REGINA - Convicted killer Colin Thatcher has turned over the money from his book about the murder of his former wife, ending a struggle that set the legal benchmark for laws preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes.
Justice Minister Don Morgan said the province has been given the $5,000 advance the former cabinet minister received, as well as a copy of a letter instructing his publisher to direct any further payments to the government.
"From a legal point of view it's over," Morgan said. "Now it's a matter of verifying the sales and the money."
The provincial government rushed last year to pass a law forbidding criminals from profiting from the retelling of their crimes after word surfaced that Thatcher had written a book, "Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame," in which he argued he was not guilty of murdering JoAnn Wilson in 1983.
Thatcher, son of former Saskatchewan premier Ross Thatcher, took the government to court, arguing the law didn't apply because his book is about his dealings with the justice system, not the murder itself. He also argued that the law was unconstitutional because it violated his freedom of expression.
The court disagreed and upheld the law. Thatcher had 30 days to appeal, but didn't.
It's believed to be the first time such a law has been tested in Canada. Four other provinces -- Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Alberta -- have similar legislation, but it's never been challenged in the courts.
"What it does is it sets a precedent that those types of laws will likely be upheld," Morgan said.
Thatcher's publisher, Jack David of ECW Press, said Thatcher simply didn't have another legal fight in him after spending the last quarter century in the justice system. He spent 22 years behind bars for Wilson's murder and was released on parole in 2006.
Thatcher, who declined to comment, approached both the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the writers' union asking them to take on the case pro bono, but both declined, said David.
The law applies only to Thatcher and not the publisher. Besides the advance, Thatcher had an agreement that would see him get 10 per cent of the money received by the publisher on the first 5,000 copies; 12 per cent on the next 5,000; and 14 per cent on anything after that, David said.
David said 5,000 copies of the book were initially printed and 2,000 more since then. If all 7,000 end up being sold, the government would get between $3,000 and $5,000 more.
Under the law, the proceeds go to victims, their family members or a victims' fund.
That could benefit Thatcher and Wilson's three children, who have stood by their father as he proclaimed his innocence.
Morgan said it will be up to cabinet to decide where the money goes. He wouldn't rule out it going to the couple's children, but suggested the government would want an assurance the money would not get back to Thatcher.
"We certainly wouldn't want to see the effect of this judgement be circumvented by having the money go to somebody who would potentially or likely give the money back to Mr. Thatcher," Morgan said.
Morgan is quick to point out that the law does not prevent criminals from writing about their cases, only from making money off their work.
But David said he's worried what the case will mean for anyone else who feels they have been wrongfully convicted and is thinking about arguing their innocence through written prose.
"You can make a pretty big list of people who have been falsely convicted and those people are the ones who you would think should be writing a book about the case and in this way, they may think twice," David said.
"It could act as a form of censorship on anybody who might even be contemplating such an act."
