Canadian True Crime - 96 The Klaus Family Murders — Part 3

Episode Date: September 15, 2021

*Part 3 of 3Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank go to trial with completely new stories.What was the truth?Thanks for supporting our sponsors!See the special offer codes here Don't like the ads?Access early episodes without the ads plus occasional bonus content on Patreon and Supercast. Learn moreCredits:Research: Gemma HarrisWriting: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams Disclaimer voiced by the host of TrueTheme Song: We Talk of Dreams Website and social medias:Website: www.canadiantruecrime.caFacebook: facebook.com/CanadianTrueCrimeTwitter: @CanadianTCpodInstagram: @CanadianTrueCrimePodFull credits and all information sources can be found on the page for this website: https://canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes/94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. The podcast often has course language and disturbing content, and it's not for everyone. This is part three of a three-part series. It'll make a whole lot more sense if you've already listened to parts one and two. And while not the focus of the case, it mentions the hunting and killing of animals, as well as the grooming and sexual assault of a minor. Please take care when listening. Where we left off, the Mr Big operation was deemed a success, and Jason Klaus had been arrested for the first-degree murder of his parents, Gordon and Sandra Klaus, and his sister, Monica Klaus. His associate, Joshua Frank, was also arrested on the same charges.

After hours of separate interrogation, they both admitted to knowing what was going to happen that night, but told different stories about their own involvement, and these new stories were different to the one they had given to Mr Big. Jason Klaus' latest story was that he'd been under the impression that the plan was just to steal his father's pickup truck, so he was shocked when Joshua changed his mind that night and told him he was going to kill his entire family instead. Jason said he tried to save them, but he was too late. Joshua Frank admitted to shooting the family, which was the same thing he'd told Mr Big, but after his arrest, he told the RCMP he was forced to by Jason Klaus, a man nine years older than him who had allegedly sexually assaulted him as a teenager

and controlled him through threats and blackmail after that. As the two men waited for trial, the remaining relatives of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus arranged a celebration of their lives. An obituary published in the Stetler Independent spoke of tributes that were given by loved ones who remembered Gordon's sense of humour and love of a good prank and how Sandra would chuckle at his antics. They spoke about how Sandra loved working at a hospital outside Caster, her second career outside the farm, and how she'd recently celebrated 10 years there, how they'd been the primary caregivers of Gordon's aging parents, giving them excellent care in their golden years, how Monica shared her father's quick wit as well as the family's love of hunting. They shared her love of photography and the fact that she was always the one whipping out her camera at family events or just on the farm.

Because the remains of Sandra Klaus were never identified, they were deemed to have been consumed by the fire, some of Gordon and Monica's ashes were put into a third urn for Sandra. The three urns were interred alongside Lisa, Gordon and Sandra's first child who died as a toddler in a tragic farm accident when Monica was just a baby. Jason Klaus was the last child born and now he was the only member of the family still alive. Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank were arrested in 2014, 8 months after the fire, and there would be some wait for the case to get to trial for various reasons. Jason continued to call journalist Jana Prudin periodically and she wrote about how he promised that she would learn the truth at trial

and he would tell her the full story some day. He hinted that he knew about the Mr Big operation. He was in on the whole thing and had actually been working with the RCMP undercover officers to get Joshua Frank to confess in the car that day. He said the RCMP were trying to pinpoint him as being the brains behind the operation, but he was positive that the charges against him would get dropped because there's no way they can prove it. He stated again, I was not there, meaning he was not at the house when Joshua killed his family and set it on fire. When he told Jana Prudin that some people in prison think he's a monster, she asked him what he thought about that. He said, quote, I'm not, I'm one of the nicest guys.

By August of 2017, after three years in prison waiting for trial, the lawyers for both Jason and Joshua requested that their charges be stayed or not prosecuted, on the basis that it had taken too long for the case to go to trial. There had been several delays, including 13 months to set a date for the preliminary hearing and also because Jason fired his lawyers and got new ones who needed more time to get up to speed. There was also a delay on Joshua's side, but the judge dismissed the request, saying that in this case, where a family were killed in such a cruel manner by one of their own and his friend, the rights of society to have the case go to trial were more important than their right to a speedy trial.

It started in October 2017 at Red Deer Provincial Court in Alberta, almost four years after the murders of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus, and lest we forget the two dogs, Keela and Patches. It would be stated several times during the trial that had Keela, the red lab, not been shot outside the house, leaving evidence of foul play, the deaths of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus might never have been investigated as a homicide. It was a judge-only trial, no jury, and Jason Klaus, now age 42 and Joshua Frank, age 33, both pleaded not guilty to three charges of first-degree murder. Both men were defended by separate legal teams and would both testify in their own defence about what happened that night,

and while their revised stories were different, the mutual finger-pointing remained. We'll get to that soon. The prosecution's case was this. Regardless of who did what, they both knew the murders were going to happen, they were both responsible for different parts of the crime, and their motivation was greed. All up, it was nothing less than first-degree murder. Monica's boss Brady was a key witness with testimony about loaning Jason money, being an RCMP informant, and details about his many conversations with Jason Klaus in the months after the fire.

The officers involved in the Mr Big undercover operation testified too, with their identities protected under publication ban. Several relatives of the Klaus family testified that Brady wasn't the only one who had given Jason money to tide him over after the fire. They all jumped to support him, believing that he'd just lost his whole family and was in great need. One aunt testified that she gave him more than $20,000 in cash and donations in kind, and she ended up feeling betrayed. The court heard about all the odd things they'd witnessed Jason doing and saying in the months after the murders, including the detailed information about what happened to his family that supposedly came from their spirits. Early on in the trial, there was a bit of a dispute about the confession that Joshua Frank gave after his arrest,

when he was dying to pee, at least an hour after he first asked for a bathroom break. There was video that showed him asking for a break several more times and being told to wait, and towards the end he was hunched over holding his stomach. It was shortly after this that he confessed to shooting the Klaus family, although he insisted that Jason was pointing a gun at him from behind. But the RCMP still wouldn't let him take a bathroom break and kept asking him more specific leading questions like, did Jason Klaus ever sexually assault you? It was only after Joshua confirmed this that he was allowed to relieve himself.

Joshua's legal team argued that this wasn't fair and his confession should not be admitted as evidence, so there was a voir dire or a trial within a trial. Justice Eric Macklin decided that reasonable access to things like a washroom and food is a fundamental physical necessity that must be accommodated and arranged by the police for interviews. He called the bathroom break delay unreasonable under the circumstances and said Joshua Frank may have concluded that access to a washroom was contingent on him by giving something up to the interviewers like a confession or agreeing to their leading questions. It should be noted that this isn't at all saying that the sexual assault allegations he leveled against Jason Klaus were untrue,

but as you remember, Joshua did say he never wanted or intended to tell anyone what had happened. Justice Macklin decided the confession would not be admitted as evidence. As for Jason, he had no such issues, so the confession he gave after being arrested was admitted, the one where he said Joshua was just supposed to steal the truck but changed the plan on him last minute and Jason wasn't able to stop it. But even though Jason's confession evidence was admitted, the Crown argued that confession was another of his many lies, although his own defense team would say that too. In this judge-only trial, Justice Eric Macklin's job was to compare the various statements and confessions given by Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank to the testimonies they would give on the stand and decide what the truth was.

When 42-year-old Jason Klaus took to the stand, he told the court that because of his cocaine habit and gambling addiction, he never had enough money to meet his needs. So in desperation, he forged three or four checks in his father's name, which he said amounted to around $7,000. That was in July of 2013, about five months before the fire. That same month, Joshua Frank, an acquaintance who Jason said he never knew as a teenager, came to his trailer to purchase cocaine. Joshua noticed a gun on the dresser, a Ruger 9mm and asked to borrow it along with another rifle. Jason testified that he agreed to lend the guns to Joshua on the condition that he keep them safe. By September, a month or so after that, Jason was scared his parents were going to notice the money missing on the bank statements,

so he said he sat down with them after supper and told them what he'd done. He assured them that he was going to pay it all back. Soon after that, Joshua arrived to buy more cocaine, and Jason told him about the situation with the family and those forged checks. He described it as a rough day on the farm. The conversation shifted to Joshua expressing interest in one of the pickup trucks on the Klaus farm, and Jason testified that he came over to look at the 2003 GMC White Pickup owned by Gordon Klaus. Gordon was there at the time, and apparently told Joshua that he would sell him the pickup for $1500. But the problem was, this was when Joshua was out of work with the injury and had no money, and Gordon wouldn't do an IOU.

A month or so later, just days before the Klaus family murders, Jason testified that Joshua came back to the farm for more cocaine. Since he knew that no one was home at the farmhouse, Jason took him to see the prize-winning Whitetail Deerhead and told him that it was worth well over $200,000. Joshua then joked about having no money to buy the truck, so maybe he should steal the deerhead instead. Jason testified that he made it clear that it was not a good idea, because the notoriety of the deerhead meant it wouldn't be easy to sell. So that was Jason Klaus' version of what happened in the lead-up to the crime. When Joshua Frank testified, his story about those months before the murders shared similarities with Jason's, but only to a point. He said he was having a rough patch, ending up with his injured arm and a sling. He couldn't work, so he had no money, and he was staying rent-free at the Cosmopolitan Hotel courtesy of the hotel's owner, Amanda.

Joshua did go to the farm to buy cocaine, but the conversation about the truck didn't happen. He was never that keen on that truck. He said that they ended up in Jason's black suburban, and Jason was angry. As you remember, his father Gordon had been recovering from a serious health crisis, and he just had six stents put in, but Jason was angry that he had to do additional farm work to compensate for his father being out of action. Jason told Joshua he wasn't getting paid for all this overtime, so he had to forge some checks to make ends meet, and he was worried his father was going to find out soon and kick him off the farm. Joshua testified that Jason said, quote,

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Joshua Frank's testimony also covered how he and Jason first came to know each other. Joshua told the court that he was just 13 years old, and he was walking along the road after getting into a school fight. Jason, who at nine years older would have been around 22 years old, drove up and stopped. He wound down his window and asked if Joshua was okay, and offered the teenager a lift home. Joshua told the court that once he was in the car, Jason offered him cocaine, which he took, but they didn't interact again for another year. The second time, Joshua was 14 and said he was walking to work when Jason pulled up next to him and again offered him a ride. CBC News described Joshua as sobbing on the stand, as he told the court that Jason instead drove to a back road, parked the vehicle and then physically and sexually assaulted him. Joshua said, quote, it made me feel like I was nothing, so insignificant I just wanted to die.

During this testimony, Jason was in the prisoner's box, observed to be shaking his head slightly with what was described as anything from either a slight smile to a smirk on his face. Joshua then told the court that this wasn't the last time he was assaulted. It happened on and off for the next three years until he was 17. He said that he had always struggled with low self-esteem and was scared of Jason. When Joshua was asked to describe his relationship with Jason Klaus a decade later, when they were both adults, he said that was difficult, quote, I almost felt like he owned me, like I had to do what he wanted me to do. When Jason Klaus was cross examined by Joshua's legal team, he was asked about this and he denied it. He said he did not spend any time with a teenaged Joshua Frank. Joshua's lawyer asked if there was, quote, any sort of sex you had with Mr. Frank when he was 14 years old. No, there was not, Jason said.

It was then put to him that he would hit and slap Joshua if he refused to comply with Jason's sexual demands. Jason denied that too. CBC News reported that during this exchange, Joshua Frank was observed to be crying in the prisoner's box. On the stand, both men told the court what happened the night of the crime or their versions anyway. Jason addressed his previous two versions. He said that the first confession he gave to the undercover agents when he said that he paid Joshua to shoot his family was just a lie to impress the crime gang and because he thought they could offer him protection. And the version of the story he told immediately after he was arrested put him in a much more passive role. They were supposed to steal a truck.

Joshua changed his mind at the last minute and decided to murder the family instead and Jason sped back to the farm to save them only to find the house already engulfed in flames. Jason told the court that this confession was lies too because he was exhausted and under the impression that he needed to tell investigators what they wanted to hear so the interrogation would end. So the next story that Jason would tell on the stand watered down his involvement and knowledge of the crime even more. He testified that the night of December 7th 2013 he had dinner with his family. Then he went to the Hutterite Colony where he had eight beers with friends and then he drove to the Cosmopolitan Hotel to meet up with Joshua Frank. There he estimates he drank more than a dozen vodka and oranges. Jason said they had no plan when they left the bar but Joshua asked for cocaine and said he had money for it back at his room. Jason saw the Ruger 9 mil he'd lent to Joshua on the dresser along with some ammunition which triggered him to ask Joshua if he still wanted Gordon's truck.

As the two used cocaine Joshua said he did and they came up with a plan to do the insurance fraud job that same night. Jason told the court that the plan was to drop Joshua at the farm. Joshua would steal the truck and give it a new paint job and identity. The truck would be reported stolen and Gordon Klaus none the wiser would be paid the insurance money. Everyone wins except all the other policy holders. On cross examination Jason was asked do you always go out of your way to help acquaintances like this? And he said he just wanted to help someone who had no money before Christmas. He described himself as just that kind of guy.

Continuing with the story at around 4am Jason says he pulled up at the farm with Joshua in the passenger seat and he did not notice that Joshua had any weapons on him. Jason started to have second thoughts but Joshua assured him that stealing the truck would be a piece of cake and started down the driveway on foot while Jason waited. 10 minutes went by, 15 minutes, 20 minutes and then finally Jason said he saw the headlights of his father's truck being driven by Joshua. He told the court he asked why it took so long and Jason said Keeler was barking and he had to hide for a while to make sure the coast was clear before stealing the truck. This explanation didn't sound right to Jason. It was a freezing cold night and Keeler would have been inside the house. If she barked someone would have woken up. But in any event Joshua had taken Gordon's truck as they planned and all seemed well.

But Jason testified that Joshua inexplicably changed his mind about the truck too saying that he didn't want anyone from town to recognize it. He told Jason to follow him to the place near the Battle River to ditch the pickup truck and throw the keys into the ditch. Jason said that Joshua seemed agitated on the drive home. He told the court that after dropping Joshua off just outside Caster he drove past his family farm on the way home since his own trailer was on a different part of the property. Jason said he saw the yard lights were on but he didn't notice anything suspicious so he went home and went to sleep. The next thing he knew his phone rang just after 7am. It was the neighbour who saw the house on fire and was checking to see if Jason knew what was happening. So Jason's latest version given on the stand was that he had absolutely no idea that his family were murdered until he received that phone call.

Jason told the court that a few days later he confronted Joshua about the murders. Joshua confirmed that he killed the family but said it was a bit of an accident. Joshua told them that while he did plan on stealing the truck he changed his mind as he was walking down the driveway and decided to steal the deer head instead. He also decided to set the house on fire fully expecting that Gordon, Sandra and Monica would have been able to escape safely. Jason testified that Joshua told him the whole thing went south as he took the deer head off the wall. A task that must have been quite a feat for someone with their arm and a sling after an injury so bad that they were left unemployed and homeless. But as you'll remember Joshua had boasted to Mr Big that he shot the family with his arm and a sling saying that it would be good for an alibi. But in this version told by Jason, Joshua seemed to have no problems removing a giant deer head off a wall that is until he was startled by Monica's dog Patches barking.

According to Jason Joshua then saw Monica standing there which caused him to drop the deer head accidentally knocking over the Christmas tree and in all the chaos he shot Monica in the head with the Ruger followed by Gordon and Sandra. Joshua apparently saw that Monica was still alive and shot her again and after confirming that everyone was dead he splashed the gas around lit a fire and shot killer the dog. Jason Klaus testified that he had no idea Joshua was going to kill his family, no idea he was going to burn down the house until it was all too late. And when he confronted Joshua about it he was threatened that he'd be killed if he told anyone. Jason said he took Joshua's threats seriously after all he had just killed three people and that's why Jason lied so much. He said he was scared of Joshua he knew he associated with people of dubious character and it was well within his capability to get one of them to take Jason out. On cross examination Jason was asked why a drop of his blood was found at the scene and he maintained he wasn't able to explain it. He was also asked how he came to be in possession of Sandra and Monica's rings.

His Aunt Marilyn had testified to the strange interaction noting that the rings did not look like they'd been through a house fire. On the stand Jason said his mum and sister had given him those rings for safe keeping before the fire telling him to give them to his girlfriends. Jason stated again that he had nothing to do with the murders, it was all Joshua's fault. As for Joshua's side of the story he testified that they were drinking at the bar, he asked Jason for cocaine and then they agreed to meet back up in town somewhere to get the drug. But Joshua said Jason instead drove back to the farm, parked at the driveway, turned off the headlights and warned, just sit there, don't make any noise, don't even think about leaving. Joshua told the court that because of their history and the current situation he was paralyzed by fear so he did exactly what Jason said. He said Jason went inside the farmhouse, killed his own family, shot the family dog Keela and set the house on fire before running back to the car where he told Joshua to get in Gordon's white truck and follow him to the Battle River where he was instructed to throw the keys in the ditch. Joshua said the drive back home was silent until he started asking Jason what was going on. After the third time Jason apparently snapped at him, I just lost my entire family, I'm in no mood for your bullshit.

Joshua said he was dropped off just outside town and warned that he would be dead if he ever told anyone what happened. On cross-examination Joshua admitted that he has a problem with the truth and has told many lies to cover things up for a good portion of his life but he insisted he had nothing to do with the murders of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus. He said he didn't kill anybody nor did he start a fire. When asked why he never told the RCMP this latest story, he said that he told so many different lies and stories that it just snowballed into a mess. There were just a few more things left to question Joshua and Jason about at trial, like that love triangle that had been brewing between them and Amanda, the owner of the Cosmopolitan hotel who let Joshua stay there until he got back on his feet. Amanda didn't start dating Joshua Klaus until after the murders but he soon started hearing rumours that she was sleeping with Joshua. When Jason confronted Joshua about it, he confirmed that the rumours were true but Amanda, who was by this point engaged to Jason, denied it. Jason chose to believe that Joshua started the rumours regardless of whether they were true and he was angry.

At that point the RCMP undercover team were recording his calls and listened to a conversation where he told Amanda that he'd sent Joshua a nasty and threatening text message, the message where he said he was going to crack some skulls and he didn't care if he got an assault charge. Jason was asked on the stand what happened after this, did he follow up? He said it was just talk to his fiance that he had no intentions of following up on. He insisted that he wasn't a violent person. Gordon Klaus's sister Marilyn had testified about her experience with two cell phones Jason had tried to leave with her that he said had a recording of the killer confessing. According to the timeline this happened at some point after the cracking skulls conversation. By that time Marilyn was suspicious of Jason starting to get scared and she did not want to be involved so she threw the phones in the garbage without looking at them.

She told the court she had no idea what was actually on the phones. Jason testified about his side of the story. He said he had tried to secretly record Joshua confessing on two different occasions and he managed to get one successful recording on a digital recorder which he said he had since misplaced. But he transferred it to two cell phones which he tried to leave with his aunt Marilyn. He was asked quite a few questions about this. If he felt the heat of the RCMP on him and he had a recording of Joshua confessing to the murders, why did he never turn it over? Jason said that he was afraid of Joshua and his fiance Amanda heard the recording so that was proof that it exists. Amanda was not called to testify.

It was about a month or so after Jason tried to give the cell phones to Marilyn that he shocked the RCMP undercover team by casually confessing to undercover agent Smith that he had paid Joshua to kill his family. It took them by surprise because Mr Big Operations typically takes six to twelve months or longer to develop the trust needed for the suspect to feel comfortable confessing. And Jason Klaus volunteered his first confession with no questioning or prompting whatsoever just two months into the undercover operation almost too quickly. From Joshua's side, he obviously didn't know anything about any secret cell phone recordings but he testified about Jason asking him to meet up on a date that was not long after that confession he gave to undercover agent Smith. Joshua told the court the two men sat down at a picnic table and Jason started by excitedly telling Joshua about the crime gang he'd become involved with saying they were doing repossessions and seemed like real bad asses. Jason added that he told the gang that he had paid Joshua to kill his family. Joshua was shocked to hear this and asked, why would you say I did that? Jason explained to him that there was heat on the gang because of the Klaus family murders but Joshua had obviously been cleared by police since he'd passed that polygraph test so it shouldn't be a worry for him to confess to Mr Big and take the heat off Jason.

They'd get away with the crime, everybody wins. Joshua testified that Jason had him memorize a detailed order of events for the night of the murders, how it happened, who was shot in what order and where and there was even a map of the farmhouse drawn as a visual guide. Joshua told the court that he agreed to the plan because he didn't know what else to do. A week or two later he said Jason contacted him with a pop quiz to make sure he'd memorized the sequence of events correctly in preparation for the meeting with Mr Big. Joshua's legal team argued that the love triangle situation made Jason so angry that he decided to try and frame Joshua for the murders which is likely why that first confession came so quickly. Jason Klaus denied that the meeting with Joshua or this planning ever happened. The video from the Mr Big confession was played in court where Joshua described the murders of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus speaking as though it was an ordinary everyday event. At some points he laughed about it including the mention of being a stone cold killer.

Journalist Jana Pruden wrote that the relatives of the Klaus family found this part of the video particularly distressing with one of them describing it to her as like seeing pure evil. On cross-examination Jason Klaus's lawyer asked Joshua to explain his behavior and Joshua said he was just trying to sell it and play the tough guy. Quote, I obviously didn't kill these people so there wasn't that emotion there. If in fact I had killed people I probably would be remorseful. Jason Klaus's lawyer remarked, it doesn't take much to get you to lie, does it? In closing arguments each of the legal teams stated their positions. Jason Klaus's lawyer pointed the finger at Joshua. He killed the Klaus family. Jason didn't find out until after the fact and then Joshua threatened him not to tell anyone. Jason was scared of Joshua so that's why he lied all those times but the court should definitely still believe his latest version of the story given in testimony. Joshua's legal team said this too. Joshua was scared of Jason so that's why he lied and just like Jason the testimony he gave in court was for sure the truth.

The argument that Jason was afraid of Joshua was rejected by Joshua's legal team based on Jason's own admission that he confronted Joshua several times after he heard the rumors about him sleeping with Amanda. And the Mr Big video showed Jason and Joshua chatting away while Mr Big stepped away from the car with the pair looking nostalgic and almost elated as they spoke about how everything came about and how they now had a magical solution to get away with murder. Even when they thought they were alone in the car there was no evidence of any animosity between them. If you guys talk for a minute I'm going to tell them. I'll tell them what we're going to do. I appreciate you being here. Jen said she's going to come and see you. I think it was Jen because I think she was the only one besides my family. So then all of a sudden we got back because I got a little suspicious too at first because I thought this was the setup. I was kind of thinking about the more he's ripping shit apart to draw a map stuff.

It's all good. I'll tell you that because I wanted you out of this because they were both... The Crown said that despite Joshua and Jason's various lies, outlandish stories and finger pointing there was only one version of the story that made sense and that was that they both did it. Jason's motive was his disdain for his family and the way he was being treated and he was worried that his Czech forgeries were going to lead him to being ousted from the farm which was pretty much all he had in life. Quote, with them gone he could do what he wanted and the family farm would be his. As for Joshua Frank's motive the Crown's theory was that it was just greed, pure and simple. Quote, he was an unemployed destitute drug addict. He saw an opportunity for easy money and he took it. On January the 10th 2018 Justice Eric Macklin returned with his decision. He concluded that there was only one version of the story that made sense and that was the initial confession that Jason gave to undercover agent Smith

and the confessions where they both gave this same story to Mr Big. It was only after their arrest that their stories went in different directions. The judge determined that what happened to the Klaus family was most likely to have been this. Some time before December 2013 Jason shared with Joshua the problems he'd been having with his family, particularly his father. Justice Macklin described Jason as being desperate because he was scared the family were going to cut him off from his employment and his inheritance. The judge found that Jason had lied in his trial testimony about the significance and timing of those forged checks. He said it only forged three to four checks totaling around $7,000 and implied it was all sorted out by September after he confessed to his family and promised to pay them back. But Justice Macklin determined from the evidence, including bank statements, that the check forgeries likely continued through to December the 5th, just days before the murders. And the total amount was estimated to have been between $14,000 to $18,000, more than double what Jason claimed.

The judge concluded that Jason's conversations with Joshua led to a plan where he agreed to help Jason kill his family. Jason gave him a 9mm ruger in advance and promised to pay Joshua anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 to carry out the murders. Money that would come after he'd inherited his family's farm and received the insurance money from the fire. That night, both men had used cocaine and drank a lot of alcohol when they decided it was a good night to carry out the plan. Jason drove them to the class farm and he dropped Joshua off with instructions for how to get in and where to find the gas. The judge determined that it was just Joshua who went into the house and he alone shot Gordon, Sandra and Monica. Joshua then splashed the house with gas, stepped outside and because Keeler started running towards him barking, he shot her. He then lit the fire and was supposed to have returned the jerry can to the shed, but for some reason he left it at the front of the house.

The judge determined that the two men followed each other to battle river. With a abandoned Gordon's truck, Joshua threw the keys in the ditch and the next day, Jason went back to throw the gun into the river. As for Jason's bloodstain that was found at the scene, the judge noted that there was nothing to suggest that it was deposited the night of the fire. It could have been deposited at any time and referenced Joshua's testimony that he didn't notice any injury on Jason when they drove away from the burning house. The judge basically deemed the bloodstain evidence irrelevant. When it came to the rings that Sandra and Monica supposedly gave to Jason for safekeeping, the judge noted his conflicting stories. In one case, Jason said that Sandra and Monica wanted him to give their rings to his girlfriends, but in another conversation, he complained that they never approved of his girlfriends and that's why they sometimes butted heads. Justice Macklin concluded that it was unknown how Jason came to be in possession of these rings, but he says he does not believe that Sandra and Monica gave them to him for safekeeping.

As for Joshua Frank, the judge described him as being desperate, unemployed and destitute. And he lied constantly, quote, Mr. Frank lied about material things such as whether he was driving one of the vehicles. He lied about irrelevant things like how long he may have spent visiting with Mr. Klaus a few days after the fire and he lied about whether he was lying. Both men had testified to being afraid of each other, which is why neither of them came forward with their stories about the other. The judge outright dismissed Jason's claims that he was afraid of Joshua. But when it came to Joshua, the judge had to consider his testimony about sexual assault and coercive control at the hands of Jason Klaus. Jason's defense team claimed the allegations were false because Joshua failed to tell anyone until more than 10 years later, after he'd been arrested. This is a common defense tactic designed to discredit a victim. If the crime really happened, why didn't you report it until now?

Justice Macklin's response to this was that the time taken to report an assault is not relevant to the truth of whether the assault happened. History shows that coming forward after a sexual assault is not an easy path on several different levels, and survivors often decide it's not worth it, but people are allowed to change their minds. In any event, Justice Macklin said he didn't need to determine whether or not the sexual assaults actually occurred. Joshua's testimony was about being afraid of Jason, and the only thing of importance to the judge's decision was whether Joshua had an ongoing fear of Jason, not just when the alleged sexual assaults happened, but at the time he killed the Klaus family. The judge pointed out that there was no evidence that Joshua was still afraid of Jason. He didn't hesitate to initiate contact with Jason on an ongoing basis, whether it be to purchase cocaine or have a social drink. And there was ongoing communication between the two, both in person and by phone, with 28 phone conversations in the week before the murders. Justice Eric Macklin concluded that together Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank planned and carried out the three murders. Both men played a crucial role in executing the plan. They were both found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder. According to CBC News, neither Jason nor Joshua showed any reaction to this news.

At the sentencing hearing, Jason Klaus read out loud a letter he wrote to his remaining relatives, where he proclaimed his love for his family but denied any meaningful involvement in their murders. I did not kill my family and the little involvement that I did have, I will regret for the rest of my life. Joshua Frank also gave a statement in which he said he was truly, truly deeply sorry. The courtroom had been crowded with friends, family and supporters of the Klaus family every day of the trial, and after seeing the evidence laid out, they were ready to give their victim impact statements. In seven statements, they described the depth of grief and emotional scarring they had suffered after such an immeasurable tragedy and personal loss, and also of their feeling of betrayal that Jason Klaus, someone they loved and trusted, could be responsible for it. The court heard from Gordon's sister Marilyn, who he was said to have been particularly close to. She told the media that she was sickened when she watched the video of the two men confessing to Mr Big. Quote, I was absolutely devastated to hear and watch the arrogance, the bragging, the conceit, the cockiness and the sheer happiness of Jason and Joshua, who are obviously buddies and proud of what they had done. She said her nephew was dead to her. Jason's cousin Nicole read a letter that she'd written that directly addressed him. She said she would have done anything for him because she believed his heart was as broken as hers was. But, quote, finding out who you really were made me question everything I believe to be true. I still can't explain how I was so wrong about you.

She told him that he is not worthy of the Klaus name. Quote, to forgive you would be to sully their worth. Jason was seen wiping his nose and his eyes as his cousin paid tribute to Gordon, Sandra and Monica, saying that they were nothing like Jason. Quote, they were complex, they were lovely, they were funny, they were more than just a name. Gordon's brother Robert described Monica as his lovely niece and he was anguished that her life was snuffed out at age 40. She really had it all together, he said. He spoke about the way their lives had been rocked by the deaths, that as a result of the murders he and his wife Christine had their retirement sidelined as he took on administrative duties for his brother's estate. As a result of all the stress they've both experienced a considerable number of health problems since the murders and they told the court that they never expected their lives to return to normal again. The Crown were seeking three consecutive life sentences for each man, a total of 75 years in prison before they're eligible for parole. Justice Macklin did not agree and sentenced them to concurrent sentences to be served at the same time, making the men eligible for parole after 25 years. The reasoning he gave was that neither Joshua nor Jason had previous criminal records. A 75-year sentence before parole eligibility was crushing and unduly long and he wasn't convinced that a longer sentence would be a greater deterrence for reoffending. The remaining class family members had a mixed reaction to the sentences. Some said that while it doesn't bring the family back, they can now move on with their lives.

But other relatives were highly critical of the sentence and issued a statement saying they did not feel that justice has been served. They acknowledged that while rehabilitation is an important component of the justice system, putting the decision about when to release the two men into the hands of the parole board only adds to the stress suffered by those on the victim's side. The statement said that Jason and Joshua have demonstrated that they can adapt to any environment and manipulate any system to benefit themselves, so they would likely just tell the parole board what they want to hear. Quote, although they had clean criminal records, their continuous lies throughout the trial and past lifestyle in the community paints a picture that is most likely never to change. In less than 23 years, we will need to ensure our children and their children understand the risks and take all precautions to be safe from their cousin. Everyone filed an appeal. The Crown asked again for 75 years before parole and that was dismissed. Jason and Joshua wanted a new trial and then they wanted to appeal their conviction and sentences, but their appeals backfired. The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that not only would there not be a new trial, but increase the parole eligibility period, adding an additional 25 years which brought it to 50 years before they're eligible for parole.

The Court of Appeal's decision stated that although Jason's issues seem to lie with his parents, the fact that Monica Klaus, his sister, was intentionally murdered too was enough to warrant the increase. The appeal court saw no evidence that the two men would be rehabilitated. So this means that Jason Klaus will be in his early 90s and Joshua in his early 80s when they'll be eligible to apply for parole. According to media reports, both men have appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada and the matter is still before the courts. There's been no public comment from the relatives of the Klaus family. Thanks for listening and thanks to Gemma Harris for researching this case. As well as court documents, we relied on the journalism and trial reporting of Janna G. Prudin for the Globe and Mail, Janice Johnston for CBC News and Paul Cowley for the Red Deer Advocate. To see the full list of credits and resources for each episode, go to CanadianTrueCrime.ca.

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