Thatcher hands over book profits

Former Saskatchewan politician and convicted murderer Colin Thatcher is turning over the profits from his book to the Saskatchewan government.

Thatcher was ordered to do so in a recent court decision.

Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan said Wednesday he has received a cheque for $5,000 from Thatcher.

Morgan said he also received a copy of a letter from Thatcher to his publisher, telling it to forward all future royalty payments to the province's minister of finance.

In Thatcher's recent book, Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame, he argues he was framed for the murder of his ex-wife JoAnn Wilson.

In response, the government passed a law that prevents criminals from profiting from "recounting their crimes."

The recent court decision found Thatcher's book meets that definition. The government will hold the money until Thatcher can no longer appeal the ruling.

Then the money is supposed to go to victims of crime.

Thatcher's father Ross Thatcher was premier in the 1960s and Thatcher was a cabinet minister in the first Progressive Conservative government of Grant Devine in the early 1980s.

On Jan. 21, 1983,  Wilson was severely beaten and then shot to death in the garage of her Regina home, not far from the provincial legislature.

Almost a year later, Thatcher was charged and a sensational trial followed. He spent 22 years behind bars before being paroled. The case was later chronicled in several books and the television mini-series Love and Hate.