Colin Thatcher, seen here being interviewed about his book in 2009, argued the Saskatchewan law is a violation of his constitutional rights. (CBC)Book profits seized from convicted murderer Colin Thatcher that are supposed to go to crime victims won't necessarily go to his children, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan says.
On Monday, a Queen's Bench judge ruled that the province's new law designed to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes by writing about them would apply to Thatcher, the ex-politician convicted in 1984 of the first-degree murder of his ex-wife JoAnn Wilson. The couple had three children.
Thatcher, an MLA and minister in former Progressive Conservative premier Grant Devine's cabinet, served 22 years in prison before being paroled in 2006.
Thatcher wrote a book about the case, Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame, which was published last year, but before it appeared on bookstore shelves the provincial government passed the Profits of Criminal Notoriety Act.
Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan says the seized money will go to help victims of crime, but he doesn't know if it should go to the children of Colin Thatcher and JoAnn Wilson. (CBC)The province took Thatcher to court to establish that the law applied to him.
The court decision said that law did not violate Thatcher's constitutional rights and said he would have to remit his earnings to the provincial government.
One question that hasn't been answered is how any seized money would be distributed.
Morgan said in these cases, the money would typically go to the victims of the crime.
However, in this particular case, Morgan said, he is reluctant to give the money to JoAnn Wilson's three adult children, who are supportive of their father.
"You know, I wouldn't want to see the money in Mr. Thatcher's hands either directly or indirectly," Morgan said.
"We'll have to look and see what's appropriate. We have no past history of dealing with this so we're in new territory so I think we'll want to spend some time and carefully consider what's the best use of the money."
Thatcher has 30 days in which to appeal Monday's judgment, Morgan said.
Thatcher was not available for comment, but his publisher, Jack David of ECW Press, said an appeal is unlikely.
Thatcher didn't write the book for money, so although they are disappointed with the ruling, they won't be pursuing it any further, he said.
"I can tell you that Colin is not eager to appeal and we are not eager to appeal," he said. "I think the appeal would have to come from a third party, an intervener, possibly someone like the Writers' Union of Canada."
Monday's ruling has implications beyond Thatcher's book, David said, adding that it's the first time in Canada that a law such as this has been challenged.
