Alberta’s top court to hear sentence appeals of three triple murderers
The minimum length of time convicted triple-murderers Douglas Garland, Joshua Frank and Jason Klaus must serve behind bars before seeking full parole will be argued Tuesday before the province’s top court.
A three-member panel of Alberta Court of Appeal justices — Peter Martin, Jack Watson and Fran Slatter — are set to jointly hear arguments from Crown and defence lawyers over the issue of consecutive parole ineligibility for multiple murderers.
Lawyers Kim Ross and Alias Sanders will submit the minimum 75 years Garland has been ordered to serve for the murders of a Calgary couple and their grandson is excessive, while Crown prosecutor Iwona Kuklicz will contend Klaus and Frank weren’t punished adequately for the killings of the former’s parents and adult sister.
Garland was handed three consecutive periods of parole ineligibility of 25 years after he was convicted of murdering Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-yearold grandson, Nathan O’brien, after kidnapping the trio from the couple’s Calgary home on June 30, 2014.
While the bodies of the three victims were never found, traces of their DNA were discovered on the sprawling acreage of Garland’s elderly parents northeast of the city.
Klaus and Frank were convicted in January 2018 of three counts each of first-degree murder in the Dec. 8, 2013, shooting deaths of Klaus’ parents, Gordon and Sandra, and his sister, Monica.
Justice Eric Macklin ruled Klaus hired Frank to kill his family members, who were shot in their rural home near Castor, about 140 kilometres east of Red Deer, before the residence was torched.
Macklin ruled consecutive periods of parole ineligibility weren’t warranted and ordered each to serve a minimum 25 years.