Relatives of the murdered Klaus family have written an open letter criticizing the sentence a judge gave the killers.
Robert and Christine Klaus say in their emotional letter that Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin’s sentence has “taken away any comfort we the family and the community have got” by the conviction of Jason Klaus and Joshua Frank last month.
Robert is the brother of Gordon Klaus, who was shot to death with his wife, Sandra, and daughter, Monica, in their beds in their farmhouse near Castor in December 2013.
Jason Klaus was convicted of plotting and carrying out the murder of his parents and sister with help from accomplice Joshua Frank, who pulled the trigger.
After a six-week trial last fall Klaus and Frank were convicted of three counts of first-degree murder each. They were sentenced on Feb. 14 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Crown prosecutors had asked that the three murder convictions be served consecutively, meaning Klaus and Frank would not have been eligible to apply for parole for 75 years.
Macklin said extending parole to 50 years or 75 years — the only two options available to him — would have led to a sentence “unduly long and harsh.”
In the letter, the Klaus family says the judge “did not see fit to recognize that you gave them three murders for the price of one.
“We would like to know which family members you negated in giving justice to and recognizing that three people were murdered not just one at the hands of these two.”
Klaus’ and Frank’s guilt was proven by their own admissions and through the “magnificent sting of the RCMP Undercover Unit,” they say.
“Did you not see and hear how they lied over and over on the witness stand to you as there was no jury to decide their fate?
“Do you honestly believe they can be rehabilitated just because they got up in court and said they were sorry?”
Klaus has already appealed his sentence says the family, which is continuing to feel the stress and grief that followed in the wake of the crimes and the long court process.
“We have had great faith in the justice system as a whole and looked to you to uphold this, and you Judge Macklin have let us down.
“Our belief in you, as we watched the whole court case unfold, is now so tainted with your reasoning that this family got unjustly sacrificed.
“There is never any rehabilitation for pure evil.”
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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