RCMP Officer, Summer 2025. File photo by Jon Tupper
FORT MCMURRAY— Alberta RCMP have charged a second person in connection with the 2023 killing of a Fort McMurray man whose body was discovered near Highway 63 on Parsons Access Road, shortly before a vehicle fire was reported on nearby Tower Road.
The Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit says 30-year-old Kirby Ronald Spence has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Mark O’Keefe. Spence was brought before a justice of the peace and remains in custody. He is scheduled to appear before the Alberta Court of Justice in Fort McMurray on Oct. 24, 2025.
This is the second and final arrest in the case. In September, Victoria Sheila Elizabeth Hilliard, 29, was arrested by police in Toronto and charged with second-degree murder after the RCMP issued a Canada-wide warrant for her arrest. Alberta RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Troy Savinkoff later confirmed Hilliard has no fixed address.
The investigation began on the morning of Dec. 12, 2023, when Wood Buffalo RCMP responded to a call about a suspicious death on Parsons Access Road near the Highway 63 turnoff. Officers found O’Keefe dead under what they described as suspicious circumstances. A short time later, police were called to a vehicle fire on Tower Road. Investigators soon determined the two incidents were likely connected, prompting the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit to take over the case.
RCMP have not released further details about how the homicide unfolded, citing the ongoing court process.
Anyone with information about criminal activity in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region is asked to contact Wood Buffalo RCMP at 780-788-4000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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