← Canadian True Crime![Colin Thatcher and the murder of JoAnn Wilson [replay] — 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)
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Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded mainly through advertising. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening Hi there.
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I hope you're well. As I mentioned in the update a couple of weeks ago, this is a carefully selected replay from the archives as we prepare to return with new episodes in late April. Thanks so much for your patience. Many of us have watched Yellowstone, the glossy modern Western TV show about the fictional Dutton family ranch. There's a powerful family patriarch with a giant ego who becomes the governor of Montana. There's high stakes family disputes, calculating power and land grabs, and a lot of moral ambiguity. Eventually, all subtlety packed up and left the ranch. The characters became self parodies and storylines spun in circles like that spinny horse manoeuvre that creator Taylor Sheridan seemed obsessed with decades before. Yellowstone, the TV show Dallas did something similar with the ruthless Ewing family's fictional oil and ranching empire in Texas. While Dallas also leaned into melodrama, a real life version of that story was unfolding just over the Canadian border. And that's today's case. Colin Thatcher came from a prominent ranching family in the Prairies and his father, Ross Thatcher, was the premier of Saskatchewan, and Colin followed him into politics. Publicly, he was ambitious, influential and a little chaotic. Privately, his marriage was collapsing into hostility, legal fights and escalating tension that eventually spilled into the public. Then his wife Joanne, mother of their three children, was found dead in her garage. The case gripped the nation. People drew parallels to the TV show Dallas, comparing Colin Thatcher to the fictional oil tycoon J.R. ewing. Scheming, manipulative, controlling and always two steps ahead, this case would turn out to be far darker than anything on scripted tv. Today's episode is part one of a three part series to be released over the next two days. One last thing, because this is about a political family, this series is obviously going to be political in parts. If you're sensitive to mention of politics, please be aware that while we tend to approach things from a progressive perspective, we are non partisan and don't support any political party. And with that, it's on with the show. On Friday, January 21st of 1983, a man named Craig finished work at the Legislative Building in Regina, Saskatchewan. He started walking home. It was approaching 6pm and already dark, not to mention cold, but he lived on one of the neighbouring streets and would be home in just a few minutes. As he crossed a road and proceeded towards his home, he noticed a green car driving past with a woman in the driver's seat. The car slowed down to turn into one of the driveways. Craig continued walking past the house and up the road, but he started hearing loud shrill screams behind him. At first he thought it sounded like a young child having a tantrum, but when the screams didn't stop, he realised something was wrong and turned back to see where they were coming from. Suddenly there was a loud crack and then there was silence. Craig continued toward the noise, which seemed to have come from the same house he'd just seen the green car pull into. As he approached it, he caught a glimpse of a bearded man exiting the garage and calmly walking down the street in direction of a nearby laneway. But he didn't think much of it because he was more concerned with finding where the screaming was coming from. Craig went into the garage and his eyes were immediately drawn to the ground where he saw the woman in the green car, but now she was laying still covered in blood. Craig realised that the loud crack he heard was probably a gunshot and he ran back toward the laneway to see if he could find that bearded man, but it was deserted. He returned to the garage and knelt beside the woman, helplessly looking around for anyone who might be able to help. But no one was in sight. The garage was separate from the house, so Craig ran around to the back of the house and banged on the glass door, hoping someone was home. The housekeeper was inside making dinner and she opened the door to a clearly distressed man begging her to go with him because a woman had been shot. He then led her to the garage and when she saw the woman on the ground, she broke down. It was the lady of the house. The housekeeper ran back inside and returned with the woman's husband, who immediately called called the police. As they waited for first responders to arrive, Craig aided the husband to perform cpr. On his wife. But it was futile. There was nothing they could do. Her name was Joanne Wilson. She was 43 years old, a mother of three children and the ex wife of a prominent Saskatchewan politician. And someone had killed her in her own garage. It wasn't long before sirens could be heard in the distance and the police arrived to assess the scene. By this point, a large pool of blood was creeping outward from Joanne Wilson's head. The only witness was Craig, the man walking home. And he told officers what he saw. The green car pulling into the garage, the screams, the loud crack noise, and the man who walked out of the garage and down the laneway. Craig said he only got a brief glimpse from about 30 to 40ft away, but he described the man as best he could. He had dark hair and a scraggly beard. He may have been about 30 years old, with a medium build and height between 5 foot 9 and 5 foot 11 inches tall. He recalled the man wearing dark trousers underneath a dark jacket that seemed to be either leather or pleather. And while he was walking calmly, he seemed to be hiding something under his jacket. By this point, the property was teeming with police searching the garage, the yard and the street with flashlights. Soon they would be knocking on doors and speaking to neighbours. But after only about 15 minutes, an officer spotted something lying about 4ft from the garage. It was a folded credit card receipt dated three days earlier for the purchase of gasoline from a random shell station in Karron, a tiny community about 100 kilometres away from Regina. It certainly seemed out of place, but it was a lead to follow up on because the receipt had the signature of the driver. Half of the local homicide team was put onto the case. Joanne Wilson's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, which was her most significant injury. The autopsy determined the bullet entered around Joanne's right ear, but it didn't exit her skull, causing a massive disruption of the brain that caused her death. About 14 bullet fragments were recovered and sent for ballistic analysis, but Joanne had numerous other injuries consistent with a savage attack. Just prior to the gunshot, there were 27 separate wounds on her head, neck, hands and lower legs. And on her SCALP There were 20 separate smaller wounds, likely caused by an implement with a curved blade. The forensic pathologist noted that the wounds to Joanne's head and the injuries to the back of her neck and suggested they may have happened as she was being forcibly held by the neck of her fur jacket. There were four bruises on her face and one laceration close to her hairline, which may have been caused by her falling on her face. Joanne had also sustained numerous fractures, lacerations and bruising to her hands, wrists and forearms, determined to be classic defensive injuries that suggested Joanne tried to shield herself from a rain of blows. And on her knees and legs there was bruising, abrasions and discolouration consistent with Joanne having fallen to her knees and being dragged along the garage floor. There was no evidence of any sexual assault, but from the extent and severity of Joanne's injuries it was clear that this attack was personal. Joanne Wilson was born Joanne Geiger in the United States in 1939. She was the second of four children who were raised in the university city of Ames, Iowa, where their father, Harlan Geiger was a professor at Iowa State University. The close knit family were well respected members of the local community and Joanne was a straight A student, someone who was ambitious and always pushing herself to learn. When she wasn't studying she was playing sports sports, attending a club meet or dreaming about her favourite animal, horses. She was outgoing, bubbly, independent and sensible. Someone who was going places, according to Maggie Siggins best selling 1985 book, a Canadian Tragedy. After high school, Joanne attended Iowa State University to study home economics where she continued to excel, collecting awards and scholarships for her consistently high grades. She was also a popular cheerleader and by this point she had developed a keen interest in fashion. Someone who was often admired for her stylish dress and attractive presentation. By 1960, Joanne was in the final year of her degree when she was set up on a blind date with Colin Thatcher. He was a Canadian student, a year older than her, who had just transferred from the University of Saskatchewan. Colin Thatcher was born In Toronto in 1938, the only child of Ross and Peggy Thatcher. At the time, Ross was an executive with Canada packers, the company today known as Maple Leaf Foods. But his family had roots in Saskatchewan and when Colin was just a toddler, his father was called back to help run the family hardware business. So Ross, Peggy and Colin moved back to the city of Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, located about 170 kilometres from the U.S. border into Montana. And that is where Colin grew up. His mother reportedly doted on him, perhaps to make up for the fact that he was an only child with a father who was absent more often than he was home. Ross Thatcher was extremely ambitious. In the first few years after the family moved back to Moosejaw, Ross took over the family hardware business, employing his siblings to help run it. And then he decided to enter politics, working his way up from local aldermen to being elected as the member of Canadian Parliament for Moose Jaw in 1945, when Colin was only 7. Initially, Ross Thatcher was elected as part of the Socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, or CCF Party, the precursor to the New Democrat Party, or NDP. The party was founded in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression, with a mission to provide practical assistance to the many Canadians who had been plunged into poverty, hunger and homelessness. When Ross Thatcher was elected in 1945, the CCF party was enjoying great popularity, particularly with Canadian workers, farmers, the sick and the elderly. As a business owner, Ross primary concern was the economy and the fact that it wasn't snapping back fast enough. After the Wall street crash, the CCF party was advocating for the government to step in and do more to stimulate economic. And Ross Thatcher agreed with this position, but not much else, as it turned out. Over the next decade, his relationship with the party deteriorated because ultimately the CCF was a socialist party that focused on alleviating the suffering of ordinary Canadian workers. And the way they wanted to do it was by taxing corporations, more corporations, like Ross Thatcher's family hardware business. So he quit the party in 1955, famously declaring that he was opposed to socialism and all that it stands for. After a short stint as an independent, he joined the Federal Liberals and then the Saskatchewan Liberals. In 1959, he was named leader of the party, the official opposition leader in Saskatchewan. By that point, Ross Thatcher had also changed things up in the business world. He decided it was time to get out of that hardware business and transition into farming and cattle ranching on some rural land the family owned outside of Moosejaw. Ross had high ambitions, but they didn't appear to include fatherhood. He was someone who didn't care much for children and certainly had no patience with them. This included his own son, Colin. For most of Colin's childhood, Ross wasn't home much because he was always travelling for business or parliamentary duty. And when he was home, Ross was said to be highly critical of Colin at best and downright abusive at worst. Starved of positive attention from his father, Colin acted out at school, his bad behaviour frequently getting him into trouble. It was, of course, a cry for attention, but it only served to worsen his own father's harsh treatment. Colin's behaviour at school was still a problem as he progressed through high school. He was known as a bright, if somewhat spoiled, rich kid who fought with other students and was known to be a bit of a bully. He had acquaintances but seemed to have no close friends, and that included the girls he had reportedly had one short relationship at high school, but the girl didn't like that. He quickly became obsessive and she broke it off. When Colin finished high school, he enrolled in agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan. He had started to develop an interest in his father's new farming and cattle ranching business and expressed a desire to work and learn all about it. Now that Colin was an adult, he clearly wanted to endear himself to Ross Thatcher and perhaps forge a new father son relationship. But it didn't exactly work out like that. According to the book A Canadian Tragedy by Maggie Siggins, Ross didn't ease up on his harsh treatment. He saw much to criticise in Colin's work on the ranch and the two were often at odds. Colin's grades in his first year of university weren't great. He thought he might have a better chance of success at Iowa State University in the United States and so he successfully applied for a transfer. During his first year at Iowa State, Colin mostly kept to himself, but he eventually joined a fraternity and made a few friends. In his second year, Colin requested a friend set him up on a blind date. And that's how he met Joanne Geiger. They had very different personalities. Joanne was bubbly, sociable, independent and intelligent. And Colin could be charming, the perfect gentleman when he was in a good mood. But he was often insecure, overbearing, surly and rude. He seemed devoted to Joanne though, and they were both ambitious. The relationship soon became serious. Joanne introduced Colin to her parents and siblings in Iowa and she travelled with him back to Moosejaw, Saskatchewan several times. While there she would help out on the 8,000acre Thatcher Ranch, located about 20 minutes drive out of Moosejaw. By this point, Colin had managed to finish his agricultural degree and was sticking around at Iowa State to get his master's in animal husbandry. His ultimate goal was to join his father full time at the ranch. Colin Thatcher proposed to Joanne Geiger on her 22nd birthday and she accepted, knowing that they would be settling as a married couple in Moosejaw as soon as Colin finished his Masters. But because Joanne had long since finished her own degree, she decided to get a head start moving to Canada in advance of their wedding, setting up a home in Moosejaw and getting herself a job teaching home economics. In 1962, the couple returned to Ames, Iowa to get married. A wedding photo published in the star Phoenix shows 23 year old Joanne and 24 year old Colin gazing at each other, flanked by both sets of their parents who look proud and delighted. But as Joanne's Parents Harlan and Betty Geiger would later tell the newspaper they observed something strange the day after the wedding. They were helping their daughter pack all the wedding gifts to take back to Saskatchewan. And Ross and Peggy Thatcher were pitching in too. The only one not helping was Colin, the groom, who spent the entire time sitting in the house reading the paper. Joanne's parents would recall a comment made by Colin's father, Ross Thatcher. I sure hope Joe can handle him because we never.
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As far as Joanne's parents could tell, the marriage seemed to start off well. Joanne continued as a home economics teacher, but she also started getting into the Hereford cattle ranching life with her new husband. Colin knew how much she loved horses and purchased a special gift for her, a fancy golden palomino horse. Joanne named her golden girl. 1964 was a big year for the Thatcher family in Saskatchewan. Colin and Joanne celebrated two years of marriage and towards the end of the year she learned she was pregnant with their first child. But perhaps the biggest development was the provincial election that saw Colin's father, Ross Thatcher, becoming the new Liberal premier of Saskatchewan, the equivalent of a state governor. Colin and Joanne were immensely proud and started integrating themselves into local political circles. The following year, she gave birth to their first child, Gregory, and gave up her job as a teacher to be a stay at home mum. By the time their second son, Reagan was born four years later, Colin was the head of the Canadian Hereford association and was quickly establishing himself as a local force in the ranching business. By 1971, Ross Thatcher had been the premier of Saskatchewan for seven years. But the political tide was starting to turn yet again, this time away from the Liberals. At the next provincial election, the Saskatchewan NDP Party was elected to govern and Ross was acting out. He was devastated. Just a month after the election, Ross Thatcher suddenly died in his sleep, aged 54 years old. He reportedly had heart issues and complications from diabetes. Colin's relationship with his father was complicated, but both he and Joanne were shattered by Ross death. Colin decided to channel his emotions into the ranch, taking the land and money his father had left him in the will to make it one of the most successful in the region. And the money soon started flowing in. Three years after Ross Thatcher's death, Joanne gave birth to Stephanie, her third child with Colin. Each summer, she took the kids back to Iowa to see their grandparents and other relatives. But Colin never came with them. He always had some excuse. Colin appeared to be modelling himself on his own father. Ross and he developed similar political ambitions, joining the same Saskatchewan Liberal Party that his late father had led to victory 10 years earlier. Joanne was publicly supportive of her husband's political goals and did everything she could to help, attending rallies, doing doorknocks, helping Colin with his bookkeeping and anything else as needed. A friend would later tell the Leader Post that Joanne was well received by voters. Quote, she was classy in the way she dealt with people and she looked classy even when painting the house in blue jeans and an old shirt. It didn't matter what she was doing or wearing, she had class. It all paid off in the summer of 1975, when Colin was elected to provincial parliament as the member for Thunder Creek, a now defunct electoral district where the Thatcher ranch was located. Colin was a bit of a chip off the old block. He was abrasive and combative and it didn't take long before he was having constant disagreements with his Liberal Party colleagues. There was also tension brewing between Colin and Joanne's parents. Harlan and Peggy Geiger had been driving to Canada every year to visit their grandkids, but Colin never made them feel welcome and of course, he refused to accompany his own family on their visits to Iowa. The Geigers would later tell the staff Phoenix that they did try to speak with Joanne about the increasing tension, but it was a difficult situation for her to deal with and she excused Colin's behaviour. Feeling most unwelcome, they decided to stop their annual visits to Canada. Colin Thatcher liked his politics the same as his father had chaotic. In 1977, two years after he was first elected, he shocked everyone by changing parties. He suddenly defected from the Liberal Party to the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party. It seemed to be out of the blue, but he had become friendly with the party's leader, Richard Dick Culver. The political tide was starting to shift in their favour and Colin wanted to ride the wave. He had also found himself increasingly at odds with Liberal policies. He was known to be erratic, insecure, difficult to deal with and someone who never played by the rules. And even though he had grown increasingly unpopular with his Liberal Party colleagues, they were not impressed by his sudden decision to cross the floor. Neither was Joanne. She was so disgusted by her husband changing political allegiances that it put a strain on their marriage. Before long, Colin began having a number of extramarital affairs, including with a woman who reportedly worked for him. He was so brazen about it that it was only a matter of time before Joanne discovered his infidelity. She confronted him and in response, Colin reportedly became verbally and physically abusive towards Joanne, leaving her with some bruising on her face. His infidelity and the discord in their marriage became the community's worst kept secret and he was often spotted around town in the company of various women. It was clear that he didn't care what anyone thought, including Joanne. Media outlets would frequently describe him as a, quote, flamboyant millionaire rancher and one of the province's most controversial politicians. But for all the talk, Colin's reputation did nothing to damage his political aspirations. In the 1978 provincial election, Colin Thatcher was re elected as the member for Thunder Creek. This time with three times as many votes between him and the runner up. By this point, the marriage between Colin and Joanne Thatcher was on its last legs. The couple had previously purchased a vacation condo in Palm Springs, California for them both to use. But it ended up being Colin who used it the most to conduct his affairs. The leader post would describe the condo and country club as his personal playground. Meanwhile, Joanne found herself getting friendly with Colin's close friend and business partner, Ron Graham, who ran a successful construction business. Ron was married too. In fact, both couples often socialised together. But behind the scenes, both marriages were also deeply unhappy. Ron and Joanne ended up confiding in each other, which led to the start of an affair. Joanne knew it was time to end her marriage. In the summer of 1979, she told her parents about the affair and that she was planning to leave Colin. Given that there was no love lost between them and Colin, they were supportive. Multiple studies show that the most dangerous time of a woman's life is when she tries to leave an abusive relationship. When an abusive partner can feel they're losing power and control, the risk of domestic violence, homicide and murder suicide increases exponentially. The statistics are clear. Women are six times more likely to be killed by an ex partner than by a current partner. Joanne seemed to know this instinctually, that if she simply told Colin she was leaving, he wouldn't react well. So she decided not to. She would wait until he left for his upcoming trip to Palm Springs and get Ron's help to move out before he returned so she wouldn't have to tell him and be present for his reaction. He would just figure it out. It wasn't her preference to be sneaky, but her highest priority was safety. Joanne had secretly arranged accommodation in the Greater Toronto area in Ontario and the only decision to be made was what to do with their three children. By this point, Colin and Joanne had been married for almost 17 years and their eldest son, 14 year old Greg, was close with Colin. Joanne knew he wouldn't be happy about moving to Ontario and decided it would be in his best interest to stay in Moosejaw with his father for the time being. When Colin returned home and realised that Joanne had left him and had taken their two youngest children, he was furious. He ended up speaking with Ron's estranged wife Jane, who informed him that their respective spouses had become entangled and that Ron was involved in Joanne's move. Joanne and Ron's affair would prove to be situational and short lived, but Colin was jealous and deeply insecure. He started obsessing over his marriage breakdown and the fact that he had lost control and had no idea where Joanne had gone. He made a decision to track her down and after paying a few associates to do some research recon work, he was able to have her landline number matched to an address in Brampton, Ontario. Colin arranged to go there immediately. Joanne had taken his two children away and he was going to take them back. He drove around until he spotted Regan and Stephanie walking to school and yelled at them to get in the car. They were surprised to see their father, but they complied. He then drove to the airport and they flew back to Moosejaw. The next morning, Colin contacted a distraught Joanne to tell her that he had the kids now and was planning to block her from seeing them while he arranged temporary custody for himself. Joanne realised she couldn't do much from another province so she gave up her Ontario plans and moved back back to Saskatchewan. Colin proceeded to intimidate Joanne with verbal and physical threats as the custody and property battle continued. On boxing day of 1979, Colin was invited to visit a ranch owned by his close friend Richard Dick Culver, who'd been the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party when Colin defected from the Liberals and he had played a key role in wooing him over. But now Richard was noticing that when Parliament was in session, Colin could barely concentrate on what was going on and he spent most of his time talking about Joanne and his marriage breakup. So Colin decided to take Richard up on the invitation and took all three kids, as well as their 17 year old nanny, so Sandra, to Richard's ranch. Both Richard and his wife were shocked to hear Colin and Sandra constantly referring to Joanne as that bitch and disparaging her even in front of the kids. It wasn't right. The following morning, Richard asked Colin to leave and not visit again until he'd dealt with his obsession over Joanne. The leader post would later report that Colin was on a campaign to turn the children against their mother, particularly the boys. Joanne's own mother would say he was doing everything he could to convince them they had a mother who was no good. In the spring of the following year, 1980, Colin asked his friend Richard Dick Culver to do him a favour, contact Joanne to see if he could negotiate an agreement. Colin told him, quote, bottom line is I must have the boys. To Richard, Colin seemed obsessed with his boys and carrying on the Thatcher name, but he was willing to help mediate the situation if it meant that Colin might finally move on. So he met with Joanne and they were able to come to a new agreement without too, too much trouble. She agreed to keep Stephanie and let Colin take custody of both of their sons. It wasn't what she wanted, but by this point their eldest son Greg had heard enough of his father's negative comments and jabs about his mother. He was starting to display open hostility towards her and Joanne could see that things were heading in the same direction with Regan. It was of course, devastating to her, but she seemed to know instinctually that a forceful hand wasn't the way to win them back. As the saying goes, if you love something, set it free. So Joanne compromised on custody, but she hoped that Colin would also compromise on the terms of the property settlement. Richard reported back to Colin and told him he believed Joanne was on offering a fair proposal. But Colin remained defiant. He said, quote, the bitch isn't going to get anything. For Richard, this was the last straw. He was done. He told Colin that this was the last time he'd ever help him with any personal issues. Colin and Joanne's divorce went through with the property settlement. Colin was ordered to pay $820,000 for Joanne's share of the marital, one of the highest figures ever awarded by a Canadian divorce court at the time. But he launched an appeal which meant all payments were frozen until it could be heard in court. When it came to the custody settlement, the judge determined that Colin would retain custody of 15 year old Greg, but not 11 year old Regan. He was given to Joanne along with six year old Stephanie. Once again, Colin was furious. Not so much when it came to Stephanie, but he did not want Regan to be with his mother. Colin had been successful at turning his sons against Joanne and at first he was successful in persuading Regan to run away from his mother's place. But then Colin had an idea. He didn't care what the court said. He was going to figure out a way to keep Regan away from his mother. His lawyer, Anthony Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group, was developing a reputation as a controversial figure, someone who didn't like to settle and preferred to continue fighting at all costs. Together they would be a diabolical pair. Colin ignored the terms of the custody order, which resulted in more legal action. Joanne complained to the courts that after Regan ran away, he didn't return and she no longer had physical custody of him. But when the police spoke with Colin, he was uncooperative, telling them he didn't know where his middle son was, but wasn't concerned about it. For many months, Regan's official whereabouts were unknown, but to those close to the situation, it was pretty clear what was going on. Colin was retaining physical custody of his son and keeping him in secret somewhere. And with the help of his lawyer, he was able to get away with dodging questions from the authorities. During this time, Colin tried to arrange visitation with six year old Stephanie. It was an audacious move given the custody situation, and Joanne refused. She said she would only change her mind when she had physical custody of Regan again, as per the court decision. In response, Colin complained to the court that he was being denied access to his daughter. The judge sided with Joanne, but still Regan remained hidden and Colin refused to speak on the matter. Joanne's friends would say she kept winning in court, but later losing in practice. The custody battle over Regan Thatcher was so contentious that it made headlines and the judge decided to issue a plea to the public through the media. As reported in the Leader post, Justice M.A. mcPherson announced that the police had been looking for Regan Thatcher and quote, it is easy to suspect that Thatcher knows where Regan is or at least suspect that he can find him. The judge stated that if Colin Thatcher was confirmed to be responsible for his son's disappearance, he might be found in contempt of court along with anyone who might be assisting him. But still, Regan didn't show up. One month went past, then two, then three, as Colin Thatcher continued to refuse to speak speak about it. And it seemed that neither the courts nor the police were prepared to take meaningful action to enforce the custody agreement. As the months went by, Joanne started to become disillusioned with the criminal justice system. No matter what she did, Colin Thatcher seemed to be above the law. After the divorce, Joanne had moved with Stephanie to Regina, a city about 70 kilometres away from Moose Jaw. A 45 minute drive, according to today's Google. Close enough to continue the custody battle, but far enough away from Colin. Over the previous few years, Joanne had been working towards transitioning to a career in interior design. She was said to be very talented and she was soon hired by a Regina firm to decorate the offices of an oil company. While she was doing that job, she became friendly with the company's vice president, a man named Tony Wilson. And by the time the job was finished, Joanne and Tony had fallen in love. It was a whirlwind relationship and after 10 months together, the couple got married. In early January of 1981, Joanne Geiger turned. Joanne Thatcher was now Joanne Wilson. By this point, she hadn't seen her son Regan for about five months and his whereabouts were still officially unknown. It stands to reason that Joanne likely wouldn't have gotten married if she thought Regan was in any danger. The problem was that no one could do a thing to make colin produce the 11 year old. So Joanne was trying to get on with her life as best she could. Tony seemed to be the only thing going right. Even Joanne's parents would say they noticed the change in her almost immediately. She was happy again and thriving in her new marriage, which by all reports was healthy and loving. She, Tony and little Stephanie moved into a home in Regina's affluent Lakeview neighbourhood. Situated close to the legislative building. Tony was said to be a great stepfather to Stephanie, always making time for her and reading her bedtime stories. But Colin couldn't get past his divorce. He hated that the custody battle didn't go his way and he refused to leave his ex wife alone to get on with her new life. Joanne and Tony were harassed and prank called. They found sugar in their car's tank and the tyres slashed. They were confident they knew who was behind it and the police had been contacted multiple times, but there was no way to prove it. Tony got legal advice about how to facilitate a new new out of court property settlement to resolve whatever Colin's issue was. A month after Tony and Joanne's wedding, the judge finally decided to find Colin Thatcher in contempt of court over the custody agreement. He was offered one last chance to answer the question of Regan's whereabouts. Colin refused, so he was fined $6,000 and ordered to pay Joanne's legal bills. Just a few weeks after that, the Star Phoenix reported that Colin Thatcher had been spotted in Palm Springs, California with a boy fitting Regan's description. Colin denied that the boy was his son, but again refused to answer any questions about where his son really was. That was February of 1981. Regan turned 12 that month. By the time May came around, he'd been missing for the best part of eight months. On May 17, 1981, four months after Joanne and Tony's wedding, Joanne was in the kitchen of their home cleaning up after dinner. As she was stacking the dishwasher, she heard a loud crack and she screamed. Tony ran down to see what happened and found his wife had collapsed against the wall, blood flowing from her shoulder. Joanne told him the dishwasher must have exploded, but she was clearly dazed and in a state of panic and shock. Tony looked past the kitchen and immediately saw that the triple glazed doors leading out to the patio was had shattered. This was no exploding dishwasher. His wife had been shot in the shoulder. Tony called the police immediately and Joanne was rushed to hospital.
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- [48:56]
C
The day after Joanne Wilson was shot, a man named Gary Anderson was watching the news. Not because he was interested as such, but he was working a job and he just had to wait for a particular news story to air because that would trigger his next task. Gary was in his mid-30s, a known criminal who had been in and out of jail for crimes including assault, possession of firearms and impaired driving. His family owned a farm near Karron, a rural area outside of Moosejaw that happened to be close to the Thatcher ranch. He had known Colin for years. In fact, his family leased some of their land to him. Gary Anderson would tell the police quite a story years later, but for now he was just working a job. Gary's story was that Colin first contacted him about eight months beforehand to request a meeting about a business proposal. This was in the fall of 1980, about three months after the judge infuriated Colin by awarding custody of Regan to Joanne. And Regan's whereabouts became unknown. Gary arranged to meet Colonel Colin at an abandoned farm where he would say Colin asked him if he would kill his ex wife, Joanne Wilson, the mother of his three children. Colin offered to pay $50,000 total, starting with a $10,000 down payment, $10,000 on completion, and the balance of $30,000 which would be paid out over the first following three years. It was clearly an incentive to ensure Gary would keep his mouth shut. Gary would tell the police that he straight up refused. Colin wasn't deterred, though. He asked if there was anyone else who might be interested and Gary said he'd think about it. So publicly, as Colin was refusing to answer questions questions about Regan's whereabouts, he was also arranging subsequent meetings with Gary Anderson to get updates about his business proposal. And soon Gary came to Colin with a name. Charles Wild was in his early 30s. A fellow inmate Gary had met in one of his prison stints. Charles criminal record was related to drugs and drug abuse, but he was someone Gary was shocked sure would be interested With Colin's nod, Gary agreed to be the intermediary and approached Charles Wild about the contract. But Charles was also not interested, not personally, anyway. But he said he would definitely help them find someone who was. Before long, Charles introduced Gary Anderson to another convicted criminal whose real name was Cody Crutcher, but went by the name Jack Gold. The meeting went well, and Gary reported back to Colin Thatcher that they had a hitman to take on the job. Colin handed him $7,500 in cash, a photo of Joanne and a set of keys to her car. It was Gary's job as intermediary to take those things to Charles to pass along to Jack Gold, along with a message from Colin. He had a specific time frame that he wanted the killing to occur the next month, when he would be in his Palm Springs vacation condo for Christmas break. It would be the perfect alibi. It seemed like everything had been set up and Christmas came and went. But when Colin returned from Palm Springs, he learned that not only was Joanne still alive, but she'd married Tony Wilson. Early in the new year, Colin contacted Gary Anderson, demanding to know what had happened to the money he paid for the hit. That didn't happen. Gary got in contact with Charles Wild to find out what happened. Apparently, Jack Gold was tied up with something else and wasn't able to carry out the hit as had planned. But everyone was still up for it if Colin was willing. Colin thought about it. He had already paid the money and he had plans to fly back to Palm Springs in February. He gave Gary the dates he would be away and told him that some of the details had changed since last time. Joanne's surname was now Wilson and she had moved to a different address with her new new husband. Gary took the extra step of driving Charles Wild out to the area, pointing out Joanne's new house so the information could be passed over to Jack Gold the following month. February of 1981 was when Colin was found in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about Regan's whereabouts. He was ordered to pay Joanne's legal bills along with the fine of $16,000, a pittance for a man described as a millionaire rancher. But Colin Thatcher hated to lose. He was incredibly angry and growing more desperate. As his next Palm Springs trip approached, Colin returned home to discover that Joanne was still very much alive. A second failure. Gary would tell the police that Colin demanded he set up a direct meeting with Charles Wild, who was responsible for bringing Jack golden to the scheme. The three men met at an abandoned farm in the spring of 1981. Because Gary had been the middleman, this was the first time that Colin Thatcher met Charles Wild and he demanded an explanation about what happened. Charles sheepishly told him that Jack Gold had gone radio silent for at least a month. Colin said he wasn't overly concerned about the money he'd already paid, but he did want Joanne's photo and the car keys returned when Charles told him he had no idea where they were. Colin instructed him to find the keys in particular because if anything happened to Joanne, it could lead police to him. Desperate now, Colin made an offer to Charles directly. He offered 50 or 60 thousand dollars to take the contract. Charles had said no last time, but this time he said yes. Colin told him he had a new plan. Clearly the plan to shoot Joanne at her home wasn't working out, but maybe things would go smoother at a different location, the United States. Colin told Charles that he wanted the hit to happen in Ames, Iowa over Easter. He knew that Joanne would soon be taking her annual trip there to see her family. An agreement was made and about a week beforehand, Colin asked Charles Wild to meet him at the park across from the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, which was only a few minutes walk from the home where Joanne now lived with her husband Tony. There, Colin handed over more cash and details of the Iowa trip, including the names of Joanne's parents and their address. But Easter came and went and Joanne Wilson remained alive. Colin was now seeing red and ordered Gary Anderson to track Charles down. But he was only able to get as far as Charles girlfriend who said he'd been arrested in Manitoba for breaking into a drugstore. So Jack Gold and Charles Wild had been a bust and Colin cut his losses. But Gary Anderson would tell the police that Colin just wouldn't give up and was set on arranging to have Joanne killed. Over the next three months, he insisted Gary accompany him to Regina several times to do some recon work. During these trips, Colin showed Gary the area around Joanne's home and pointed out how easy it would be to kill her. He asked Gary point blank if he was interested in doing it. Perhaps now that everything else had failed, Gary might change his mind mind. But Gary would later tell the police that he again refused. He would continue to help Colin as required, but he wouldn't kill a woman. Colin wasn't deterred and told Gary that he had two urgent tasks for him. The first was to purchase a firearm. Gary purchased a.303 bolt Action Lee Enfield rifle which had been the main main firearm of the British military. And he also purchased some ammunition to go with it, the second task was for Gary to rent a car, then drive it to Colin's house in Moosejaw and park it a few blocks away with the keys hidden in a designated spot. Gary would tell the police that Colin's instructions to him were clear. He was to listen to the news reports over the next few days and if he heard of anything happening to Joanne, he should immediately go back to the same spot where he parked the rental car. He should clean it inside and out and then return it to the rental agency. The next day, Joanne was shot in her own home. She was rushed to hospital where surgeons removed a.303 bullet lodged in her shoulder, determining that it only just missed a critical vein in her neck. She was lucky to survive. It was likely that the bullet had been partially deflected by the triple glazing on her home's back glass door. And that's why she was still alive. The police announced details to the media about what had happened. They said the gunman had likely been using a high powered rifle and they were looking for a man seen fleeing from the home just after the shooting. This man was described as being in his 20s, about 5ft 11 inches tall, medium build, with dark hair above the collar and wearing a light coloured summer jacket. Witnesses told police they saw him run down the road to an adjacent street where he got into a late model rust coloured car with a lot of chrome around the taillights and then sped away. Gary Anderson was watching the news as instructed and would tell police that when he heard Joanne had been shot, he went and picked up the rental car. From the location where he left it, near Colin's home, he saw that the car had definitely been taken out. It was dusty now and the licence plates had been smeared with mud. He cleaned the car as instructed and returned it to the rental company. Two weeks after Joanne was shot. The Star Phoenix reported that although the Regina police were still looking for the man and the car, they had not progressed in the investigation and had, quote, no definite suspects at this time. Colin Thatcher seemed to have a watertight alibi. It wouldn't come out until later, but he said he was at home in Moosejaw along with his son Reagan. So after months and months of refusing to disclose or even speak about this, the 12 year old's whereabouts to the authorities. After months of keeping Regan from the mother who had legal custody of him, the reason that Colin Thatcher finally caved was to back up his own alibi. He would claim that he was at home with Regan, opening the family swimming pool and doing yard work while his oldest son, Greg, was at a friend's place. Greg returned at about 10:30pm, and then Colin's lawyer, Anthony Merchant, called to let him know Joanne had been shot and to expect the police to show up. Colin would report that the police didn't show up that night. In fact, they didn't show up for another two nights. Whatever happened there, Colin's alibi convinced the police. But Joanne and Tony Wilson knew better. As she was recovering in hospital, Colin showed up to her home to speak with her husband, Tony about finalising the property settlement. Instead, Tony confronted Colin about what had happened to Joanne. But Colin gave no reaction. He just stared blankly. When Tony told him to just pay the amount he had been ordered to pay by the courts, Colin flew into a rage, yelling at Tony that he and Joanne should take some steps to protect themselves. It was a threat and Tony was terrified. He ordered bodyguards for Joanne's hospital room and looked into updating the home security. Joanne ended up spending three weeks in hospital recovering, and her arm and shoulder had greatly reduced mobility. She had to wear a painful brace and cast on her arm every day in the hope that eventually she would get full mobility back. She had a lot of time to think as she recovered, and the reality of her situation started to hit her hard. The custody battle had been going on for the best part of two years, and even though every court decision about Regan's custody had sided with her, she still didn't have physical custody of him. Colin Thatcher was not playing in good faith, and his refusal to comply with the court order and answer questions about where Regan really was suggested that his motive had little to do with what was in the best interests of his children. And even worse, there appeared to be nothing the courts could do or were willing to do to enforce it. Joanne could deal with slashed tyres and prank phone calls, but this clear attempt to take her life was something else altogether. Colin was a prominent politician in Saskatchewan. If he was someone else, someone with less money, less public profile, less audacity, it might have gone differently. But both Joanne and Tony were terrified. She felt she had no realistic alternative but to retreat from the custody battle. She contacted her lawyer the month after the shooting, presumably after Colin had disclosed Regan's location to the police as part of his alibi. The Star Phoenix reported that the 12 year old had returned to Moose Jaw after months attending a private school in the United States. Just a few days later, the papers reported that the custody battle had been resolved, with the judge ruling that it was in Regan's best interest to remain in the custody of his father. The news reports were framed as though Colin had won the custody battle, with the implication that Joanne was somehow incompetent as a mother and she was greatly distressed to read them. 41 year old Joanne Wilson decided to hold a press conference to set the record straight. She reminded the media that she had been awarded legal custody of Regan, but she hadn't seen her son for so many months because Colin wouldn't say where he was. And the judge didn't just award custody to Colin. It only happened after she gave up the custody fight. It was for Regan's sake that I abandoned that effort and not through somebody else's success. In court, Joanne stated that she had been personally terrorised as she fought in court to have the custody agreement enforced. And after she was shot in her own home, she was forced to decide whether it was worth it to continue. She stopped short of naming Colin as the suspected perpetrator of her terror. She said, quote, I dearly love all my children. No custody battle in this province has been more prolonged or extensive. My daughter Stephanie needs a healthy mother able to care for her. Three months after Joanne Wilson was shot in the shoulder, the media announced that an unnamed law firm in Regina had stepped up to offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible. Other media reports said it was Tony Wilson who offered the money. Regina police confirmed that they still had no definite suspects and they were still on the hunt for the man seen running away from the Wilson home. The reward looked promising, but it expired at the end of the year without attracting any new information. Joanne and Tony weren't the only ones who thought Colin Thatcher was responsible for the shooting, even though the media was very careful in what was reported, Colin's suspected involvement was the subject of water cooler chatter in both Regina and Moose Jaw. But somehow he was untouchable to remain that way. Colin laid low for the rest of that year, 1981. Well, as low as a millionaire rancher and provincial member of Parliament could lie. There was an election coming up the following year and he hoped to be re elected. But that didn't mean he ditched his plan for Joanne. That December, when Colin was back in Palm Springs, California for Christmas break, he visited a local gun shop and discussed purchasing a firearm, which he said was to protect his property. He returned to the gun shop the next month, late January of 1982. This time he purchased a Ruger Security 6.357 magnum revolver. The shop's owner, Ron Williams would remember him. In a separate transaction, Colin also purchased a holster for the revolver and two boxes of a special type of ammunition that had only been on the US market for less than a year. The next election was fast approaching. Colin's immense personal troubles were no secret. He had established a reputation for being overbearing, combative, abrasive and disloyal. He was someone who switched political allegiances with the swinging tide of public opinion. He was a philandering womaniser and a father who for eight months refused to cooperate with custody courts, disclose his son's location or answer any questions about it. There were no repercussions for that. And adding the fact that he was now suspected of being involved in his ex wife's shooting. A reasonable person might think that he didn't have a chance in hell of being re elected. But In May of 1982, the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party, now led by Grant Devine, was elected as a majority government. And not only was Colin re elected as the member for Thunder Cross Creek, but the Premier rewarded him with a cabinet position, Minister of Energy and Mines. This elevated Colin to a new level of prestige in Saskatchewan, but still he remained fixated on Joanne. Two months later, the property settlement was finalised, but only because Joanne again agreed to settle. Colin had appealed the original settlement, which froze the payments he had to make until the appeal could be heard, and it had been dragging out ever since. Joanne didn't care to continue the fight. She just wanted it over with so she could try and move on with her life. She'd already lost the custody of both of her sons and now she decided to settle for around half of the amount she'd originally been awarded by the corporate court. In exchange, Colin agreed to abandon his appeal, pay Joanne $150,000 immediately, with the rest via instalments over the next five years. There were several notable clauses written into the agreement. If Colin defaulted on any of his payments, he would have to pay the entire amount to Joanne immediately. If he died during this period, no payment would be required for five years. But if Joanne died, Colin could defer the next payment for a year. His second payment would be due in February of 1983. In October of 1982, just a few months after the property settlement was finalised, Colin met with Gary Anderson once again at an abandoned farm. It had been almost 18 months since Joanne had been shot in the shoulder. And this was the first time that Gary Anderson and Colin Thatcher had spoken. Since Gary would tell police, he asked Colin how on earth he managed to miss killing Joanne at that close range. Colin reportedly indicated that he he didn't know. But this meeting wasn't about that. Colin had another job for Gary. He handed over the Magnum revolver in a holster and told him to get a silencer made for it. That's where we'll leave it for part one. 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, Lynn 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. Visit Regina Transition House 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 Jesse 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 soon with part two. See you then.
- [74:29]
A
Hey, this is Adam Grant, host of ted's podcast Rethinking with Adam Grant. Let me share with you why smart finance leaders turn to Bill. They know that clarity isn't just helpful, it's strategic. As the intelligent finance platform, Bill uses AI to automate the busy work for nearly half a million businesses so they can focus on intentional growth, eliminate the friction and start scaling with the proven choice. Visit bill.com proven proven to talk with an expert about automating your business finances and get a $250 gift card as a thank you. That's bill.com proven terms and conditions apply. See Offer page for details.
- [75:02]
B
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