![Colin Thatcher and the murder of JoAnn Wilson [3] - 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)
Transcript
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Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
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And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball. But you can call me the Smash Daddy.
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And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.
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That's right.
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Hey. Hey.
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So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.
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And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. So, spoiler alert, he'll be wrong.
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Newsflash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.
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Canadian True Crime is a completely independent
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production, funded mainly through advertising.
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The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language.
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It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening.
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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 Collins Palm Springs girlfriend Lynn Mendel. There was his purchase of a revolver, special ammunition and a holster in the United States, which Lynn said had been hidden in a Barbie doll shower box and taken to Canada. 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. The 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. 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. Dates 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. 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, 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. 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. On cross examination, Colin's defence lawyer suggested to Richard that that the hitman conversation was facetious and both men were either drunk or hungover. Richard stood firm and denied this. 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. 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. 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. So that was the Crown's case. They had laid out the evidence to show that either Colin Thatcher murdered Joanne Wilson himself or 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. 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 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 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. The 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. 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, quote, 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 Wilde. 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. 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 he fabricated his testimony about what happened behind the scenes. Based on details published in the press, 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 17 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 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. 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, 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. 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. Colin Thatcher's former girlfriend, Lynn 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 Lin 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. Colin denied that he told Lin 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 back roads 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 Lynn spoke frequently on the phone during their long distance relationship, but denied making any arrangement for coded messages. 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 Lin 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. Both Lynn Mendel and the gun shop owner in Palm Springs had testified about Collins purchase of a Ruger Security 6.357Magnum revolver and then, in a separate transaction, special ammunition and a holster for it. Colin acknowledged this purchase and confirmed Lin'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 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. 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. 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 Moosejaw and his ranch near Karron. As you'll remember, moosejaw is about 70 kilometres from Regina, where Joanne was murdered, and the ranch is even further out than that, an additional 25 kilometres from Moosejaw. Colin testified that he spent the morning at the ranch and then left it around lunchtime to drive the 20 minutes into Moosejaw for lunch. He spent the early afternoon there doing paperwork before leaving at about 4pm to drive back out to the ranch, where he said he spent some time checking his livestock. One of the defence witnesses was the wife of Colin's longtime 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 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. Why would I tell him I hadn't seen him for months? He practically comes out to the ranch every day. 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.