Q: Your three children still support you?
A: Heavens, yes. You know, they have their own families, their own enterprises now. They visit as often as they can. I have four grandchildren and I see as much of them as possible.
Q: You were always in jail. How do your grandchildren see you?
A: They pretty well know everything that happened and I think their parents have sort of kept them up to date because sometimes they will ask me a question about it. I’ve never taken any of them aside. Who knows? That’s the one thing that I probably really don’t have any real idea of, what my children and my grandchildren may have gone through at school, because I’m sure they had to go through the indignity of other kids calling their dad a murdering SOB, etc. I’m sure they’ve had to suffer that, and they’ve never mentioned that to me. On the other hand, the community where they were raised has always been very supportive of them. I’m sure they’ve all had some experiences that I don’t know about and can only speculate on.
Q: Speaking of grandparents, JoAnn’s parents, the Geigers, what was their relationship with your children?
A: From early in my arrest, to the best of my knowledge, they have never had any contact or attempted any contact with my children. They’re their grandchildren, but it was certainly their choice not to contact them, not at Christmas, not on birthdays, not on any of them. And really the Geigers sort of disappeared out of my children’s life until I was eligible for a 15-year review. And then the Crown brought JoAnn’s two sisters and her brother up here, and all of a sudden they began expressing all this yearning for their niece and nephews who they never attempted to contact until this time. Whatever. Look, I understand their feelings because if I believed what they believe and, of course, the only thing they’ve heard was from the Crown’s perspective, I wouldn’t feel one bit differently towards me. And so I can certainly empathize with them, given their beliefs. But some of the things and the allegations they made to the parole board after all these years based on nothing more than a desire to keep me in prison—I have a problem with that. I do not think that was right. But their feelings toward me are very understandable.
Q: Did people see you as a bully? I know you had support here, but there were people against you then and will be until you die.
A: Most of my life I have been fighting the NDP, usually losing more often than winning. But when it came to fighting them I played the game rough. And they played the game just as rough back. That’s the way politics was conducted then. There were some pretty tough cookies on both sides of the house.
Q: Has following the Saskatchewan Roughriders been an important part of your life?
A: Yes, even in prison. I’ve been a Rider fan since I was old enough to go to the games, and I’ve been going to the games since the ’50s. One of my big thrills when I got back was to finally go to a game live. I’ll never forget my grandson leading me, thinking I couldn’t find our seats again, leading me by the hand to our seats in Taylor Field. Like a lot of people in Saskatchewan, the Riders have always been very important to me.
Q: What’s the reaction of fans?
A: Totally neutral, I’m just another fan. They couldn’t care less that I’m there. It’s been that way from the moment I returned.
Q: And what is it like here in Moose Jaw?
A: My coming back has been very, very smooth. I’ve had no incidents. In fact, it’s fair to say I’ve had a very warm reception. But under the surface there are no two ways about it. People are 50/50 on my case. I recall once I was in a Wal-Mart and someone from my old constituency approached me, saying how good it was to see me back, that the last time he’d seen me I was campaigning in his kitchen. I looked back and there were a couple of people watching us very intently. They didn’t have anything to say, but their expressions [indicated] that they weren’t really thrilled that I was standing there. But nobody has ever stepped up and said “you shouldn’t be back here”—at least not to my face anyway. But I have no complaints about the reception. I go where I want. I behave the way you’re expected to behave and people reciprocate.
Q: If you didn’t kill your ex-wife, who did?
A: I’ve always had some suspicions, and that’s all they are—suspicions—and I’ll leave it at that. It’s not my job to solve the case.
