Thatcher, Colin (1938-)

Colin Thatcher was born in Toronto, Ontario on August 25, 1938. The only son of Saskatchewan Liberal premier Ross Thatcher, Colin was a rancher and politician, and the only former government Minister to be convicted of murder. On August 12, 1962, Thatcher married JoAnn Geiger; they were divorced in 1980; in the settlement JoAnn was awarded nearly $1 million, and the two engaged in a custody battle over the youngest child. In the meantime, Thatcher had entered politics in 1975 as Liberal MLA for Thunder Creek. In 1977 he joined the Conservative Party, and in 1982 became Minister of Energy and Mines. Disputes between Premier Grant Devine and Thatcher resulted in the latter's resignation on January 17, 1983. On January 21, 1983, JoAnn's body was found in the garage of her Regina home. In November 1984, Thatcher was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. He served his sentence at an Edmonton maximum security prison until 1998, when he moved to the Ferndale minimum-security facility near Mission, BC. He is scheduled to be released in May 2009.

Daria Coneghan