By The Canadian Press

Men who killed Alberta family won’t get parole chance for 25 years

Feb 14, 2018 | 2:48 PM

RED DEER, Alta. — An Alberta judge has ruled that two men found guilty of murdering three family members will not have to spend additional time in prison before they can apply for parole.

Jason Klaus, 42, and Joshua Frank, 32, have instead been sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years — which is automatic under the Criminal Code for first-degree murder.

Justice Eric Macklin told court in Red Deer, Alta., on Wednesday that factors in the case were not particularly uncommon compared with other murders and did not warrant consecutive sentences.

He also suggested that the two men would have a better chance of rehabilitation if they were not “bereft of hope.”

Klaus and Frank, sitting in the prisoner’s dock, did not change their expressions as the judge spoke.

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The bodies of Klaus’s father and sister were found in their burned-out farmhouse near Castor, Alta., in December 2013. His mother’s body was never found but police believe she also died in the house.

The Crown had argued that the two men deserved the maximum of 75 years without hope of parole for what the prosecution called a “contract killing of sorts.”