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Klaus refuses to take polygraph exam months after family deaths

Triple murder trial continues in Red Deer’s Court of Queen’s Bench
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Months after the deaths of a Castor-area family, Jason Klaus continued to refuse a polygraph exam as requested by investigators.

Day three of the trial against Klaus and Joshua Frank continued on Wednesday with Sgt. Robert Kropp remaining on the stand.

Klaus has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson in relation to the deaths of his father Gordon Klaus, 61, his mother Sandra Klaus, 62 and his sister Monica Klaus, 40, in December 2013.

Joshua Frank has also been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths as well as one count of arson and one count of injuring or endangering an animal in relation to the shooting death of the family dog.

The remains of Gordon and Monica were found in what was left of a burnt-out house in Castor on Dec. 8th, 2013.

The body of Sandra has never been found and during a press conference in Calgary in 2014, RCMP Insp. Tony Hamori said police believe her remains were consumed by the fire.

On Monday, Crown Prosecutor Douglas Taylor entered into a voir dire to determine the voluntariness of Jason. That voir dire, which is held to determine admissibility of evidence, is expected to continue into the middle of next week.

Sgt. Robert Kropp, of the major crimes unit south branch, could be seen interviewing Jason on Feb. 16th, 2014. He asked Jason if he would consent to taking a polygraph exam at that time. Jason indicated he would not take an exam that day as he was following his lawyer’s instructions and he had been battling the flu for a number of days prior.

Kropp then introduced Jason to Sgt. Daniel McCullum, a polygraph examiner, and left the two to talk alone.

McCullum told Jason he had his equipment in another room and they could proceed with a polygraph exam if Jason consented. Again, Jason said he would not do the exam that day, but he did want to do it down the road.

“I want to talk to my lawyer. I still want to take it if it helps me carry on and takes me out of the picture, great,” said Jason