Pod Insights Canadian True Crime Colin Thatcher and the Murder of JoAnn Wilson [3] About this episode [Part 3 of 3] A surprise witness comes forward to testify against Colin Thatcher. His own contribution from the stand? Deny, deny, deny. Even after the jury reaches a verdict, Thatcher continues to make headlines for decades to come...
*Additional content warning: this episode contains mentions of domestic abuse.
— This series is a carefully selected replay from our archive.
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Transcript 12,454 words · 7 speakers
0:00 Speaker 00 Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notification screaming at you. It just disappears into your call log. And nine times out of 10, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by QUO, spelled Q U O. The business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it. All your calls, texts, and voicemails live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more, "Wait, who talked to this customer last?" And if you're worried about after-hours leads slipping through, QUO's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline.
0:44 Speaker 00 It's the number one rated business phone system on G2, and over 90,000 businesses already trust it to stay reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with QUO. Try QUO for free. Plus, get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com/tech. That's Q U O dot com slash tech.
1:05 Speaker 01 The youth mental health crisis is growing, and social media is a major driver. Kids are spending up to nine hours a day on screens, often unsupervised. And studies show a direct link to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. That's where Gab comes in. Gab offers safer phones and watches for kids with no social media, tailored to every age, offering the right tech at the right time. Or Tech in Steps. From GPS-tracking-enabled watches for younger kids to phones with parent-enabled apps for teens, each device allows kids to more safely grow their independence. Visit gab.com/getgab and use code GETGAB for an exclusive offer. That's G A B B dot com forward slash get gab.
1:50 Speaker 01 Gab: Tech in Steps. Independence for them, peace of mind for parents.
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2:10 Speaker 03 This is the final part of a three-part series. Where we left off, it was 1984 and Colin Thatcher was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Joanne Wilson. The Crown had finished laying out its case, which included testimony about the various statements Colin gave to Gary Anderson and Charles Wild about arranging to have Joanne killed. There was the recorded conversation with Gary, and statements reported by Colin's Palm Springs girlfriend Lynne Mandell. There was his purchase of a revolver, special ammunition, and a holster in the United States, which Lynne said had been hidden in a Barbie doll shower box and taken to Canada.
2:54 Speaker 03 And the fact that the police found those items at his home in Moose Jaw. There was the blue Oldsmobile seen surveilling Joanne's house in the days before she was murdered that matched a car that Colin Thatcher had borrowed from the government. And the fact that his credit card receipt was found feet from the crime scene when it had no reason to be there. But there was one more surprise witness that the Crown hadn't banked on, and he likely wouldn't have come forward had he not had a chance encounter with investigators after the trial had started.
3:34 Speaker 03 The last witness for the Crown was Richard Dick Culver, Colin's close friend and former leader of the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party who wooed Colin Thatcher over from the Liberal Party. You might recall that after Colin and Joanne first separated, Richard Dick Culver invited him and the kids to visit at his family ranch in the United States over Christmas. Colin showed up with his three kids, as well as their longtime babysitter Sandra, who was 17 years old at the time. Richard and his wife were shocked to hear Colin and Sandra referring to Joanne as "that bitch" in front of the kids.
4:19 Speaker 03 Richard Dick Culver told the jury that the next morning, he initiated a private conversation with Colin to talk about the fact that he seemed obsessed with Joanne and their separation, so much so that he wasn't paying attention in Parliament. Richard testified that Colin told him, quote, "I have only one solution for the bitch." When Richard asked him what he meant by that, Colin reportedly replied, "The only solution is I've got to hire somebody to kill her."
4:53 Speaker 03 He then asked Richard to do him a favour and contact some of his own acquaintances who reportedly knew some awful people, and see if he could be put in touch with them. Richard told the jury that he flat-out said no, and scolded Colin for crossing the line of their friendship and even bringing the subject up. He pointed out how ridiculous Colin's obsession had become, and asked him to leave the ranch and not visit again until he'd dealt with it.
5:24 Speaker 03 On cross-examination, Colin's defence lawyer suggested to Richard that the hitman conversation was facetious, and both men were either drunk or hungover. Richard stood firm and denied this.
5:39 Speaker 03 Richard continued, telling the jury that after Colin left the ranch, he decided to seek legal advice because he was concerned about his friend's behaviour. Ultimately, he gave Colin the benefit of the doubt, hoping it would all blow over. But it didn't. Richard testified about the following year, 1980, when Colin asked him to contact Joanne as a favour and try to negotiate a custody agreement. Colin commented that the legal costs were blowing out and this might save him some money. He told Richard that, quote, "Bottom line is, I must have the boys."
6:20 Speaker 03 Richard told the jury that Colin seemed obsessed with his boys and carrying on the Thatcher name. After that, he met with Joanne and they reached a new agreement with ease, an agreement he recommended Colin accept. But he was surprised that Colin remained defiant, saying, quote, "The bitch isn't going to get anything." The court heard that this was the last straw for Richard, and he ended his friendship with Colin.
6:51 Speaker 03 After he heard that Joanne had been shot in the shoulder, he again contacted his legal counsel to ask what his obligations were, and was told he was under no legal obligation to come forward. He decided not to. After Joanne was murdered, he said he received the same advice and made the same decision. But soon after the trial started, Richard happened to be in Saskatoon and was approached by investigators. He would say he made a decision to testify for the sake of civic duty. The trial was paused for a voir dire to determine if his evidence was admissible, and then he was called to testify.
7:40 Speaker 03 So, that was the Crown's case. They had laid out the evidence to show that either Colin Thatcher murdered Joanne Wilson himself, or he aided and abetted someone else. But the jury wouldn't need to determine which of those were true. Their only decision would be whether Colin Thatcher was ultimately responsible for causing Joanne Wilson's death.
8:09 Speaker 03 The defence focused on corroborating Colin's alibi for both of the times Joanne Wilson was shot. Seven witnesses were called to testify for the defence, including Colin Thatcher, his teenage sons Greg and Regan, their former babysitter Sandra, Colin's custody lawyer Anthony "Tony" Merchant, and two others. When Colin took to the stand in his own defence, he denied any involvement in his ex-wife's death. He described Joanne Wilson fondly, as "the kind of person you marry and have children with". He denied ever physically abusing her, he denied having any hatred or bitterness towards
8:54 Speaker 03 her, and he denied that she lived in fear of him. He also denied making those comments about hiring a hitman to Richard "Dick" Culver. Colin told the jury that it was actually Richard who brought up the idea of hiring a hitman as a joke. Colin said he was disappointed because he wanted to have a serious conversation with his friend about his marriage situation, but Richard couldn't handle his liquor very well, and he suggested in jest that Colin should hire a hitman to take care of his wife. Quote, "Dick is the cheapest drunk in the world." Colin also specifically denied that he or the babysitter Sandra ever referred to Joanne
9:39 Speaker 03 as "that bitch". His oldest son Greg would testify that he remembered that visit to the ranch, and denied that Sandra ever said anything unkind or derogatory about his mother. Gary Anderson had testified about Colin Thatcher requesting the first meeting with him at an abandoned farm in the fall of 1980, just a few months into the contentious custody battle over Regan. How Colin had asked him if he would kill his ex-wife Joanne, and Gary replied he wouldn't, but would have a think about someone who would. Colin testified that it was the other way around.
10:21 Speaker 03 The reason he called the meeting with Gary Anderson was to discuss leasing more land from his family. And during that meeting, Gary asked him if he was interested in “doing a number” to Ron Graham. As you'll recall, Ron Graham was Colin's former business associate, who had a brief affair with Joanne and helped her when she first decided to leave the marriage. Colin told the jury that Gary informed him Ron had cut corners in a construction job and wanted to get him back for that. Colin said he wasn't interested. He denied giving Gary any money. He denied Gary's story about Charles Wild.
11:04 Speaker 03 He denied that Gary had been the middleman, and he denied ever meeting Charles in person after the failed hits. He also denied ever giving him money to travel to the United States to kill Joanne there, and denied that he provided information about Joanne's Easter travel plans as well as her parents' address. Deny, deny, deny.
11:28 Speaker 03 Colin was also asked about Gary Anderson's testimony that after the hired hitman plans fell through, Colin asked him to acquire a firearm and rent him a vehicle. Gary had purchased a 303 bolt-action Lee Enfield rifle, the high-powered main firearm of the British military, along with ammunition to go with it. Colin denied that these purchases had been at his instruction, and he also denied that the contract Gary signed for a rental car was at his instruction. Colin Thatcher described Gary Anderson as volatile and irrational, and claimed that
12:08 Speaker 03 he fabricated his testimony about what happened behind the scenes based on details published in the press.
12:17 Speaker 03 A large part of Colin's testimony focused on his alibis. Joanne Wilson had been shot and injured in her Regina home the first time, at about 10pm on May 17th of 1981. Colin told the jury that he was at home in Moose Jaw with his middle son Regan, who was 11 years old at the time. His eldest son Greg was at a friend's place and didn't return until 10.30pm, after the shooting had taken place. So, Regan was the only person who could corroborate Colin's alibi for that shooting. Now 15, he testified that he was at home that night as his father opened up the swimming pool,
13:02 Speaker 03 and that's where he remained the entire evening. On the stand, Regan also spoke briefly about his experience during the prolonged custody battle, when his father refused to speak about his whereabouts. The teenager acknowledged that the judge awarded his custody to his mother, and also that she didn't know where he actually was for many months. Regan testified that he refused to live with his mother, but didn't give any reasons or an explanation about why. He said that during that time, he'd been in the United States, living with his grandmother Peggy Thatcher and attending private school there.
13:45 Speaker 03 He testified that his father visited him from time to time, and sometimes his lawyer Anthony "Tony" Merchant would come as well. Regan explained that during those times, he had to avoid visiting the condo so the lawyer wouldn't see him. Tony Merchant, of course, was at the time representing Colin Thatcher in the divorce, and Colin was claiming that he didn't know where his son was, a strategy that could have been jeopardised if his lawyer actually saw Regan in Palm Springs himself. Regan told the jury about returning to Canada to live with his father in Moose Jaw,
14:25 Speaker 03 which he said was about two weeks before his mother was shot the first time in Regina. As you'll remember, Joanne was scared for her life after that. And during her recovery in the hospital, she made a decision to back out of the custody fight for Regan's sake. So Colin effectively won by default because he had outlasted her.
14:51 Speaker 03 According to a court document, Regan testified that he quote, "was happy that an application was made to change his custody after the first shooting, but there was no emotion expressed about the shooting itself or the impact it had on his mother." The court document noted that Regan described the babysitter Sandra as "someone who was close to us."
15:18 Speaker 03 Colin Thatcher's former girlfriend, Lyn Mendel, had testified about several things he said to her after the first time Joanne was shot, including a comment he made that the only thing that saved him was quote, "That the police didn't go actually go physically to my house to see that I was there." He denied saying this to her. He also denied telling Lyn in an amused tone that quote, "Gee, I didn't gauge the thickness of the glass, so the bullet obviously deflected because I only got her in the shoulder."
15:54 Speaker 03 Colin denied that he told Lyn he'd driven to Regina in a car someone else had rented for him, and that he'd put on a disguise consisting of a wig, a long, shaggy beard, and overalls. He denied telling her that he'd approached Joanne's home with a high-powered rifle and shot her through the glass, denied telling her that he'd taken backroads to drive back to Moose Jaw, and that he'd thrown the rifle, the wig, and the overalls in a field somewhere. Colin confirmed that he and Lyn spoke frequently on the phone during their long-distance relationship, but denied making any arrangement for coded messages.
16:35 Speaker 03 While Lyn had testified that Colin asked her several times to marry him, he told the jury that she was under a misconception. He confirmed that she lived in his condo in Palm Springs and travelled with him back to Moose Jaw many times where she met his family, but he stated that he was not looking for a lasting relationship. Just as he had done with Gary Anderson, Colin Thatcher suggested Lyn Mendel had fabricated her own testimony based on details she'd read in the press about the man seen fleeing from Joanne's home just after the first shooting.
17:18 Speaker 03 Both Lyn Mendel and the gun shop owner in Palm Springs had testified about Colin's purchase of a Ruger Security 6.357 Magnum revolver, and then in a separate transaction, special ammunition and a holster for it. Colin acknowledged this purchase and confirmed Lyn's testimony that he had practiced shooting with the revolver in Palm Springs. He told the jury he just wanted to try out the special bullets. He denied packing the revolver up in the Barbie doll's shower box to take it back to Canada though, and claimed that it had actually been stolen from his Palm Springs condo, probably by a cleaning lady.
18:02 Speaker 03 Colin testified that he did report the revolver as missing to the authorities in Palm Springs, but a court document notes that the police there had no record of such a report. Because Colin claimed the gun never went back to Canada, he of course denied asking Gary Anderson to have a silencer made for it. He also denied knowing anything about the holster his executive assistant found in the car or how it got there. Deny, deny, deny.
18:35 Speaker 03 On the stand, Colin detailed what he'd done the day that Joanne was murdered, leading up to his alibi. This included him driving between his home in Moose Jaw and his ranch near Karen. As you'll remember, Moose Jaw is about 70 kilometres from Regina, where Joanne was murdered. And the ranch is even further out than that, an additional 25 kilometres from Moose Jaw. Colin testified that he spent the morning at the ranch, and then left at around lunchtime to drive the 20 minutes into Moose Jaw for lunch. He spent the early afternoon there doing paperwork, before leaving at about 4pm to drive back out to the ranch,
19:20 Speaker 03 where he said he spent some time checking his livestock. One of the defence witnesses was the wife of Colin's long-time ranch manager. Her name was Barbara, and she testified that she saw Colin at the ranch at about 5pm, and then she saw him leave to head back to Moose Jaw at about 5.20 or 5.30pm.
19:46 Speaker 03 But on cross-examination, she was asked why she never told the police this when she was first interviewed. Barbara told the jury that when the police arrived, she didn't think of Colin as a suspect in Joanne's murder, so she didn't think to tell them that she'd seen him at the ranch. But the Crown pointed out an inconsistency. One of the police officers noted that Barbara told them she hadn't seen Colin Thatcher for months. Barbara denied saying this. Quote, "Why would I tell him I hadn't seen him for months? He practically comes out to the ranch every day."
20:27 Speaker 03 After Colin Thatcher was arrested, several people provided sworn affidavits in support of his application to be released on bail. Barbara was one of them. It was on this affidavit that she first reported seeing Colin at the ranch at about 5pm. On the stand, she admitted that before the affidavit was prepared, she'd received calls from Colin Thatcher, his son Greg, and his lawyer Anthony Tony Merchant. But she denied that any of them coached her on what to say.
21:12 Speaker 04 Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system.
21:15 Speaker 00 A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notification screaming at you. It just disappears into your call log. And nine times out of 10, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by QUO, spelled Q U O, the business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it. All your calls, texts, and voicemails live in one place. So anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more, "Wait, who talked to this customer last?" And if you're worried about after-hours leads slipping through, QUO's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline. It's the number-one rated business phone system on G2,
21:59 Speaker 00 and over 90,000 businesses already trust it to stay reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with QUO. Try QUO for free. Plus, get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com/tech. That's Q U O dot com slash tech.
22:16 Speaker 01 The youth mental health crisis is growing, and social media is a major driver. Kids are spending up to nine hours a day on screens, often unsupervised. And studies show a direct link to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. That's where Gab comes in. Gab offers safer phones and watches for kids with no social... Social media tailored to every age, offering the right tech at the right time, or tech in steps. From GPS tracking-enabled watches for younger kids to phones with parent-enabled apps for teens, each device allows kids to more safely grow their independence. Visit gab.com/getgab and use code GETGAB for an exclusive offer.
22:57 Speaker 01 That's G A B B dot com forward slash get gab. Gab: Tech in Steps. Independence for them, peace of mind for parents.
23:17 Speaker 03 Back to Colin's testimony about his alibi the day Joanne was shot. He told the jury that he left the ranch to drive home to Moose Jaw for dinner. And as he drove into town, he passed the car driven by his part-time mechanic, Patrick, who was also the brother of Sandra, the babysitter. Patrick testified for the defense that he saw Colin driving through Moose Jaw at about 5:30 PM, give or take five minutes, and they waved at each other. He said he recognized Colin's truck because he worked on it from time to time. But on cross-examination, the Crown pointed out several inconsistencies.
24:00 Speaker 03 When the police first spoke with Patrick, he never mentioned anything about seeing Colin Thatcher that afternoon. Almost 18 months later, he was one of the people who submitted a sworn affidavit in support of Colin's bail application, and reported for the first time that he'd driven past Colin in Moose Jaw between 5:00 and 5:30 PM. This would have been in direct conflict with Barbara, the ranch manager's wife, who said Colin left the ranch after 5:20.
24:37 Speaker 03 But at trial, Patrick testified that he saw Colin closer to 5:30, a time that was more aligned with the testimony of Barbara. When Patrick was asked about these inconsistencies, he said he'd since remembered that he was trying to get to a paint shop that closed at 5:30 sharp, and he was now confident about the time. And as for why he didn't mention this to the police when they first showed up, Patrick testified that the police showed him a sketch of the bearded man seen leaving Joanne Wilson's garage, a sketch that didn't resemble Colin Thatcher, so he wasn't prompted to think about where he'd seen him.
25:21 Speaker 03 The Crown pointed out that one of those police officers noted that when they visited Patrick to investigate Joanne Wilson's murder, he called her a few nasty names. Patrick confirmed this and added, "I did not like the woman. I don't pull any punches."
25:42 Speaker 03 Colin Thatcher himself had testified that he walked in the door of his Moose Jaw home at about 5:45pm. Fifteen-year-old Regan Thatcher and nineteen-year-old Greg Thatcher testified separately that their father arrived home at around 5:30pm. They said they sat down to eat a hamburger dinner with him and their babysitter Sandra at about 6pm. After Colin's arrest, both Greg and Regan provided sworn affidavits in support of their father's bail application. A court document notes that their evidence at trial was consistent with the information they gave in their sworn statements.
26:26 Speaker 03 And despite rigorous cross-examination, their evidence was not shaken.
26:33 Speaker 03 Sandra the babysitter testified that she didn't know when Colin arrived home because she was in the kitchen at the time. The 22-year-old said she arrived at the house at around 5pm and started making hamburger helper for dinner, a dish made with pasta and ground beef. The first time she said she saw Colin was when they sat down for dinner at about 6pm, the same time they always ate. She told the jury that the family ate their dinner really quickly and it was their turn to clean up, so she left the Thatcher home at about 6.15pm. Sandra had also provided a sworn affidavit
27:16 Speaker 03 to support Colin's bail application and on cross-examination, she acknowledged that she may have spoken to him before the affidavit was prepared.
27:28 Speaker 03 So Colin, his two sons and the babysitter had testified that they sat down to eat dinner together at around 6pm, the same approximate time that Joanne Wilson pulled into her garage in Regina, which is 70 kilometres from Moose Jaw. The jury heard part of the recorded conversation with Gary Anderson, where Colin alluded to his alibi. He said he was lucky that night because, quote, "I was home with four people. Four people. Pretty, pretty solid and that's pretty hard. What about you? Are you covered at the time?" Gary said yes he was, but asked, quote, "under questioning or if something ever happened,
28:12 Speaker 03 would they ever crack those, your witnesses?" Colin said, "Never. Never, never, never. They tried." During cross-examination, Crown Prosecutor Serge Cuivava suggested to Colin that his family had rehearsed and fabricated testimony to give him an alibi. He also suggested that Colin had used his children by bringing them into the courtroom and arranging front-row seats for them at their own mother's murder trial. Colin denied this and got more and more aggravated as he explained that he wanted his kids to be close to him during the trial. Quote, “If you think they did not tell the truth, Mr. Kuyava, then why don’t you
28:57 Speaker 03 take the appropriate action rather than asking me about it?” The Leader Post reported that sparks flew when the Crown asked Colin to remain calm. He refused and shot back, quote, “It’s very easy to say my sons have lied. Why don’t you step out on the courthouse steps and say that where you don’t have immunity?” It was the equivalent of Colin Thatcher asking the Crown prosecutor to meet him under the bleachers after school. If the goal of this line of questioning was to give the jury a taste of that Jekyll and Hyde persona that Lynne Mendel mentioned, it had been a success.
29:39 Speaker 03 The next part of Colin’s alibi was about what happened after dinner. The Crown had presented evidence to fit with two possible narratives: that Colin had either hired a hitman to murder Joanne, or he’d committed the murder himself. The jury had already heard the driving reconstruction evidence that suggested it was possible for Colin to have murdered Joanne and Regina just before 6pm, and then speed back to Moosejaw in as little as 28 minutes, just in time to take the first phone call from his lawyer. The Crown wasn’t trying to prove that Colin murdered Joanne himself, but just show that
30:21 Speaker 03 it was technically possible, if the jury assumed, of course, that the testimony of his sons and babysitter about sitting down to dinner with him was inaccurate. The defence chose to counter the Crown’s evidence by attempting to establish the exact timing of that first phone call. Today, it would have been easy with precise phone records, but the court documentation indicates that Sasketal, the phone company, automatically deleted phone records after three months, and these records were not available for the trial. So the defence relied on the recollections of witnesses.
31:04 Speaker 03 Colin Thatcher testified that this first call from his lawyer came about fifteen to thirty minutes after dinner.
31:13 Speaker 03 But when his lawyer, Anthony Tony Merchant, took to the stand for the defence, he testified that he first called Colin at 6:15. The implication was that it would have been impossible for Colin to commit the murder just before 6pm and be back at home in time for Tony's phone call at 6:15. This earlier time was also corroborated by Colin's sons, Regan and Greg, in their own testimony.
31:44 Speaker 03 But there were some inconsistencies. In his sworn affidavit in support of Colin's bail application, Tony Merchant stated he received a call from his law partner with news that something had happened at the Wilson home sometime before 6:30, and he called Colin immediately afterwards. This statement would have fallen in line with the Crown's theory that it was possible for Colin to have committed the murder himself, but by the time Tony testified, he had adjusted his recollection to 6:15. The Crown asked him how he managed to shave those minutes from the timeframe, and Tony
32:26 Speaker 03 responded that his lawyer advised him not to be too specific about the time in his affidavit.
32:37 Speaker 03 Anthony Tony Merchant took the jury on a bit of a rollercoaster ride as part of his testimony. He claimed that he had previously obtained his own personal phone records for the first and second phone calls he made to Colin Thatcher that night, but they'd been stolen during several break-ins at his office. He said the records appeared to be the only thing that was stolen, and suggested that the Regina City Police might have been involved in the theft, as they would have benefited from having those records.
33:12 Speaker 03 But the next day, Tony admitted that he'd clarified the timing of the office break-ins and realised that he was wrong to infer that the police were somehow involved. To this, the judge commented, quote, "I find it incredible that Merchant would make such an inference about the police without any basis in fact." The rollercoaster continued, with Tony revealing that he actually had backup copies of the stolen phone records, which he produced. But under cross-examination, he acknowledged that the records weren't precise, and they only indicated that the first phone call
33:52 Speaker 03 was made sometime between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. They were of no help to the timeline at all.
34:02 Speaker 03 Colin testified that after he took the first phone call from Tony Merchant, he immediately called his girlfriend Lynne Mendel in Palm Springs and repeated what Tony had said. The precise timing of that phone call wasn't established either, including by Colin or Lynne herself. But in closing arguments, Colin's criminal defence lawyer Gerry Albright would suggest out of nowhere that the police had details about a long-distance phone call made at 6:24 PM that night from Colin's Moose Jaw home to Palm Springs. This might have supported the defence narrative that it was impossible for Colin to have murdered
34:47 Speaker 03 Joanne himself, but the judge would point out that no such evidence was admitted or presented at trial. The jury would be cautioned to totally disregard this comment about the long-distance phone call.
35:03 Speaker 03 There had been a lot more back and forth about the timing of phone calls that evening, but overall, there was nothing specific or factual enough to prove or disprove anything about whether it was possible for Colin to have committed the murder himself. It was all a bit of a moot point anyway, because, again, the Crown wasn't trying to prove who murdered Joanne, only that Colin Thatcher was ultimately responsible for it.
35:33 Speaker 03 Colin testified about the rest of that evening, stating that the first time he learned that his ex-wife had been fatally shot was a subsequent phone call he received from Tony Merchant after 7pm. He said he felt sick upon hearing this and decided to go jogging to deal with it. Later that evening, he said his friends came over to console him and he drank a lot of alcohol.
36:02 Speaker 03 On cross-examination, Colin Thatcher was asked about Lynne Mandell's testimony about a specific comment he made after Joanne was murdered. Lynne told the jury that when Colin returned to Palm Springs, he was paranoid about the condo being bugged, but once they were outside, he told her, "I have to admit, it is a strange feeling to have blown your wife away." On the stand, Colin denied that the conversation went like that and provided an alternative explanation. "We were in bed and she asked me very quietly, 'Did you blow her away?'"
36:42 Speaker 03 And I said, "I cannot imagine what a strange feeling that would be. No, of course not."
36:50 Speaker 03 The Crown asked him if he ever told Lynne that he killed Joanne. Colin replied, "No, certainly not."
37:00 Speaker 03 It was said that the main reason Colin insisted on testifying in his own defence was so he could explain the recorded conversation between himself and Gary Anderson. And he did, line by line. Colin told the jury that the comments had been taken out of context to cast a shadow of guilt on him, and he provided alternative explanations for each of the comments that depicted him in a much better light.
37:30 Speaker 03 The jury had heard the recorded call in its entirety, including the part where Gary told Colin he'd cleaned the 1974 Mercury and gotten rid of the stuff out of the car, the black jacket, sunglasses and tuft of hair that seemed to come from a wig. Colin was heard saying "good" in response to this comment. But on the stand, he claimed this comment was about a topcoat, scarf and gloves he'd left in the car. He said he was happy that Gary had retrieved those items for him because he didn't want anyone else to find them.
38:08 Speaker 03 When it came to that $500 payment that Colin left for Gary, the money that the police went back and retrieved, Colin essentially said he paid Gary off because he'd mentioned having some difficulties with his car and he didn't particularly care to see him again. In another part of the conversation, Colin told Gary they shouldn't be seen together, but he shouldn't worry about being caught. The jury heard Colin stating, quote, "It ain't coming to that because there's only two places to put the connection together and they got zero else. You know what there is to put together and it ain't possible and it ain't coming from me. I mean, just always remember that.
38:51 Speaker 03 If they ever say, 'I said this or that,' it's a crock of garbage. It's just always deny, deny, deny."
39:01 Speaker 03 Colin was asked to explain this comment in the context of his protest of innocence. He replied, quote, "When you have done nothing wrong, I see nothing wrong with saying it."
39:14 Speaker 03 The Crown Prosecutor told him that he took "deny, deny, deny" to brand new heights. Lastly, at the end of the recorded conversation, Gary shouted back at Colin, "I'm glad you got her." And Colin replied, "Okay."
39:32 Speaker 03 Colin testified that he thought this reference was about his daughter Stephanie and the fact that he showed up at her friend's home the day after Joanne's murder to take back physical custody. Colin Thatcher had an alternative explanation for almost everything, but he wasn't able to provide an explanation about why his credit card receipt for the purchase of gas was found 100 kilometres away at the crime scene. He didn't deny that the receipt was his, but under cross-examination, he suggested it may have been planted there by someone. Colin Thatcher described all the circumstantial evidence as "bad luck",
40:16 Speaker 03 the Crown Prosecutor told him he'd had a lot of bad luck.
40:22 Speaker 03 The high-profile trial lasted 17 days, with on-lookers lining up for hours each day in freezing cold temperatures in the hope that they might get a seat in the courtroom. In closing arguments, defence lawyer Gary Albright asked the jury to acquit his client Colin Thatcher and said that the key to the case was that credit card receipt found by the police outside the garage. It was an indication that Colin had been framed, because "only a madman and insane person would drop their calling card at the scene of a murder where it could be found." The defence reminded the jury that Colin's alibi
41:05 Speaker 03 had been corroborated by his two sons, Sandra the babysitter, Anthony, Tony Merchant, and the others who testified about seeing him that evening. The lawyer asked the jury to consider, "How many people do you know who would lie under oath at a first-degree murder trial?"
41:25 Speaker 03 Crown prosecutor Serge Cuyava pointed out the inconsistencies between their original statements to police, their sworn affidavits, and the evidence they gave at trial. Whereas the testimony given by Lyn Mendel was consistent with the testimonies of Gary Anderson and Charles Wild, even though Lyn had never met either of the two men and didn't know them. The Crown described the argument that Colin Thatcher had been framed as absurd, pointing out that the murderer would have had to brutally beat and shoot Joanne Wilson to make it look like it was a crime of passion committed by him.
42:07 Speaker 03 Before the jury retired to deliberate, Justice J. H. Ma reminded them that Colin Thatcher did not have to kill Joanne Wilson himself to be found guilty of first-degree murder. The job of the jury was only to determine whether he was responsible for it, and if they did, they should find him guilty. The jury deliberated for four days, and on November 6, 1984, Colin Thatcher was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Joanne Wilson. The leader post described him stiffening, closing his eyes and lowering his head, his
42:49 Speaker 03 face suddenly drawn and grey as he clutched a bible. To quote the newspaper, "The decline and fall was now complete. Confidence crumbled and the arrogance died." Joanne Wilson's parents, Betty and Helen Geiger, described the verdict as a tremendous relief. Betty said, "We feel it was a just and appropriate verdict, though there is not a great deal of happiness." After her daughter Joanne was shot the first time, she thought the bitterness Colin felt had subsided and assumed it wouldn't go further than that. Quote, "It's just hard to believe anyone could hate anyone that much, no matter what."
43:34 Speaker 03 She added that it would have been nice if any of the people who knew about the first shooting would have come forward before the second. Joanne's father commented in reference to Richard Dick Culver's testimony that he sought legal advice after both times Joanne had been shot and was told he had no legal obligation to come forward. Harlan Geiger said, quote, "I think the legal profession ought to take a look at moral as well as legal responsibility. If they had, Joanne might be alive today."
44:11 Speaker 03 After the verdict, a journalist from the Canadian press asked Colin if he was going to appeal and he said, quote, "No, I'm not going to appeal. It doesn't matter now, I am innocent. I didn't do it, but it wasn't in the cards and now I will not be appealing."
44:30 Speaker 03 Colin Thatcher was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. He would serve the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security Edmonton Institution.
44:47 Speaker 03 After the trial, the eldest Thatcher boy, Greg, assumed the role of running the ranch and the role of parent to his younger siblings. After all, their mother was dead and their father was serving a life sentence for her murder. They would soon have to sort out their father's financial problems, including the foreclosure of some of his property, and they were also facing a years-long battle over their mother's estate.
45:17 Speaker 03 Joanne Wilson's second husband, Tony Wilson, resigned from his job and moved to Toronto, where he had a new job lined up. The Star Phoenix reported that he said it was hard to live in the fishbowl that was Regina.
45:34 Speaker 03 The Leader Post published a 15-page special on the case with full coverage of the trial. Superintendent Jim Kane, who directed the investigation for the Regina Police, spoke about what a huge investigation it was, and how they had help from the RCMP and other police departments across Canada and the northern United States. In the early stages of the investigation, he said that many of the investigators formed the opinion that it was a hired killer who committed the murder. But quote, "As time went on and we eliminated possible suspects and possibilities, we began to concentrate on Thatcher himself.
46:18 Speaker 03 And as we gathered bits and pieces and circumstantial evidence, why we were convinced that it was Thatcher." He said they were further convinced after comparing the separate stories of Lyn Mendel in California and Gary Anderson in Saskatchewan, in conjunction with the manner of Joanne's death. Quote, "Whoever was responsible had to have hated her and wanted her to suffer first before killing her."
46:48 Speaker 03 The superintendent also mentioned several curveballs that investigators had to deal with that pulled them away from the investigation, including nine-year-old Stephanie's abduction the day after her mother was murdered. There was also a mysterious delivery of red roses that Colin said he received the day after Joanne's funeral. Investigators tracked down the sender in case it was related to the murder, and they apparently cleared three men from Vancouver who sent the flowers for unknown reasons. But it was still a diversion from the murder investigation.
47:30 Speaker 03 After the trial, many were talking about the number of people who knew about Colin's intentions or suspicious behaviour and didn't come forward. Perhaps if someone did, Joanne's murder might have been prevented. In fact, The Leader Post reported that it went all the way to the top of provincial politics in Saskatchewan. During question period, NDP opposition leader Alan Blackney referred to two different newspapers that reported from a cabinet meeting that happened around the time Colin Thatcher's divorce was finalised. He was quoted as saying, "Why do I have to pay the divorce settlement when a bullet only costs a dollar?"
48:15 Speaker 03 When Premier Grant Devine was asked if he ever heard this conversation, all he would say was that what happens in Cabinet is confidential.
48:27 Speaker 03 Colin changed his mind and launched an appeal of his conviction. His main issue was the fact that the Crown presented two theories to the jury, that he actually killed Joanne Wilson himself, or that he aided and abetted the killer, and either way, he was guilty. Colin's legal team argued that these two theories were factually inconsistent. Many of his other issues centred around the trial judges' charge to the jury about how they should evaluate all the evidence, and he claimed the Crown deliberately withheld material evidence. The appeal was dismissed.
49:07 Speaker 03 But because the vote wasn't unanimous, one out of the five judges dissented, this meant Colin was eligible to take his case to the Supreme Court of Canada. In May of 1987, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the Crown did present two factually inconsistent theories, but "the overwhelming mass of the evidence against Colin Thatcher, however, was consistent with both theories and pointed only to his participation in the murder."
49:41 Speaker 03 Canada's highest court concluded the jury was correct in convicting Colin Thatcher and affirmed that it wasn't necessary to decide on the form of Colin's participation in the murder, whether he was the killer or the mastermind. Both amounted to first degree murder and Colin's appeal was dismissed. This meant he had exhausted all his appeal options. There were other tactics available to him, but they would come a few years later. The murder of Joanne Wilson and the entire story of her relationship with Colin Thatcher had captured the attention of many Canadians, both in the province of Saskatchewan and across the country.
50:26 Speaker 03 A year after the trial, the first books were written on the case, including A Canadian Tragedy: Joanne and Colin Thatcher: A Story of Love and Hate. Author Maggie Siggin's told the star Phoenix that she was overwhelmed by how many people still believed that Colin Thatcher was innocent. She speculated that had there been a smoking gun, had Colin Thatcher been found standing over Joanne's body, maybe the people would be satisfied, but quote, "That's not the way first degree murders are planned." Her book was quickly turned into a TV mini-series by the CBC called Love and Hate: The Story of Colin and Joanne Thatcher.
51:11 Speaker 03 There were other books released, including Colin Thatcher: Deny, Deny, Deny, first edition by Garrett Wilson and Lesley Wilson. This book noted the privilege that Colin Thatcher had as both a wealthy rancher and a prominent and influential politician, and how he disregarded the law time and time again. The authors joined many who criticized the Saskatchewan legal system for allowing him to get away with behavior that was both evasive and combative. He was already ruthless, determined to get his own way no matter the cost, and each time he was able to get away with evading the justice system, it only emboldened him
51:55 Speaker 03 to continue doing it. The authors referred to the custody battle over Regan, pointing out that if anyone else had behaved in court the way Colin Thatcher did over custody of his own son, if anyone else evaded a custody order and refused to speak on the whereabouts of an 11-year-old child, they would have been jailed. But because Colin Thatcher was a sitting member of the legislature, by law, he could not be jailed in a civil proceeding. He was effectively given the benefit of the doubt, time after time. The book also stated that Colin Thatcher benefited from the fact that many people
52:37 Speaker 03 were reluctant to speak out about behaviour they witnessed that was at least suspicious and usually incriminating. Quote, "Whether they were motivated by fear or a desire to protect, the result was that Colin walked secure behind a shield of silence for at least three years, between the first shooting of Joanne and his arrest." Richard Dick Culver and Lynne Mandell were two examples given of people who knew of Colin's intentions before Joanne was shot the first time and said nothing. That may have been so back in 1985, but these days we know more about the power imbalances in abusive relationships.
53:21 Speaker 03 Both had very different relationships with Colin Thatcher and very different risk factors when it came to speaking out. Lynne Mandell had testified to being in an abusive relationship with a man 12 years older than her. She knew Colin was a well-connected and influential politician in Saskatchewan, and she was an unmarried woman in her early 30s, at a time when women faced immense societal pressure to find a husband and start a family while the clock was still ticking. Lyn testified that she wanted to get married even after she knew Colin had shot his ex-wife in the shoulder and was planning to have her murdered.
54:05 Speaker 03 And after he beat Lyn up for asking about marriage, she still wanted to marry him. Lyn had a lot to lose, a lot to worry about if she spoke out. Yet, Richard Dick Culver had no such worries. Colin Thatcher started off below him on the political totem pole and became his peer and his friend. Dick's actions and seeking legal advice about whether he was obligated to speak out suggested he wasn't scared about any repercussions, he just didn't want to speak out. And even though he finally changed his mind, it was only because of a chance encounter after the trial had started.
54:52 Speaker 03 1994 marked 10 years since the trial, and it was announced that Colin Thatcher and his lawyer, Anthony Tony Merchant, launched a defamation lawsuit against CBC and Maggie Siggins, claiming that the miniseries based on her book was rife with insidious and disparaging comments about Colin. According to The Leader Post, Colin said his children had hired their own private investigator, who poked holes in all the Crown's evidence and identified some anomalies. He was planning to put in a mercy application to have the federal justice minister review
55:34 Speaker 03 his case, but was angered when CBC decided to rebroadcast the TV miniseries because it could have a negative influence on his case review. There's no evidence that the defamation suit went anywhere, and federal justice minister Alan Rock did agree to review the case, but it didn't go Colin's way. The minister made a note of the three pieces of evidence that most stood out to him. The first was Colin's statements to his former girlfriend Lyn Mendel, most notably when he told her it was a strange feeling to have blown your wife away. There was Richard Dick Culver's testimony about Colin telling him, "I only have one
56:19 Speaker 03 solution for the bitch, I've got to hire someone to kill her." And lastly, the statement Colin made in the recorded conversation with Gary Anderson, where he told him to deny, deny, deny if the police asked any questions.
56:37 Speaker 03 The federal justice minister found there was no justification for a new trial.
56:44 Speaker 03 Colin's next tactic would be the faint hope clause, but it would be another six years before it would become available to him.
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58:59 Speaker 03 By 2000, Colin Thatcher was eligible for the Faint Hope Clause, which allowed prisoners serving life sentences to apply for early parole after 15 years of their sentence, instead of 25. As of 2011, the clause is no longer available, but the official intent behind it was to motivate lifers to work towards rehabilitating themselves and hopefully reduce the risk of violence towards prison guards. In 2000, Colin Thatcher appeared before a special Faint Hope jury to ask permission to appear before the parole board.
59:40 Speaker 03 It was the first step, and if approved, he could apply for early parole.
59:48 Speaker 03 The 62-year-old was described as a model prisoner, so model, in fact, that just a year earlier he'd been transferred from the maximum-security Edmonton Institution to the minimum-security Ferndale Institution in Mission, British Columbia, a facility that includes no Fences, a nine-hole golf course and horse stables. Colin spoke fondly of his time so far at Ferndale, which included the fact that he was able to have his own horse from home shipped into the institution. There was public outrage when the media reported on this, which prompted Corrections Canada to investigate.
1:00:30 Speaker 03 The horse was reportedly sent back to the ranch. Colin Thatcher maintained he was innocent of Joanne's murder and didn't express any remorse for it. He did say he was a changed man and had become a born-again Christian. A psychologist testified about interviews with Colin Thatcher, where she tried to get him to identify other victims in Joanne's murder, like her husband, Tony Wilson, and her parents and siblings in the United States. But Colin struggled to feel empathy for anyone, except perhaps his own three children. But even then, he showed a poor understanding of the trauma they must have suffered.
1:01:14 Speaker 03 He praised them for their resilience and told the psychologist that he didn't believe they had been shattered by their mother's loss. Even the two psychiatrists hired by the defence said many of the tests they performed found that Colin could, quote, "easily be mistaken for a narcissistic psychopath." His scores on other tests were less clear, they said, although he did show feelings of regret and shame for the pain his conviction had caused his children. Overall, these two psychiatrists for the defence told the jury that in their opinion, Colin's refusal to admit guilt had no effect on his chances of re-offending.
1:01:59 Speaker 03 The Crown presented documentation from some of the custody hearings, where Joanne Wilson told the judge that she was afraid of Colin Thatcher and described him breaking plates of food against her kitchen cupboard. She reported that he once told her that, “If I didn’t shape up as a wife, he would bring someone else into the home and embarrass me out.” And after their separation, she said he vowed that she would never get the children. The jury heard about Justice Sandy McPherson’s ruling at the time, where he noted it had been increasingly apparent to him that Colin Thatcher was determined to win by any means at all.
1:02:44 Speaker 03 “His methods and purposes have been to destroy his wife in the minds of their children.”
1:02:54 Speaker 03 This Faint Hope hearing also included the opportunity for victim impact statements, where the loved ones of the victim describe how the crime and the loss affected them. Greg Regan and Stephanie Thatcher, by this point grown adults, were among those who gave victim impact statements since their own mother had been murdered. But as reporter Barb Paholic wrote for The Leader Post, they “spoke largely about the loss of their father, what it was like to visit him in prison, what it meant not to have him at home as they grew up, how he was missing his grandchildren, and of the need to make up for lost time.”
1:03:38 Speaker 03 The three Thatcher children were unanimous in their support of their father and stated they wanted him back home as soon as possible. Greg, the eldest son, was 18 when his father was first arrested and 34 when he told this Faint Hope jury about the difficulties he faced after that: having to drop out of university to take care of his younger siblings and having to stay home, raise a family and run the ranch while he watched his friends without those obligations continuing with their lives.
1:04:13 Speaker 03 The middle son, Regan, spoke about how difficult it was to live under media scrutiny and how strangers would whisper as he or his siblings entered the room. He felt like he was always walking on eggshells to avoid the judgement of strangers, and told the jury he was lucky to have friends who didn't judge him. He stated that he missed his father at his own wedding and other family events, and he also missed his father's insight and opinions. Stephanie was 10 years old when her father was arrested, but 26 as she told the jury that the hardest part of growing up was having her father in jail,
1:04:55 Speaker 03 quote, "watching him take orders from someone else and being told what to do and when to do it."
1:05:03 Speaker 03 Joanne's two siblings and her mother Betty Geiger from the United States attended the parole hearing as well. In their victim impact statements, they spoke of Joanne as a person who was beautiful, stylish and loved by her family. They said her loss was still felt by them every day.
1:05:26 Speaker 03 Her sister Nancy Geiger wore a bead ring she said was given to her by Greg when he was still a child and the family was still intact. The court heard of their heartbreak that since Joanne's death, the Geigers had had no contact with the Thatcher family, including Greg, Regan and Stephanie. The two families did not speak. Nancy Geiger told the jury that she was certain in her heart that Colin Thatcher was responsible for Joanne's brutal death, and it was difficult listening to his protests of innocence. Nancy said she was afraid of Colin Thatcher
1:06:07 Speaker 03 and spoke of being haunted by thoughts of opening her front door and being shot in the chest or entering her garage and being shot in the back. She told the jury she believed their family's appearance at the hearing effectively put a target on their backs, but she was glad they attended to represent Joanne. Quote, "Our preference would be that Colin stay in prison. Jo is never coming back to us." The jury rejected Colin Thatcher's first faint hope application.
1:06:45 Speaker 03 He applied again in 2003. Now 65 years old, he told the jury that he was still innocent and that's why he didn't express any remorse, and also why he refused to participate in some jail rehabilitation programmes, including a required violent offender programme. He conceded that things would be easier for him if he just admitted his guilt in Joanne's murder, but the only thing he would admit was that he'd come to realise he wasn't always the best husband to her. Quote, "If you ever want a roadmap to stupidity, just look at what I was doing toward the end of my marriage."
1:07:28 Speaker 03 He told the jury that while in prison, he'd written a book, and a former Hell's Angel member had taught him the electrical trade. The jury heard that Colin had also been married in prison but was divorced by the mid 1990s. The woman was originally a pen pal, who started writing to him in prison after she saw all the media reports. She helped him with some of his appeals and the preparation of his request to the Federal Justice Minister, but as Christie Blatchford wrote for the National Post, "When she first asked to visit him in prison for the first time," quote, "Thatcher was not so overwhelmed by her kindness that he didn't first check to make sure she was up to scratch.
1:08:14 Speaker 03 He asked her to send a picture, and after she passed inspection, he agreed she could visit him in jail." The Crown presented a letter written by the woman Colin Thatcher married, and she reported he was too controlling and treated her like one of his cows.
1:08:33 Speaker 03 Colin denied that issues around control were the cause of his marriage breakup, and told the jury that any prison marriage is difficult. When asked if he thought he might get married again, he said it wasn't likely and he'd be pretty hesitant to give a woman that power over him again. Colin told the jury he poses no risk to anyone, and his only goal was to be with his children and live quietly on the ranch. Quote, "I'm very happy and content and love the rural isolation." This time, his three adult children were described as making direct and emotional appeals to give them back their father.
1:09:17 Speaker 03 CBC News printed a comment from Greg Thatcher, who told the jury there was nothing they could do to bring their mother Joanne back, give Regan and Stephanie their childhood back, or give him back the future he'd planned on. But quote, "What you can do is give a father and grandfather back to his family so that we might have a few more happier moments before our time together is over."
1:09:44 Speaker 03 Greg also spoke about public opinion questioning how they could be so vocal in supporting their father after he'd been convicted of murdering their mother. Quote, "Both my brother and I were alibi evidence, and I think a lot of people forget that. They might ask, why do we think the way we do? Well, we know more about the situation than anyone does."
1:10:10 Speaker 03 Greg had a family of his own, and so too did his younger brother Regan, who was by this point a lawyer in Winnipeg. Regan told the jury that it wasn't fair to make his kids visit their grandfather in prison. Quote, "My kids deserve a grandfather."
1:10:30 Speaker 03 As you'll recall, Colin Thatcher's father, Ross Thatcher, had been the Premier of Saskatchewan for seven years, until he lost his seat in an election and died just a month later. He was only 54 years old, and had reportedly suffered heart issues as well as complications from diabetes. Stephanie Thatcher referenced this as part of her plea for her father's release, tearfully telling the jury, quote, "I am constantly worried that something will happen to him in prison, especially now, he is 65 years old and has had an angioplasty just a few years ago, so I am worried about his health."
1:11:14 Speaker 03 This time, the Faint Hope jury decided Colin was eligible to take the second step: appear before a parole board and ask for early release. His first appearance was in 2004, and the board unanimously rejected his application, a result that many legal experts said they expected. But two years later, in 2006, the board approved day parole at a halfway house, and a few months after that, Colin Thatcher was released on full parole, 22 years after he started his life sentence. The conditions of his parole were that he live on his family ranch near Moosejaw,
1:11:59 Speaker 03 attend counselling sessions, and report any romantic relationships to the parole board. A year or two after Colin's release from prison, the Saskatchewan Government caught word that he was planning to publish the book he'd written, with the title "Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame."
1:12:22 Speaker 03 Because of the intense public interest in the case, and the fact that the other books written about it had been bestsellers, there was a worry that Colin would be able to somehow profit off the crime he'd been convicted of. The government rushed to pass a law specifically prohibiting this before the book was published. As expected, Colin Thatcher challenged this law in court, arguing that it didn't apply to his book because it wasn't about the murder itself, but his personal dealings with the justice system. He also argued that the law was unconstitutional because it violated his freedom of expression. The court didn't agree.
1:13:05 Speaker 03 After all, he wasn't being prevented from publishing his freedom of expression just from profiting off it. Colin would need to turn any money he made from the book, including an advance and royalties, to the Ministry of Justice.
1:13:25 Speaker 03 Colin Thatcher's book, Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame, was published in 2009. In an interview with journalist Byron Christopher for McLean's magazine, Colin said his motive was not profit, but to counteract the other books written about the case. He complained that his case was basically double jeopardy because the Crown took two separate cases and rolled them into one: that he murdered Joanne himself, and that he hired someone else to do it, and the jury was given the choice between them. He claimed that the Crown had tunnel vision in their attempts to convict him, and cherry picked the evidence that suited their case. He mentioned that the private investigator hired by his children
1:14:10 Speaker 03 had found additional evidence that favoured the defence, but had been kept from them. One of these pieces of evidence was a suspicious package that the private investigator heard had been sent to the Regina Leader Post newspaper. It reportedly included a letter of confession, as well as a hatchet, or small axe, that the anonymous writer said was one of the missing murder weapons. Apparently, the newspaper turned it over to the Regina Police, but it never went anywhere. In his book, Colin names the executive director of the Saskatchewan Department of Justice,
1:14:50 Speaker 03 who he says forwarded the details to Colin's lawyer, six years after the trial, and admitted that the police had since lost the hatchet. The package was also mentioned in a second edition of the book, Deny, Deny, Deny, by Garrett Wilson. He reported that the Crown determined the hatchet didn't fit with the crime scene injuries, and believed the entire package and letter was a hoax, which Colin obviously disputed. It should also be noted that the book stated a fellow inmate came forward to report that Colin had confessed he killed Joanne Wilson, in exactly the way the Crown suggested at trial.
1:15:33 Speaker 03 Colin called this person “a snake”. But it should be noted that the Crown didn't call evidence from this person either. In his own book, Colin Thatcher referenced that credit card receipt that had been found close to the murder scene, and claimed the private investigator came across an obscure police statement that questioned the authenticity of Colin's signature on the slip, noting it had a different number on it from Colin's actual credit card. He pointed to this as evidence that the credit card slip had been falsified and planted to frame him. Colin claimed that the Crown withheld several key pieces of evidence that would have helped the defence.
1:16:18 Speaker 03 For example, he disputed the colour of the Ruger Magnum revolver he purchased in Palm Springs. And he also referenced the account of an additional witness who apparently saw Colin driving into Moose Jaw on the way from the ranch at about 5.30pm and then followed him into town. Colin said the Crown provided the reasons for why this evidence was discounted, but he disagreed, and claimed that if his own lawyer had been given this evidence as part of disclosure, his case would never have made it past the preliminary hearing.
1:16:56 Speaker 03 In Colin's interview with Byron Christopher for McLean's, he praised his children for how they handled the situation after he was arrested, especially Greg. He said he was extremely proud of his children, pointing out that they never got into any trouble. He also spoke about a group of his supporters who banded together unsolicited after his conviction to fundraise for a defence fund. Reviews of Colin Thatcher's book were not great. On Goodreads, the book has a rating of 3.22 stars out of 5, and there's only one full review for one star.
1:17:36 Speaker 03 The book is described as an editorial fail, quote, "incredibly convoluted, off-putting in tone, aimless and rife with redundancies and repetitions." The reviewer points out that Colin Thatcher praises the people who helped his case and demonises those who hindered it with personal and petty comments about them. As an example, he criticised the personal appearances of many of his detractors, including Maggie Siggin's, the author of A Canadian Tragedy. Colin Thatcher described her as "a squat woman with the face of a frog", and her book as "vicious, blatantly one-sided, atrociously researched and poorly written."
1:18:23 Speaker 03 And when he wrote about the defamation suit against her, he said he hoped the CBC miniseries based on her book, quote, "would have the usual low ratings of a CBC production", but he was disappointed when it was actually a "rare CBC production success".
1:18:43 Speaker 03 In a scathing review of the book for The Globe and Mail, author and former trial lawyer William Deverall noted that Colin Thatcher's prison counselling and anger management training seemed to be ineffective in expanding his, quote, "limited emotional range or self-awareness". He pointed out that Colin had described Joanne's divorce lawyer as a sanctimonious hypocrite, the Regina Police as goons in suits, and "an abhorrent collection of thugs". In this review, Deverall wrote that Colin Thatcher was, quote, "born again in jail", but it appears that Christian forgiveness was not part of the package received.
1:19:27 Speaker 03 The reviewer on Goodreads concludes, quote, "Thatcher does nothing to benefit his case via this book. All he does is further validate his asshole reputation, which is probably the last thing he needs".
1:19:43 Speaker 03 Two years later, the Ministry of Justice reported that the book's profits of about $14,000 had been turned over to them. It all went to organisations that support victims of crime.
1:19:58 Speaker 03 In 2010, the media reported that 71-year-old Colin Thatcher had remarried and was approaching his first anniversary with his new wife.
1:20:11 Speaker 03 The information came from parole board documents that noted, quote, "from all appearances and file information, the marriage identifies no concerns from both your new wife and family".
1:20:24 Speaker 03 Things remained fairly quiet for the next 12 years, but Colin Thatcher hit the headlines again in 2022. In October of that year, the Saskatchewan government held their annual Throne Speech, a prestigious event where a government announces its goals for the year and how it plans to achieve them. This Throne Speech was held during Violence Prevention Week, and the focus was a crackdown on crime in Saskatchewan.
1:20:57 Speaker 03 When the media reported that Colin Thatcher had been invited as a special guest, there was public outrage. Photos showed the 84-year-old in a tan suede blazer, a bolo tie, a large cowboy-style belt buckle, and his trademark scowl. And when he was asked if he thinks the province needs tougher on crime measures, he laughed and said, “Enough.”
1:21:25 Speaker 03 So, how was it that Colin was invited to this event? Well, back in the 70s and early 80s, when Colin was the MLA for Thunder Creek, he was close with an executive assistant named Lyle Stewart. The two were members of the Progressive Conservative Party, and Lyle considered Colin a mentor. In the years after Colin was convicted of Joanne Wilson’s murder, Lyle Stewart decided to run for the Thunder Creek seat himself, as his Progressive Conservative Party merged with the Liberal Party to form a coalition to defeat the New Democrat Party.
1:22:05 Speaker 03 This new party, the Saskatchewan Party, was elected to government in 2007 and have held a majority ever since. Lyle Stewart was an MLA and sometime minister in this government until his retirement in 2018, and he was entitled to attend the Throne Speech and bring a special guest.
1:22:29 Speaker 03 When the press announced the 71-year-old's special guest was Colin Thatcher, he defended his decision, telling the Canadian press that Colin had been a longtime MLA, a friend of his and "a fine individual", who had a tough life because of his time in prison. Quote, "If anyone has a right to be here, it's Colin Thatcher." But many pointed out that Joanne Wilson had a right to be there as well.
1:23:01 Speaker 03 The government was criticised for its lack of self-awareness in inviting a convicted wife killer to a government speech about getting tough on crime in a province with one of, if not the, highest rate of intimate partner violence in Canada. The Minister of Corrections and Policing, Christine Tell, told CBC News that the party wasn't concerned about the optics of it. The former Regina Police Officer said Colin Thatcher was a citizen of the province, who has, quote, "gone through the justice system, gone through the courts, did his time in incarceration, he has now paid the debt to society that society has deemed."
1:23:44 Speaker 03 But according to a Government of Canada website that lists the myths and realities of parole, quote, "A life sentence means life. Lifers will never again enjoy total freedom. Offenders on parole are not free to live their lives as they please, and parole does not reduce the sentence imposed by the courts." Quote, "If they abide by their conditions of release, they will remain under sentence in the community until their sentence is completed in full." Colin Thatcher was serving a life sentence, so by the government's own definition, he had not paid his debt to society, he was continuing to pay his debt while on parole.
1:24:29 Speaker 03 That said, his appearance at the throne speech didn't exactly breach the conditions of his parole, but it's not like the event was open to the public and any other person in Colin's position could have attended. He was a special guest, and there was still a question about appropriateness, but it seemed to come down to a matter of opinion. When Premier Scott Mo was asked if he was going to apologise, he said, "What would I apologise for?" But five days later, after the public outrage, he changed his mind. Quote, "This individual was invited by a government MLA, and while I do not review
1:25:10 Speaker 03 or approve MLA invitation lists, as Premier and Leader of the Government Caucus, ultimately I am responsible. I offer my unequivocal apology." CBC News spoke with Joanne Duzel, an advocate for victims of domestic abuse and the executive director of the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services. She said she was glad the party had admitted to an error in judgement, but at the same time, she was concerned that it sent a message to victims and survivors of intimate partner violence that what happened to them doesn't matter.
1:25:49 Speaker 03 Quote, "The message, perhaps, to those using violence in their relationship is equally or more so disturbing, that you can do the ultimate form of intimate partner violence, which is homicide or femicide, and you do your time and then it's good. You get welcomed back to your former life." Yet, the victim doesn't have that opportunity.
1:26:27 Speaker 03 Thanks for listening. In addition to court documents and other sources, we relied on the Regina Leader Post's extensive reporting on this case and the trial, which included the journalism of Jim Nisley, Bruce Johnston, Lyn Hines, Anne Kyle, and later, the paper's city editor, Barb Paholic. For the full list of resources used in this series and anything else you want to know about the podcast, visit canadiantruecrime.ca. This podcast donates monthly to those facing injustice. This month, we have donated in memory of Joanne Wilson to Regina Transition House, an emergency crisis shelter for women and children in Regina.
1:27:12 Speaker 03 Visit reginatransitionhouse.ca for more information. Thanks to Gemma Harris for research in this series. Audio editing and production was by We Talk of Dreams, who also composed the theme songs. Production assistance was by Jessie Hawke, with script consulting by Carol Weinberg. Writing, narration, sound design, and additional research was by me, and the disclaimer was voiced by Eric Crosby. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime episode. See you then.
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