Regina man convicted of killing brother over farm dispute in 1997

A Regina man has been convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his brother nearly 26 years ago.

Joseph George Thauberger, 80, was found guilty on that charge as well as a charge of offering an indignity to human remains. The verdict was delivered Thursday in Regina Court of King’s Bench.

He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

Thauberger initially was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of then-53-year-old Patrick Cyril Thauberger in September of 1997.

In a media release at the time of Joseph Thauberger’s arrest in November of 2020, police said they were told of Patrick Thauberger’s disappearance on Sept. 16, 1997, although he reportedly had last been seen on Sept. 3 of that year.

The police put a photo and information about the missing man on their website and, eventually, on the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police Long-Term Missing Persons webpage as well.

In 2006, the Edmonton Journal did a story about the disappearance. Patrick Thauberger was a psychologist living in St. Albert, Alta., when he went missing.

According to the Journal story, Thauberger left St. Albert in late August of 1997. He was driving a vintage blue limousine, with another in tow, and was en route to a car auction in Auburn, Ind., to sell the cars.

After selling his cars, he visited friends in the U.S., took a bus to Winnipeg and then headed to Regina to visit family.

Following a stay of only a few days, he planned to take a bus back to Edmonton. Joseph drove Patrick to the bus depot.

“I just dropped him off and headed back to the farm,” Joseph told the Journal. “And that was that.”

That was the last time Patrick was seen.

After years of investigating, officers arrested Joseph Thauberger on Nov. 29, 2020.

Police found Patrick Thauberger’s remains in a farm pond in December of 2020, helping officers crack what had been a cold case.

— With files from The Canadian Press