Sandra, Gordon and Monica Klaus (Facebook photos)

By Troy Gillard

Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank

No new trial for men who killed Castor family

Dec 3, 2019 | 4:45 PM

CALGARY – There will not be a new trial for two men convicted in the triple murder of a central Alberta family six years ago.

In February 2018, Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank were sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years after being convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus.

The sentences came a month after Justice Eric Macklin convicted the pair following a lengthy, event-filled trial in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench in late 2017.

The killings took place in the early morning hours of Dec. 8, 2013.

Klaus drove Frank to his family’s farmhouse near Castor, about 140 km east of Red Deer. Frank went inside and shot the three victims before pouring gasoline and lighting the home on fire.

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Jason Klaus (front) and Joshua Frank (Photo: RCMP)

The bodies of Klaus’s father and sister were found in the burned-out wreckage of the home. His mother’s body was never found but police believe she also died in the home.

Klaus and Frank were arrested on Aug. 15, 2014.

The two men had asked Alberta’s Court of Appeal to order a new trial but the three member panel rejected their request Tuesday in Calgary.

Both men confessed their involvement in the killings to an undercover RCMP officer during an elaborate sting operation.

They blamed each other for the killings. Court heard that Klaus was having problems with his father and offered Frank money to kill the family. Frank in turn told police he did it because he was scared that Klaus would shoot him if he didn’t follow through.

Meantime, the Crown is appealing the sentences in the case as they feel Klaus and Frank should not be eligible for parole for the maximum 75 years for what the prosecution called a contract killing of sorts. A court date for appeal arguments has not been set.