Trafford Publishing: Deny, Deny, Deny (Second Edition): The Rise and Fall of Colin Thatcher

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Deny, Deny, Deny (Second Edition): The Rise and Fall of Colin Thatcher

by Garrett Wilson; co-published with Avoca Publishing Inc.

363 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #00-0080; ISBN 1-55212-416-9; US$31.50, C$36.00, EUR26.00, £18.00

A detailed account of Canada's "Trial of the Century" - the murder case of millionaire politician Colin Thatcher. This second edition thoroughly updates the case to Thatcher's latest attempts to pass himself off as another wrongly convicted - another David Milgaard.

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about the book      about the author      excerpt from Chapter 22      catalogue info

About the Book

Not since the trial of Louis Riel in 1885 had Western Canada seen such a courtroom drama. Colin Thatcher, millionaire rancher, son of former Saskatchewan Premier Ross Thatcher, a Member of the Saskatchewan Legislature and a former cabinet minister in his own right, charged with the brutal slaying of his ex-wife JoAnn. A fifteen-month police investigation, capped by a wire-tapped recording of the accused politician in conversation with his accomplice. The battle before the jury entranced the entire nation as the outcome was uncertain to the very end. But the jury rejected Thatcher's credo "Deny, Deny, Deny" and convicted the victim's former husband who had regarded himself as above the law. The sentence? Life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for twenty-five years.
Colin Thatcher refused to accept the verdict of the jury. He appealed. And appealed. And appealed. First, to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. Then to the Supreme Court of Canada. Then to the Minister of Justice, claiming "new evidence" entitled him to a new trial. The Colin Thatcher case continued for fifteen years after the 1984 guilty verdict, and continues today. A jury trial is scheduled for Moose Jaw in October 2000 as the convicted murderer seeks a reduction in his twenty-five year period of parole ineligibility.
Deny, Deny, Deny tells the entire story of Colin Thatcher, his background, his family's wealth, his story-book marriage that somehow went sour, his stormy political career. The overpowering personality that made him above the law - almost. And the inside story of the police investigation that at last brought Colin Thatcher to justice.
This new and expanded version of the 1985 best-seller carries Colin Thatcher another fifteen years. Through his many appeals, his career in prison, and his skilful manipulation of the media while he campaigned from behind bars to be accepted as another of the wrongfully convicted, another David Milgaard. And the new evidence that even further confirms the guilt of the cunning politician.

Reviews
"Colin Thatcher's tumultuous journey through the court system has gripped Saskatchewan's attention for more than two decades. Author Garrett Wilson captured Thatcher's sordid story in his 1985 book, Deny, Deny, Deny; it was a compelling and rivetting legal and social analysis. Few members of the legal community did not read it; in fact, few were untouched by some connection to the players involved - Saskatchewan is, as they say, "one big small town". So why a second edition? Well, the 1985 version has been updated and expanded in the 2000 publication. The text of the book remains substantially the same, with the exception of some corrections as well as three new chapters that chronicle Thatcher's appeals through the judicial system. Also addressed are several "loose ends", which are the result of events that occurred since Thatcher's 1984 conviction. Of special interest are the admissions Thatcher made to fellow inmate Maurice Laberge. For example, in 1988, Thatcher told Laberge that the times surrounding the murder had been confused; in fact, Thatcher would have had plenty of time to drive from the murder scene in Regina back to his home in Moose Jaw.
Given Thatcher's ability to manipulate the system, it is fascinating to consider what happened after the conviction, and to that end, this new edition is well worth reading. Wilson's analysis of the appeal process, including the ringing endorsement of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in upholding the conviction, must be vindication for the dedicated group of Saskatchewanians who persevered to prosecute Thatcher, though, no book about Colin Thatcher can be considered the final word, as his story always continues to unfold. This book was published before Thatcher's October 2000 hearing under the "faint hope" clause. Considering what happened there, this edition would have been even more powerful had it perhaps been a 2001 version, and included the details of Thatcher's behaviour in Moose Jaw in the fall of 2000. Colin thatcher's relentless use of his wealth, power, and position in Saskatchewan society has obviously been a source of much distress to Garrett Wilson. A description of his failure to gain early parole would have been a powerful statement as to how Colin Thatcher's prolonged lobby to cast doubts on his guilt failed so abysmally."       Janet L. Stevens, Saskatchewan Law Review
"This kind of informed journalism is rare indeed. The whole story is as readable as good crime fiction, and convincingly authoritative in its interpretation of the events."      Robert Duffy, Toronto Star
"An intriguing insight into the agonizing police operations that eventually gave Crown prosecutors enough evidence to take Thatcher to court."       John Miner, Brantford Exposition
"A powerfully brisk tale of depravity at Saskatchewan's highest social levels. Lively in style . . ."      Barry Potyandi, Calgary Herald

About the Author

A senior Regina lawyer, Garrett Wilson, QC, was a key Liberal during the administration of Premier Ross Thatcher, Colin's father. His background made him familiar with the principal players in the Thatcher case long before it came to national attention. His long association with the Regina police as counsel gives him insight to the long and difficult - and continuing - investigation. Garrett has continued to follow the Thatcher case during the more than fifteen years since the original trial ended.
Garrett has also written Diefenbaker for the Defence (Lorimer, 1988), an account of the legal career of the former prime minister, and Guilty Addictions (NeWest, 1999), a fictional account of corruption in the government of Saskatchewan that was short-listed for two awards.

Excerpt

from Chapter 22

Maurice "Moe" Laberge, was one of the most evil, brilliant, charming, manipulative and generally all-around-cunning criminals ever to work Western Canada. Not one victim, cop, prosecutor or defence counsel who ever met Maurice Laberge ever forgot him. And a lot of victims, cops, prosecutors and defence counsel came to know Moe Laberge in Saskatchewan and Alberta in the 1970s and 1980s.
Laberge originated in Gravelbourg, in southern Saskatchewan, but soon gravitated to the brighter lights of Moose Jaw, Regina and Saskatoon before moving on to Alberta. His criminal career had the usual beginnings, petty larceny increasing to serious theft and then on and upwards to small-time stick-ups quickly graduating to serious armed robbery and worse.
Moe was such a busy crook that in spite of his brilliance he was a frequent loser. He built up a career total of forty-six convictions, but his skill around courtrooms saved him from serious jail time, until 1982 when the roof fell in on him. One of his defence counsel remembers Moe as "brilliant, articulate and well-spoken in the courtroom. Also, an interesting and generous dinner companion whose pockets were always full of money. A man of great talent and much charm who was fully committed to a career of crime." Moe liked that lawyer and for years kept in touch with Christmas cards.
Early in his career Moe learned the value of good information. The police were always interested in reliable dope and Laberge willingly worked both sides of the street, always when there was something in it for him. He became well known to the Regina police as a dependable source. On one occasion Moe passed the word that a burglary was planned for the residence of a prominent citizen who was away from home. Two cops in plain clothes secreted in the house watched while Laberge himself drove up and delivered the inside man to the address, three times, in fact. Because the burglar had difficulty gaining entry, twice he went back to Laberge for more instructions. Finally inside the house, he was promptly collared.
Taking advantage of a Saskatchewan winter, Laberge, operating by snowmobile, carried out a series of armed robberies of small town credit unions and banks in the countryside around Moose Jaw. Escaping across country he was never caught for these crimes. The unknown robber became known as "The Snowmobile Bandit."
Laberge finally hit the wall in 1982 when he was convicted for armed robbery and kidnapping in Lethbridge. Associated with the offence were some serious acts of brutal sexual assault and Moe found himself looking at a twenty-five year sentence in Edmonton Max. It was hard time, and, in spite of his serious record, Moe Laberge had never before done hard time, never had served more than a year.
Maximum security prisons are not country clubs, but with his intelligence, personality and skills with the judicial system, Moe Laberge was not long in establishing a position well to the top of the pecking order in the inmate population of Edmonton Max. There he was on December 6, 1984 when Colin Thatcher arrived as a lifer.
The next year another famous prisoner arrived. Charles Ng was a fugitive from California where he was wanted on multiple counts of murder, rape, kidnapping and other unspeakable crimes. Ng had videotaped his victims being tortured and sexually assaulted, a feature that Canada would later associate with Paul Bernardo. A former United States Marine, the Hong Kong-born Ng was no pussycat. In July, 1985 when he was caught shoplifting in Calgary he shot a finger off a security guard. At the time he was carrying a rucksack containing a mask, a knife, a rope, cyanide capsules, a gun and extra ammunition. The United States badly wanted Ng back and extradition proceedings were commenced, complicated by the fact that capital punishment is prohibited in Canada and execution awaited Ng in California. While the litigation wound through the system, Ng was parked in Edmonton Max, in a cell next to Maurice Laberge.
Most of the inmates of Edmonton Max were doing serious time. Already tried and convicted, they were poor subjects for a jailhouse snitch looking to gain favour with the authorities by passing confessions and the like. But Ng was different. He had not yet been convicted and the State of California desperately wanted to put him away. Any admissions Laberge could glean from the American would be extremely valuable and might be a ticket out of Edmonton Max. Moe was a willing recruit when the authorities approached him to spy on Ng.
Verbal admissions and confessions are always disputed later and become a matter of credibility, a commodity rare between two crooks. What Laberge got out of Charles Ng was documentary evidence, a series of illustrations, cartoons really, drawn by the fugitive and depicting the horrors of the gruesome offences he had committed in California. Moe, knowing how police and prosecutors handle evidence, dated and initialled each drawing, identifying how and when it came into his possession. Occasionally he added some commentary. It was great stuff and RCMP Staff Sergeant Ray Monro, who was heading the Ng extradition case, was duly grateful.
Laberge had scores of cartoons. They were grisly. One depicted Ng being decorated by the French Foreign Legion for "snuffing out" Yankee babies. Another had Ng smashing a baby against a wall while his partner drowned one in a barrel of water. One showed a baby microwaved.
According to Laberge, Ng had bragged of killing forty times in all. "Once you get the thrill, you're bored without it. That's my thing, man, no kill, no thrill."
Laberge testified against Ng at an extradition hearing in in Alberta in October, 1988. Ng was committed on twelve counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of kidnapping and one count of burglary, an impressive total.
Extradition to California was approved, but Ng fought on in the courts. Not until September, 1991, after he lost in the Supreme Court, was the American fugitive returned to the United States. Very soon after the Supreme Court decision, in fact. The day the decision was handed down, the RCMP had Ng aboard an aircraft in the air. When the Supreme Court voted for extradition, the aircraft headed for the border before Ng's lawyers could file another motion. The unwelcome guest was out of Canada in twenty minutes and handed over to the State of California for trial. Whenever that trial would be held, Maurice Laberge was slated to be the star witness.
Back in Edmonton Max in early 1986, with Charles Ng parked in a cell beside him, Moe Laberge found the cell on the other side occupied by convicted killer Daniel Gingras. This other neighbour, Laberge carefully noted, was successfully manipulating prison staff. Out on a day pass, Gingras escaped and committed a couple of more murders, one the execution of Vital Paquette that had been witnessed by Calvin Smoker. Laberge, breezing through a university degree course by correspondence, used Gingras as a subject for an essay. Entitled The Gingras Affair - An Analysis of Failed Leadership, it caused a stir among prison officials.
Just a few months after his October, 1988, testimony against Charles Ng, Maurice Laberge was back in court testifying against Daniel Gingras, on trial for the murder of Vital Paquette. With their cases complete, at least for the time, the RCMP contacted Regina police. Their star witness had some information about Colin Thatcher.
Regina Police investigators Bob Murton and Gary Cross interviewed Maurice Laberge, an old acquaintance, at Bowden, a medium security institution near Red Deer. Edmonton Max was now too dangerous for the informant, who, in any event, was being prepared for release into a witness protection program.
"You've got something for us, Moe?"
"Sure do, guys."
The tape recorder was turned on and Laberge talked, almost without interruption or question, for two and a half hours. His story was very interesting.
Laberge had known Colin Thatcher for years, he said. In the early 1970s, Moe, still a small-time crook around Moose Jaw, had found the rancher a willing receiver of fencing materials stolen from the Department of Highways compound. Then, he said, their business relationship developed to the point that Colin was taking some of the illicit cash that came into Laberge's possession. Moe, a careful crook taking precautions, needed the funds laundered through a credible account. No one checked Colin Thatcher's deposits, he explained.

Catalogue Information