Wilbert Colin Thatcher (born August 25, 1938) is a Canadian politician who was convicted for the murder of his ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson.

Early life

Colin Thatcher was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, on August 25, 1938. His father, Saskatchewan-born

Ross Thatcher Wilbert Ross Thatcher, (May 24, 1917 – July 22, 1971) was the ninth premier of Saskatchewan, serving from May 22, 1964 to June 30, 1971. He led the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in four general elections, in 1960, 1964, 1967 and 1971. Thatcher ...

, was working for

Canada Packers Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a Canadian consumer packaged meats company. Its head office is in Mississauga, Ontario. History Maple Leaf Foods is the result of the 1991 merger between Canada Packers and Maple Leaf Mills. Canada Packers was f ...

, a predecessor of Maple Leaf Foods, at the time of his birth. He moved to Saskatchewan when his father returned home to run the family business. His father subsequently entered politics and became Premier of Saskatchewan from 1964 to 1971. Thatcher began studying agriculture at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. After one year, he transferred to

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. He graduated from Iowa State with

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degrees in agriculture, and returned to Saskatchewan to work on his father's ranch in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

Political career

After his father's death in 1971, Thatcher cultivated his own interest in politics. In 1975, he won the provincial riding of Thunder Creek as a Liberal, but he defected to the Progressive Conservatives two years later. Thatcher served from 1982 to 1983 as the Minister of Energy. On January 17, 1983, Thatcher resigned his portfolio, citing family and financial reasons.

Personal life

Marriage and separation

He met his future wife JoAnn Geiger at the University of Iowa. They married on August 12, 1962 and had three children, Greg, Regan and Stephanie. Thatcher admitted to infidelity during the course of the marriage and the couple separated in August 1979. They ended up fighting a long, hotly contested series of custody, access and matrimonial property battles.R. v. Thatcher - SCC Cases
Lexum In 1980, they were divorced and Geiger was awarded custody of two of their three children, as well as $820,000 for her share of the marital property. On May 17, 1981, Geiger was shot and wounded while in the kitchen of her home. A bullet fired from a high‑powered rifle passed through a triple glaze glass window and struck her in the shoulder. As a result of the shooting, Geiger was hospitalized for about three weeks. No one was ever charged with the 1981 shooting.

Murder of ex-wife

On January 21, 1983, four days after Thatcher's resignation as Minister of Energy in Premier Grant Devine's government, Geiger was found bludgeoned and shot to death in the garage of her Regina home. Thatcher was formally charged on May 7, 1984, after a lengthy police investigation. Thatcher was tried in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

for the murder of his ex-wife in the autumn of 1984. In addition to the evidence presented, he insisted on testifying so that he could try and explain the recorded conversation between Gary Anderson and him. He was found guilty under the prosecution of

Serge Kujawa Serge Kujawa (November 25, 1924 – September 22, 2014) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 1995, as a New Democratic Party member for the constituency of Regina Albert South. ...

and was given a sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. In late April 1985, two weeks before his appeal, a package postmarked Winnipeg arrived at the Regina Leader-Post. The package contained an anonymous confession to the murder of Geiger, a homemade hatchet the writer claimed was the murder weapon, and two photographs of a nude woman whom the letter claimed was Geiger. The newspaper turned the package over to the Regina Police. After numerous requests for disclosure of the photos and hatchet, the crown eventually admitted to Thatcher's attorney that they had been lost. On November 30, 2006 Thatcher was granted full parole. Thatcher has written a 440-page book about his case, ''Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame''. It was released by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

on September 1, 2009. On April 21, 2010, Thatcher agreed to relinquish any profits related to the sale of his book, such as his $5,000 advance from his publisher. Thatcher has also instructed the publisher of his book to forward any further royalties from its sale to the Saskatchewan Minister of Finance. In 2011, funds from the sale of the book in the amount of $13,866.44 were turned over to the Ministry of Justice.

Biographies

*Bird, Heather. ''Not Above The Law: The Tragic Story of JoAnn Wilson and Colin Thatcher''. Toronto:

Key Porter Books Key Porter Books was a book publishing company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1979 by Anna Porter, later well known as a writer, the company specialized in Canadian non-fiction, although it published some fiction too. It ceased ope ...

Limited, 1985. * Mankiewicz, Francis, director. '' Love and Hate: The Story of Colin and JoAnn Thatcher''. (Television movie.)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, 1989. This film starred

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian film and television actor. He was best known as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle in ''Twin Peaks'', for his roles in the films ''The Day After Tomorrow'', '' Adoration'', ''Su ...

and

Kate Nelligan Patricia Colleen Nelligan (born March 16, 1950), known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tide ...

as Colin and JoAnn Thatcher. * Siggins, Maggie. ''A Canadian Tragedy, JoAnn & Colin Thatcher: A Story of Love and Hate''. Toronto:

McClelland & Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...

, 1985. *Thatcher, Colin. ''Backrooms: A Story of Politics''. Douglas & McIntyre, 1985. *Wilson, Garrett & Lesley Wilson. ''Deny, Deny, Deny: The Rise and Fall of Colin Thatcher''. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1986.

References

External links

Crime Library article on Colin ThatcherCBC's Colin Thatcher Timeline

Colin Thatcher returns to Sask. legislative buildingCBC News: Colin Thatcher writing book about his case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Colin Living people Members of the Executive Council of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Liberal Party MLAs Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan MLAs Politicians from Toronto Canadian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Canada Canadian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Canada People paroled from life sentence Canadian politicians convicted of crimes Politicians convicted of murder 1938 births