Transcript
Paige Desorbo (0:00)
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Narrator (Canadian True Crime Podcast Host) (1:37)
This is part two of a three part series where we left off. Joanne Wilson had divorced Colin Thatcher and remarried, but their custody and property settlement had turned into a bitter fight that lasted several years because he refused to compromise. After Joanne was shot in the shoulder in her own kitchen, she realised the personal cost she was paying to stand up to her ex husband was becoming too high and she backed down. Colin had outlasted her in the battle and he was rewarded by getting what he wanted by default custody of both of their boys in the following year's provincial election. Not only was Colin Thatcher re elected as the MLA for Thunder Creek, but the incoming premier, Grant Devine, named him Minister of Energy and Mines, a prestigious government position. Five months after that, Colin arranged an abandoned farm meeting with his associate Gary Anderson, who would tell police that Colin gave him a magnum revolver and asked him to have A silencer made for it. That was October of 1982. Gary took the revolver and enlisted the help of a welder friend to make a silencer. After the first one was produced, they test fired the revolver, but it didn't really silence anything. They made a few more, but none of them worked that well to reduce the noise of the gunshot. The so they threw them away. Gary then moved up north for a while to find work. At the end of 1982, Colin took his sons Gregory and Regan to Palm Springs, California to spend Christmas and New Year. By this point he'd been Minister of Energy and Mines for about seven months. But his political success wasn't to last. Just a week after they returned to Saskatchewan In January of 1983, the then Premier of Saskatchewan, Grant Devine, announced that Colin Thatcher had resigned from his portfolio. Typically, a politician would announce their own resignation, as would most people. So the fact that Colin wasn't present for the announcement and didn't make himself available for questions or comments indicated that there was likely much more to the story. All the Premier would say was that it was a mutual decision and quote, at this time he has too many other responsibilities. He has some financial issues and as a single parent, family responsibilities that are taking up more and more of his time. Over the following days, the leader post would report that Colin Thatcher had been productive as Minister of Energy and Mines and he'd started making changes that were viewed as positive within his first few weeks. Just like his father Ross, Colin wasn't afraid to make bold moves. But quote, he couldn't hide his contempt for Premier Devine's leadership. A few years later, the paper would report that Colin Thatcher hadn't actually resigned. He'd been expelled after he ignored an order given to him by the Premier that may have been the last straw. Many of Colin's colleagues thought of him as a political liability, someone who wasn't a team player unless it suited him personally. His attendance at cabinet meetings was sporadic and when he did show up he constantly ruffled feathers. And Colin was facing other problems as well. While he was perceived to be a millionaire rancher with a home and separate ranch in Saskatchewan as well as the condo in Palm Springs, the reality was that he was in serious financial trouble. The wealth he projected as part of his image was dwindling fast thanks to his extravagant out of control spending and the various legal battles that had cost him dearly. The leader post would report that Colin Thatcher was asset rich but cash poor. He was weighed down by a heavy debt load and and had Borrowed money from at least four financial institutions worth close to $1.5 million. And several of them had either initiated foreclosure or were planning for it. Colin was struggling to pay his bills for the day to day running of the ranch. And there was more. His financial status had of course, been negatively impacted by his divorce and the property settlement. Even though Joanne had eventually settled for around half the amount originally awarded to her by the judge, it was to be paid off over five years in instalments. And Colin had paid the first instalment in February of 1982. But it was now January of 1983, and in just a few weeks, Colin would need to pay the second instalment of almost $90,000. You'll remember their property settlement had several clauses about payment. If Colin defaulted on any of the payments, the entire amount would become payable to Joanne immediately. So instead of just paying his $90,000 instalment for that year, he would have to pay around 350,000. And there was another clause. It stated that if Joanne were to die, the next instalment payment could be deferred for another year. In the meantime, Colin's associate, Gary Anderson, was back in Saskatchewan. He'd been working up north for a few months, and when he returned, Colin requested another abandoned farm meeting. By this point, it had been three days since Colin's sudden resignation as cabinet minister and the two men spoke briefly about that before Colin brought things back on topic. Gary would later tell police that Colin told him he'd been stalking Joanne's house for about a week, including the night before, but he, quote, did not get her. Colin reminded Gary about the Ruger Security 6.357Magnum revolver he'd given him a few months earlier. He didn't mention the silencer he'd requested, but he did tell Gary he wanted the revolver back. And there was something else. Colin had another urgent task for Gary and it had to be done as soon as possible. He wanted him to procure another car and then park it near Colin's house in Moosejaw and wait. So Gary did what he was told, buying a car for colin, a brown 1974 Mercury with a V8 motor. The next day was Friday, January 21, 1983, and Gary parked the car a block away from Colin's home in Moose Jaw, just as he had the last time. He then waited for Colin, who jumped into the driver's seat wearing a black ski type jacket, blue jeans and sunglasses. Gary handed over the Magnum revolver and Colin told him to listen to news Reports again. If he heard of anything happening to Joanne, he was to go back and collect the 1974 Mercury at the same location he'd parked it, clean it and hide it. That same Friday evening, Joanne Wilson returned home from work, pulling into the driveway in her green Audi 5000 sedan. It was a few minutes before 6pm she was likely looking forward to seeing her nine year old daughter Stephanie and second husband Tony Wilson, who had both been home sick that day. She pulled into the garage and parked next to Tony's station wagon. But a man was lying in wait for her in the garage at the rear rear of her home and ambushed her as soon as she got out of the car, likely grabbing her from behind by the collar of her fur coat. Joanne fought for her life, screaming as she attempted to fend off repeated blows by a heavy instrument with a sharp curved blade as it cut into her scalp, hands and wrists and fractured her forearm and thigh fingers. The 43 year old endured a brutal beating that left the walls of the garage covered in blood spatter. She sustained multiple wounds and bruising to her head and then her knees and legs, as though she'd fallen to her knees and was dragged along the garage floor. The man then shot her in the back of her head and exited the scene. Joanne Wilson passed away on the floor of her garage. She was murdered just five days after the sudden announcement that her ex husband, Colin Thatcher, resigned from the legislature as minister and just three weeks before he was due to pay her the second instalment of the property settlement. Craig, the man walking home who heard the screams and found Joanne's body, told police about the man he'd seen walking out of the garage a few minutes before 6pm he stressed that he'd only seen the man briefly in passing, but described a man with darker hair and a scraggly beard, about 30 years old, with a medium build and average height. Craig recalled the man wearing dark trousers underneath a dark coat that was either leather or pleather. And he seemed to be hiding something under his jacket as he walked off. Meanwhile, police found the first piece of evidence only 15 minutes after they arrived at the scene. That credit card receipt lying on the ground a few feet away from the garage. It was for gasoline purchased from a shell station on January 18, three days before Joanne's murder. And the gas station was not local. It was located about 100 kilometres from Regina near the town of Karron, the same rural area that the Thatcher Ranch is located. Investigators would attend that gas station to speak with the owner and see if he remembered anything about the purchase. In the meantime, a composite sketch was commissioned based on Craig's description of the man walking away from the garage. Soon, copies of that sketch would be sent around to police forces across North America as well as the media. Locally, more than half of the Regina Police's homicide department was dedicated to the case, working around the clock to investigate one of the highest profile murders in the history of Saskatchewan. Later in the week following Joanne's murder, Regina police would offer a $50,000 reward for the capture of her kill. The day after Joanne's murder, Colin Thatcher had custody on his mind. He drove to Regina to meet with his longtime lawyer, Anthony Tony Merchant, who had represented him throughout the contentious custody battle where Colin was found in contempt of court for refusing to speak about Regan's whereabouts. This time Colin wanted to know how he could get free physical custody of nine year old Stephanie now that her mother was dead. His lawyer told him that he had the legal right to take her, so he did and he brought an entourage with him that included that lawyer, Anthony Merchant and his wife Panna, as well as Colin Thatcher's eldest son, 17 year old Greg. When they showed up at Tony Wilson's house to take Stephanie, they learned presumably from the housekeeper who that the little girl was with a friend down the street. There they went, Stephanie's friend's mum Susan would report that there was a knock at the front door at around 1pm and she opened it to a woman who identified herself as Tony Merchant's wife. She asked about Stephanie and after a short conversation Susan went back inside the house. But she soon realised the whole thing had been a ruse because standing on her back porch was none other than Colin Thatcher, his lawyer Anthony Merchant and another younger man that she couldn't identify, who was obviously Greg. Colin asked to see his daughter and Susan said it was fine, but she had to check with Tony Wilson, Stephanie's stepdad, first. Colin wasn't having it and he started pushing past Susan to get into her house and Susan pushed back to defend herself, resulting in a scuffle. Nine year old Stephanie saw the whole confrontation and fled to a bedroom. Susan followed her there and shielded her, but Colin was right behind them yelling that he had a right to see his daughter. Susan would tell the leader Post that the younger man was hot on his tail, yelling let her go. She's my sister. Another physical struggle ensued where Susan was holding Stephanie with both arms as Colin and Greg tried to pry her arms apart. Stephanie was screaming please Daddy, let me go. But Colin wouldn't Eventually, he was successful in dislodging his daughter from Susan's grip. But Susan continued to fight him as he escorted Stephanie out, which resulted in several of his belt loops being torn. Susan remembered little Stephanie apologising profusely to her for causing so much trouble. Shaken, Susan called the police straight away. She would say that she felt completely violated in her own home. Hours later, officers recovered Stephanie from her father's home in Moosejaw. She was unharmed, physically at least. Stephanie was placed back in the care of her stepfather, Tony Wilson, and her father. Colin and his lawyer, Anthony Merchant, were both charged with abduction. In response, Colin immediately launched a new custody action to get Stephen Stephanie back. This action would go the same as all the others. A bitter fight where Colin and his lawyer never backed off, wearing Tony Wilson down to a point where he would surrender the action and Colin would be awarded custody. The abduction charges against them would eventually be dropped, but Anthony Merchant would plead guilty to a lesser charge of mischief in exchange for absolute discharge. Meanwhile, Colin turned his attention to the property settlement. In particular, the second instalment payment of about $90,000 that was fast approaching. Joanne had been murdered just three weeks before the payment was due. And as per the clause in their contract, Colin immediately applied to have the payment deferred for another year. He would end up defaulting on that payment as well. Okay, I have to tell you, I was just looking on ebay, where I go for all kinds of things I love. And there it was. That hologram trading card.
![Colin Thatcher and the murder of JoAnn Wilson [2] - Canadian True Crime cover](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.pippa.io%2Fshows%2F61b7653d169562084ee95064%2F1741369296082-27e5e6a6-fc9d-4a24-ae93-670ae4ca94fe.jpeg&w=1920&q=75)