National Post (National Edition)
Confession tossed in triple murder case
RCMP denied accused bathroom break
RED DEER, ALTA. • A judge has ruled the recorded confession of a man accused of killing a central Alberta couple and their daughter cannot be used as evidence at his trial because RCMP denied him a bathroom break.
Joshua Frank and Jason Klaus are charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the December, 2013, deaths of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus.
Earlier this week video recordings of Frank’s interviews with RCMP were played in court as part of a hearing to determine their admissibility.
Frank told investigators that in the month following the deaths, Jason Klaus paid him between $3,500 and $4,000 for carrying out the murders and for keeping his mouth shut about it.
Frank’s lawyer, Andrea Urquhart, argued that her client’s confession was made under oppressive conditions because investigators denied him bathroom breaks.
Justice Eric Macklin, who is hearing the case without a jury, ruled Friday that the confession is not admissible.
During Frank’s interview with police he tearfully said that Klaus had sexually abused him for years starting when he was 14. That led to Frank breaking down and admitting that he was the one who had shot and killed the three.
During the interview, Frank asked five times over the course of two hours to use the washroom. His requests were not answered by investigators.
The charred remains of the couple and their daughter were found inside the family’s farm home near Castor.
The victims were all members of Jason Klaus’s family.
Klaus’s statements were all admitted as evidence.
On Wednesday, Lee Bagshaw, the fire department’s deputy chief, testified on Wednesday that the house near Castor was engulfed in flames when crews arrived on Dec. 8, 2013.
Bagshaw said firefighters set about protecting nearby buildings and a propane tank next to the house, but he soon noticed a dead chocolate-coloured Labrador retriever nearby.
Bagshaw told the judgealone trial in Red Deer that the scene started to look suspicious when he spotted a fuel can — about twothirds full — sitting about two metres from the home’s door.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Allan Fay asked Bagshaw if the nozzle was out, as if ready to pour, or if it was tucked away. Bagshaw said he noted it was tucked away.
Travis Ryan, another fire department member, testified he came across what appeared to be charred remains inside the home.
He said the home’s residents were nowhere to be seen, which also led firefighters to think something wasn’t right.