played in court after Oh’s testimony.

Daysha was 13 years old and in Grade 8 when she spoke in the video about the relationship between Danielle and Cody. She said Cody was always thinking her mother was cheating on him. Daysha testified Cody had broken up with her mother a couple of weeks earlier, but they had gone on a date to Saskatoon that Saturday and eventually returned to the Carra Valla Inn.

The teen’s testimony also referred to Chubey’s mental state. She said while playing an online video game, he became angry and slammed down his headset. Chubey then went to the kitchen to get what was likely a knife, went outside, and yelled, “Since you’re watching my house, then come at me,” or words to that effect. Daysha said her mom told her Chubey was hallucinating at times and that, through a shared Google account with her mother, she learned Danielle had searched ‘bipolar’ and ‘schizophrenic.’ According to Daysha, she had not seen evidence of hallucinatory actions, except possibly the night of the video game incident.

Daysha admitted she had seen arguments between the two get physical, but did not remember specifics.

Xaviera Bird was next to testify for the Crown. She had previously been in a relationship with Danielle’s father, Darris, and had known Danielle since she was a child. Xaviera described herself as an ‘adopted mama’ and said Danielle was the daughter she never had. Bird testified Danielle told her she had been having relationship issues and was thinking of applying for a job and moving to Lanigan with her kids. Bird also said Danielle told her Chubey had accused her of cheating while she was going to work, and that Danielle wanted some time away to think things over in their relationship.

Danielle stayed with Bird in Prince Albert for four days but returned to Melfort because she missed her children and wanted to make the relationship work for their sake. Chubey was the father of Danielle’s two youngest children.

The Crown played part of the audio clip presented earlier this week recorded from the room beside Dobersheck’s at the Carra Valla Inn. In it, a man can be heard shouting. Souter asked Bird if the voice was Chubey’s, but she was unsure. A second clip was played, and Bird said it sounded like Chubey, but she had never heard him yell or swear like he did in the audio.

Abrametz asked Bird if Danielle was worried about Chubey’s health, and she said yes. She told the court Danielle had taken Chubey to a clinic a few weeks before the murder. Bird added she was concerned about his mental health and told her, “I think Cody’s hearing voices in his head.”

Sgt. Kevin Gagne was the last witness on the stand during Day 3 of the trial. He was with RCMP Major Crimes in March 2024, and his job in the Chubey case was crime scene manager.

Dobersheck’s body was found in the motel room’s bathtub. Gagne testified that there was a bloody footprint on the bathroom door, and it looked like somebody “donkey kicked” the door to break it open. The door had a significant crack from under the latch to near the bottom, and Gagne said that’s consistent with what he has seen in break-and-enter cases.

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*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 family frustrated after Chubey trial is adjourned

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