When Joshua Frank met Mr. Big the supposed crime boss marvelled that he had beaten an RCMP lie detector test.
“Would it be safe to say you’re a stone-cold killer,” said the veteran RCMP undercover officer posing as Mr. Big at the July 19, 2014 meeting.
“I guess,” said Frank.
Frank had been called to meet with Mr. Big by Jason Klaus, who had been the target of a four-month RCMP sting operation to gather evidence on the killer of Gordon, Sandra and Monica Klaus at their Castor-area farmhouse on Dec. 8, 2013.
Klaus told the undercover officers that Frank had pulled the trigger while Klaus waited — parked on the road nearby.
A skeptical Mr. Big told Klaus he wanted to meet Frank to see if he had the same story. They ended up meeting near a gas station at the CrossIron Mills mall.
Mr. Big said he had a dying uncle who was willing to confess to the murders to get Frank off the hook. But he needed to have the details right if police were to buy the confession.
In a video recorded interview in Mr. Big’s pickup, Frank backed up Klaus’ story completely.
Frank said he went alone into the Klaus home in the early hours and shot each family member in the head.
He killed Klaus’ parents, Gordon and Sandra, first as they slept. He flicked the light on in the bedroom and pulled the trigger.
Woken by the noise, Monica started to rise in her bed but only got out a “What’s” before he shot her.
He then went back and shot Gordon and Sandra again “just to make sure.”
Klaus and Frank are on trial in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on three counts of first-degree murder.
Mr. Big asked if Frank felt remorseful.
“A little bit,” he said.
He beat the lie detector test in part because of health issues that give him an unnaturally high heart rate. He also smoked marijuana before the multiple tests and purposely fidgeted at key moments to throw off the test, he said.
Frank told Mr. Big that Klaus approached him in late October or early November to enlist him in his murder scheme.
Klaus had forged his father’s name on some cheques and felt time was running out before the thefts were discovered. He feared it would get him cut out of his parents’ will.
Over a few drinks and some cocaine Klaus suggested “we go in and take them out and burn the house down.”
Frank told Mr. Big how after the murders he dumped aviation fuel in the house and lit it and then took a pickup from the farm and joined Klaus. They dumped the truck about 30 kilometres away near the Battle River.
Klaus dropped off Frank near Castor and he went to bed. The next day he drove to Big Knife Provincial Park and threw the knife in a river.
Frank said he did it for the money. How much was “undetermined” but he expected to get up to $50,000 and other perks such as a vehicle.
Mr. Big asked him what his thoughts were in the days after the murders.
“What have I got myself into now,” said Frank, adding “Well, I can’t back out.”
Frank was also asked by Mr. Big why he was OK with telling his story to him.
“Because you’re trying to help J(ason). If it helps J, it helps me.”
Klaus and Frank were so accommodating they drew maps of the house and their escape route and drove up to the park from the mall parking lot to show Mr. Big where he threw the gun.
The video recording evidence is part of a voir dire — a trial within a trial — to determine if it will be admissible in the murder trial.
Justice Eric Macklin will make that decision next week. The trial resumes Monday.
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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