MORRISON: Was it reasonable for the court to trust her? We urge everyone to write your MP (if Canadian) or the Attorney General of Canada (if not) urging them to support MP Andrews and his bill as it moves toward a vote in the near future. kind of the only way that this little boy is going to get to know his dad. MORRISON: She kept trying to get between you and the baby. Cpl. Mr. BAGBY: What a flake. But how? (David speaking to reporters; Kate speaking to reporters; David on radio show; "Dear Zachary" poster; Kurt editing video; photo of Andrew; photo of Zachary; Mr. KUENNE: I almost gave up making this film when you were, killed. After the shooting, according to Kate, Turner called her claiming she was trying to reach Andrew. This abridged version was prepared personally by Kurt Kuenne in order to comply with CBC Newsworld's time constraints but preserve the film's impact while reaching a wider audience in Canada. And you just bought the gun, right? The committee passed the bill unanimously, which is how it came to be heard in the House for a final vote this week. Thought, you know, `Who would want to kill him?'. Except, OK, sometimes not. I mean, she. The film ends with the Bagbys and their relatives, friends, and colleagues reflecting on the father and son, as well as the . David remembers uttering, "It's really him," and recalls how the two cried over the body, tears falling on to Andrew's face. They're like, `What do you mean?' Mr. BAGBY: She just kept coming back, and coming back and coming back. Then, upon. . We dont do anything related to murder anymore, he said. (Photo of David and Kate; airplane; lake and coast), MORRISON: But here's the thing. It brings its own special brand of. Kurt Kuenne's acclaimed orchestral score for "Dear Zachary", nominated for Best Documentary Score of 2008 by the International Film Music Critics Association, is now available on CD and for digital download. MP Andrews was inspired to create Bill C-464 after seeing Dear Zachary for the first time in March; he and Senator Tommy Banks distributed DVDs of Dear Zachary to every member of the House of Commons for their review immediately following the December 4th discussion. Kate to keep up their end of that bargain. Shirley Turner had walked out to the end, of a pier with tiny Zachary strapped to her body with a sweater, then jumped, into the ocean. IE 11 is not supported. GARDNER: (Audio recording) I'm interested in the gun. He said, `The psychotic bitch. ', MORRISON: When Dr. Andrew Bagby's bullet-riddled corpse was, found in a Pennsylvania state park in November 2001, his devastated parents. anything like that, would we take care of Zachary? I don't know how else to say it except they are grown-ups: they are funny, but serious; playful, but organized. MORRISON: It was almost two years after Andrew Bagby's murder, when Shirley Turner's eldest son T.J. drove home to his girlfriend after an. The reason we go through the lawyers is so that we. (Photo of Kate, Zachary and Shirley; photo of David, Zachary and Shirley; photo of Shirley and Zachary; photos of Zachary with Shirley and Kate), Mr. BAGBY: Our usual policy was just to let her go. Cpl. Mr. KUENNE: (Kate holding Zachary) Hello, bud. Purchase the book here: Amazon USA | Amazon Canada, To read more reviews, visit our Press Archive, ZACHARY'S BILL (BILL C-464) BECOMES LAW IN CANADA, (Click HERE to read a letter to viewers from David & Kate Bagby.). "There, is no indication of a psychological disorder that would give concern about, potential harm to the public generally as her crime, while violent, was, specific in nature." Shirley Turner, awaiting, extradition for murder, was out of prison on bail. MORRISON: Andrew tried to make a clean break with Shirley in October 2001. You can, just--there's nothing. would now have to be something else, a visual letter to Andrew's baby. Meeting her at 6. Kuenne is able to capture the true nature of love and dedication in a way I have never seen. And in that way this tragedy remains hers and hers alone. -, "A 10 out of 10. KATE: So this man said to me, `Do you know that Shirley Turner's pregnant with your son's child? MORRISON: Shirley Turner, also a doctor in training, was 12 years older than Andrew, twice divorced, a mother of three. This film wasn't made to win awards, or, for that matter, even be criticized. David Bagby's book, Dance With the Devil, is a good read. The committee passed the bill unanimously, which is how it came to be heard in the House for a final vote this week. Hello. It's. CONTRIBUTED BY DAVID AND KATE BAGBY Sixteen years have passed but for the Bagbys the story of the deaths of their only son and grandson resurfaces all the time. Did anyone have more friends than he? Creating stronger communities. TO ME ITS REAL LIFE. Dear Zachary avoids the first pitfall by directly confronting the second. Unidentified Woman #10: (Kate holding Zachary) Zachary. They began a drawn-out court battle to protect their grandson from the woman who had almost certainly murdered their son. MORRISON: How did you find out what happened, how he had been killed? Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) 1 Video. And this is where director Kurt Kuenne is really smart. There is a dark pull in watching the Bagby case travel to unanticipated depths, but there are no thrills. June 2, 2015 - June 2020. So we called, and he came over and told us that Zachary and Shirley were. HOUSE OF COMMONS UNANIMOUSLY PASSES BILL C-464. Our SaltWire team is always watching out for the place we call home. The Bagbys were compelled to ensure what happened to their son and grandson never happens again. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) I know you don't want to, you don't intend to. If you were waiting to find out where exactly the comfort was in this litany of suffering, it is in Bagbys parents. September 28, 2008: A few weeks after, Zachary's birthday party, the Bagbys and Shirley took the toddler swimming, an, activity he usually enjoyed. Home video captured what looked like a. typical domestic scene, but beneath these happy images lies a darker truth. MORRISON: Even more, the Bagbys' gloom was mixed with worry. of a woman and a baby on the beach, and I lost it again. With that powerful, evidence, Shirley Turner was formally charged with Andrew's murder and, arrested by Newfoundland police. Dear Zachary will have its World Premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, January 17-25, 2008 in Park City, Utah! Mr. BAGBY: That's one of the options, and that's the one we hoped for. Right, right. She. In 2006, the press was there again to cover the issuance of a report on the death of, (Newspaper article; David on TV show being interviewed; Confederation, Unidentified Reporter: (Newscast) The government has received a scathing. Understood? I knew, exactly what my son looked at before he died. Check your local listings for channel info. Bill C-464 when enacted will justify detention in custody for a person accused of a serious crime who is a potential danger to their own minor children. There was no way to stop Andrews murder, but there was no way to walk away from Zacharys body and just say hmm, okay, move on," said David. Both screenings received sustained standing ovations, and the Toronto audience applauded yet again when director Kurt Kuenne announced that he had sent letters to every member of Parliament requesting the opportunity to screen the film for them. Unidentified Woman #11: I love them very much. Mr. BAGBY: Without those cell phone records, they couldn't formally charge. They are prophecies. It also recently won Best Documentary at the Orlando Film Festival and the Audience Award at the St. Louis International Film Festival. And as tragic as this story is, that is also where its consolation lies: that Shirley Jane Turner destroyed everything around her in an attempt to extinguish the love she was incapable of experiencing herself, and in the end she couldnt. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) He is too happy, Kathleen. For the Bagbys, shock might have, (Photo of David and Zachary; photo of Kate and Zachary; Shirley being escorted, from court; court documents; court exterior; court documents; Kate and David), KATE: I'd sat in the back of the room while Judge Green said to her, `I'm so, sorry, Dr. Turner, your life is on hold, and I know the law is slow.' Mr. BAGBY: Constable Walsh asking to call him. GARDNER: (Audio recording) Yeah. "We had to do something.. A review of Turner's and Zachary's deaths, released in 2006 by Winnipeg-based coroner Peter Markesteyn, concluded the provinces social services system failed Zachary and his death could have been prevented. KATE: You were always afraid that she was going to find something. But he was moved to honor his friend the best way he knew how, by making a film. (Shirley in court; Supreme Court of Newfoundland sign), Mr. BAGBY: And then they started slogging through the courts with one issue, MORRISON: In the meantime, Andrew's parents made a momentous. KATE: I thought, `Well, he's got to get out of this.'. Had the case played out in the U.S. court system, they believe Zachary would still be with them. Except this story is worse. And Kate kissed him and held him and kissed him some more. would be the difference if one person weren't alive? I mean, we would never, disagree with her or fight with her about anything unless there was real. Keith Morrison reports. to the house and found a card from a police officer that we knew. Djing. ', MORRISON: But they'd have to wait almost a month. Because this is foreshadowing. They quit their jobs and moved from California to Newfoundland. We just want as many people as possible to know this story, the documentary, for the practical reasons in my fantasies, I suppose some judge, some place, actually gets it and denies bail to somebody who could kill again. David Bagby. Sixteen years have passed but for the Bagbysthe story of the deaths of their only son and grandson resurfaces all the time. People in the audience were literally weeping during the post-screening Q&A." You live your life, you create an entire universe around you, you trundle along, and then FUCK. And that's when it all hit the fan, I guess. MORRISON: What did you think that she would do, kill you? She was coming here to take care of me. Zachary, I love you, baby. This is not the worst instance in this story of someone seeing something bad coming but not being able to stop it. One contains the remains of their son, Dr. Andrew Bagby. Wait, thats not true, Sophocles came up with it when he wrote Oedipus Rex about a king who unwittingly fulfills a prophecy that foretold he would kill his father and marry his mother, and then pokes out his own eyes because hes in despair and you cant outrun destiny. They recorded them. There won't be any question about whether she can hurt, MORRISON: Coming up, as David Bagby wrestles with these terrible. It has been our privilege to have the trust and support of our East Coast communities for the last 200 years. Mr. SIMPSON: I said, `Do not meet her in private.' You are born, you grow up, you make friends, you get a job, a partner, a house, maybe a car, maybe a kid, maybe more. did. . her. The first time we had contact with her was over the phone. They could check cell towers then, but only manually. Imagine it. You will cry. -, "This documentary will rip out your heart and leave you in the snow without a sweater. Only Kate and David, MORRISON: Perhaps the most irksome part of the deal with Shirley. (A huge thanks to the folks at Different by Design in Los Angeles, CA and Anarchy Post in Glendale, CA for making this possible and affordable.). But they also contribute to the feeling of watching something urgent and unmediated. I was just gone. The couple was also involved in a support group for parents of murdered children and sat through three murder trials to try and help other surviving parents deal with their incredible grief. We had negotiated a one-hour-a-week visitation in family court. (Talking in group) This is not about money. We need each other, have each other to get through this, added David. I'm just curious Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Yeah, and I wanted to know for safety. Mr. SIMPSON: You don't need to go out with a woman because you can't think you can do better. because it's hard to get off Newfoundland. Dear Zachary was a hit at Slamdance! Kate & David Bagby will now be called as witnesses before the committee, the bill will be revised and strengthened, and eventually brought back into the House and Senate for a vote. I said, `This woman was in town. hoped Shirley Turner would be returned to the US to face a murder trial. MORRISON: But was that what you assumed had happened? Senator Tommy Banks of Alberta will be the bill's sponsor in the Senate, and will shortly be distributing DVDs of "Dear Zachary" to all members of the Senate, just as he and MP Andrews distributed the film to all members of the House of Commons last fall when he introduced the bill. Mr. SHEARS: I can remember being really upset and pissed off about that, happening because I had--I had friends here, and I had no time to tell anybody, basically why. -. Mr. BAGBY: I have a lot of trouble with those things too, and I suspect what really goes on, what's called intuition, is really a very, very complex calculation of lots of little indicators, little things that Andrew said on the phone maybe. I praise Kurt Kuenne for having the heart and determination to perfectly put together one of the most powerful documentaries I have ever watched. Unidentified Man #20: The weather here is terrible. December 4, 2008: This film will be one of the best you're likely to see this year." Cpl. "One of the best documentaries I have ever seen in my entire life a film that will rock you to your core. In New York - August 8-14 at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at W. 3rd Street. If nothing else is accomplished with this film, it will absolutely attach you to the too-short life that was Andrew Bagby's, and you're going to be sad that you didn't get a chance to know him -- but glad all the same that you know ABOUT him now." Believing that even where there is evil, there is also a tremendous amount of good." And that's when she said, `He loves you, more than me. It will make you question your faith in the world. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) (Unintelligible) Hi, sweetheart. You will hurt and this film will sit with you for days, weeks, months. Or it's in the car. get a chance to have some of Andrew again. While that change felt good, David wanted more. Mr. KUENNE: You know, he said--she said, `Look, I'm not looking for another husband. After the pregnancy came to light, the film became a way to introduce Zachary to his father. Now armed with a powerful tool, "Dear Zachary: A Letter, to a Son about his Father," the tribute film Kurt Kuenne started making, first. But as someone else says, Grief is loves unwillingness to let go. So Andrew's father could just as easily be talking about love. As religious as that may sound, that is a comfort. Turner killed herself and Zachary before she could be tried for murder. They are simply good people. Cpl. Just from that, conversation, you could kind of get the sense that she didn't want Zachary, MORRISON: And for the Bagbys, Shirley issued what sounded somehow. Even during his stilted summaries of events, you can sometimes hear Kuenne choking up. It's great. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Well, I have that for protection. Mr. BAGBY: (Audio recording) (Unintelligible). As one friend said, Hes like the blessing Andrew left behind. It was for Zachary that Andrews parents retired, cashed in all their savings and moved from their lifelong home in Pennsylvania to Newfoundland, where Shirley Jane Turner lived. 7:30 I'll be at your house.'. I got to see what happens to the bastard who did this. in honor of his beloved friend Andrew, and then for Andrew's son, Zachary. Click here for ticket information! doesn't take much to pull a trigger, does it? Sometimes, if you are paying attentionclose attentionyou can see it coming, even if only barely. get in there, if that's what she demanded. On Aug. 18, 2003, while awaiting extradition to the U.S. on a charge of murdering Andrew, Turner jumped into the waters of Conception Bay South with her 13-month-old son strapped to her in a murder-suicide. And he'd be like(turns. Mr. SIMPSON: And he said, `I'm going to need to catch up with you, and we're going to have to do some serious talking.' We did have him for a little while, she said. David Bagby, left, and Kate Bagby, right, celebrate with their son Andrew Bagby at his graduation from medical school at Memorial University of Newfoundland in June 2000. He seems to be talking about the unfathomable grief Shirley Jane Turner left behind. Unidentified Woman #12: We won't forget their son. `You gave me a lovely son, and now it's over.'. This is without a doubt one of the most profound, touching and moving films I have ever watched." We need each other, have each other to get through this.". My TV-consumption habits for the past several months have been awash in murder, and Netflix knows itwhich is how, fresh from binge-watching Making a Murderer and hungry for more, I recently came across Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. This odd documentarywhich deals with the death of a young physician named Andrew Bagby, who was a childhood friend of the films director, Kurt Kuennemade a small splash when it was first released, in 2008, but its worth revisiting now, in the midst of the recent bonanza of true-crime hits. Cpl. He's a little bleary eyed, but. If you were to dream up the perfect set of parents, it would be Kate and David Bagby. Parents Kate and David Bagby's story of identifying Andrew's body is devastating. And then, November 2001, Andrew Bagby was shot dead in a state park not far from the hospital in which the young doctor was a resident, and his devoted parents all but lost the will to live. Dr. ANDREW BAGBY: (Wedding videotape) Best man is a little bit of a poor title for these things. The psychotic bitch.) The bullets in Bagbys body were of the same type that Turner had used at a shooting range shortly before, in a gun she had recently purchased. But you will come away believing in people. And now it's just. report that concluded the child protection system failed Zachary Turner. We were kind of like, `Well, we're not the best ones to be taking care of a child.' Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. They still have friends in the province, people Kate said they wouldnt have survived without. KATE: (Audio recording) Right. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) His parents don't even know, do they? Well never understand how anybody can ignore the fact that murderers are dangerous, he said. Because this is where you need it. It will have its television premiere on MSNBC this fall following a theatrical release that is currently in negotiations and expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Kuenne began making Dear Zachary before Turner revealed her pregnancy. The good life started in earnest when Kate first laid eyes on Petty Officer David Bagby, who was serving on the USS Hornet, docked in Long Beach in 1967. On December 15, 2010, Governor General David Johnston gave Royal Assent to Bill C-464: An Act To Amend the Criminal Code (justification for detention in custody), making it law in Canada. And when, after his first year at med school, Heather broke off the engagement, Andrew was crushed. "This is the purest, most intensely raw film I have ever seen of any kind, dramatic or nonfiction. He'd been shot five times, including once in the back of the head, execution style. (Shears; photo of Shirley, Zachary and Shears; Shears walking), Mr. SHEARS: Suddenly everything rushes into you, and you realize that she, did murder Andrew. And tears are dropping on him, of course, and Kate went to wipe one of those away off his cheek, and a plug came out, where hed been shot in the left cheek. And I said, `Who?' 1 Photo. And if that picture never reveals itself, it feels like a letdown, not a tragedy. What kind of headfuck must that be? She called trying to get Andrew when he was here doing a rotation here in California. Mr. BAGBY: We were out shopping or something. But something kept me going, and. Dr. Andrew Bagby was killed on November 5, 2001, by an older woman named Shirley Jane Turner, who he had dated at a low point in his life. Lori Kaufman rw. Click HERE for assistance. It was like Andrew died and then was reborn for a second chance. MORRISON: Zachary Andrew Turner, the son of murder victim Andrew, Bagby and his accused killer Shirley Turner, was born on July 18th 2002, eight, months after the young doctor's murder. All rights reserved, Click here for information on becoming a member. Now, she sucked us in here, too. In initial questioning, Turner claimed to have been home sick in Iowa when Bagby was shot, but cell-phone records showed her placing calls along the thousand-mile highway route between Council Bluffs and Latrobe in the days before and after the murder. After arriving home, she drove 900 miles back to Pennsylvania to kill the man who rejected her. Newfoundland to meet the now 11-month-old little boy. -, "It's Kate and David Bagby who are the moral center of this film. Mr. KUENNE: I think he was a little scared of me when I first came up. He had returned to the US and had discovered a passion for family practice, where his love for people--and theirs for him--seemed as natural, as comfortable as the quiet town in Pennsylvania in which he'd chosen to live. David Bagby, left, and Kate Bagby, right, celebrate with their son Andrew Bagby at his graduation from medical school at Memorial University of Newfoundland in June 2000. (Newspaper rack; photo of Shirley and Zachary), Mr. BAGBY: (Press conference) I am going to continue to scream long and loud, MORRISON: The Bagbys have continued a campaign for the overhaul, of the bail system. 2015 - 2020. KATE: I knew exactly what my son looked at before he died. Based on the title alone, it sounds like one of those saccharine documentaries that only the filmmaker and the subject would ever really care about. Then the questioner got choked up.the best thing I've seen in Austin (at SXSW)." Its a muddled structure, and the film makes frequent aesthetic missteps as well, with frenetic editing, canned music, and heavy-handed imagery. They are selfless. Kate answered the phone, and she couldn't get off the phone for an hour. MORRISON: Andrew Bagby. But on Sunday, when he drove her to the airport, Andrew made it clear to Shirley it was over for good. Bagbys wondered if there might ever be an extradition hearing. but if we don't get help, we don't know if we're doing what's best. I said, `When do you think you'll be done?' (David and Kate; photo of Andrew by tape being put into recording device; Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Are you babysitting? Very, very serious. Cpl. When Bagby said he was going to anyway, Simpson asked him to come to his house right after. How the fuck do you live like that? June 25, 2008: Cpl. I'm just looking for somebody to hang out with and have fun here in school.' She turns to talking of her son and calls him Gods blessing. Which is to say, the woman who killed Dr. Andrew Bagby is pregnant with Dr. Andrew Bagbys baby. Kate says everything seemed to be going smoothly, until here. I thought if I do that, I go to prison, maybe Kate. Corporal GARDNER: (Audio recording) Yeah, Dr. Turner, I'm Corporal Gardner with the Pennsylvania State Police. The memory of their son and grandson are never far.. HEATHER: I was so excited that he was dating somebody. While the police investigation was still underway, Turner, a Canadian citizen, packed off to St. Johns, Newfoundland. -. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS. Mr. KUENNE: He liked playing bad guys a lot. MORRISON: How'd you feel about having a much younger brother come, Mr. SHEARS: I thought it was great.