Convicted killer Thatcher will not profit from book

Convicted killer Colin Thatcher will not be able to keep the profits of his book Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame.

A Regina judge ordered Monday that all profits to be redirected to victims of crime, while Thatcher’s $5,000 book advance and any royalties will be forfeited to the Ministry.

The Profits of Criminal Notoriety Act was upheld in the decision. It allows the government to seize profits from a convicted killer who produces material for profit that outlines their crime.

Thatcher’s constitutional challenge to the act was dismissed.

Thatcher spent 22 years in prison after being convicted of the 1984 murder of his ex-wife JoAnn Wilson. He was paroled in 2006.

He represented himself in the challenging of the act. Thatcher has proclaimed his innocence since the beginning and argued that is one of the reasons why the book should not adhere to the act. He said he would not be recounting a crime he did not commit, but rather questioning the evidence that put him behind bars.