A Karmic Circle

825 Feb 17
07:35 hrs

     Dear Readers,

     If any of you truly knows me then you know that I like to dabble in history, some politics with a smattering of crime and punishment. All of this came together in a eurphoric fashion in the case of murder of JoAnn Wilson.

     Who is JoAnn Wilson you ask?

     Maybe you will remember her by the last name of her first marriage. Does the name Thatcher ring a bell? No? Well, let me refresh your memory.

     JoAnn's first husband was Colin Thatcher, a very prominent Saskatchewan businessman and MLA. They had three children and resided in Moosejaw. When their marriage collapsed there was a very bitter custody battle over the two youngest. Despite all of his wealth, power and influence Colin lost every court battle. The custody cases and the final divorce settlement. All of it and he wasn't happy about it. In his words 'Thatchers never lose. And, Thatchers never sell land'. This last point is important because in the divorce settlement he had to pay JoAnn $700,000. And, in 1980 this was an insane amount of money and Colin was not about to sell off his holdings to pay her out. Threats, indimidation and dirty tricks ensued. JoAnn refused to back down. She had won. The law was on her side. Sure.

     By now, JoAnn had relocated to Regina with a new career and a new love. May 17, 1981, as she stood doing up the late supper dishes JoAnn was shot by a high calibre bullet from an unknown assailant. She survived but Colin used this as an excuse to pursue custody of their middle child. He won the custody case but the deadline for paying out the settlement was looming. Through all of this, Colin was trying to maintain his ranch, his MLA riding and his playboy JR Ewing lifestyle.

     January 1983, JoAnn came home from work. Parked her car in the garage. Got out of the car and was struck in the head with a blunt object. The blows continued and many of the wounds were found to be defensive in nature as she was trying to protect herself. The number of wounds and the damage they caused forensically indicated that they were delivered with pure hatred towards the victim. As a final blow JoAnn was shot in the head at Point blank range.

     Colin Thatcher was arrested, tried and convicted mostly on circumstancial evidence. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Through it all he professed his innocence and never admitted guilt. At the same time all other suggested theories and suspects were proven dead ends. Of the three children the eldest continued the family ranch operation and after the trial the youngest was returned to the Thatcher fold. The middle child, Regan, in 2002 became a sole practicing lawyer in Winnipeg and in 2015 was appointed to the Family Division in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench.

     Here's the karmic irony. Here's a person  who started by being a pawn of the Courts, pulled back and forth between two venomous litigating parents, and ended up being appointed as a judge in the Family Division to decide the fate of children.

     A full circle.