Red Deer triple-murder trial to delay major Calgary cases

The ongoing Red Deer triple-murder trial of two central Alberta men is going to delay two major cases in Calgary.

The second-degree murder trial of Calgary man Joshua Burgess was set to begin Monday, while the continuation of the trial of three men charged with conspiracy to murder a rival gang member was to start Wednesday.

Now, both those cases have been pushed to Dec. 4, as defence lawyers in those matters remain tied up in Red Deer, in a trial that was originally scheduled to end last Friday.

The trial of Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank continues Monday.

The pair face three charges of first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 8, 2013, deaths of Klaus’ parents, Gordon and Sandra, and his adult sister, Monica.

Klaus’ lawyer, Allan Fay, represents Burgess, while defence counsel Tonii Roulston and Andrea Urquhart act for both Frank and Henry Nguyen, one of three men charged with conspiring to kill “Fat” Vinh Truong.

Roulston said Sunday that Frank’s cross-examination by Fay, which began in a rare court sitting Saturday, continues Monday and she has further evidence to call.

It’s expected final arguments in the trial will take place later in the week. “We have a few (more) witnesses to call,” Roulston said.

She said Urquhart and the other lawyers on the conspiracy case were able to shorten the expected remaining trial time to five days, allowing them to postpone the resumption of the trial to Dec. 4.

At that time, the testimony of the Crown’s star witness, an admitted killer who has been granted immunity for his testimony, will be crossexamined by defence lawyers.

In his earlier testimony, the witness, identifiable only by the pseudo-initials A.B., said the three accused planned to murder Truong as he arrived at court to be sentenced for shooting his own rivals.