This is the first example in this story of someone seeing something bad coming but not being able to stop it. Kate to keep up their end of that bargain. (A number of his male friends say that they asked, or would have asked, him to be their best man.) MORRISON: In July 2003, a year and eight months after their son's, murder, Andrew's friend, filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, who'd been making the, documentary film for Zachary about the father he'd never know, arrived in. The Bagbys were compelled to ensure what happened to their son and grandson never happens again. May 16, 2008: 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. I didn't have. ', MORRISON: But they'd have to wait almost a month. It brings its own special brand of. KATE: (Zachary hugging Kate) This is your Uncle Kurt. But I used to look at her hand and think, it. Had the case played out in the U.S. court system, they believe Zachary would still be with them. They were good friends; it was he who Bagby had told about the fatal meeting with Turner beforehand. Jackson, Kentucky. Simpson advised his friend to call the cops and to not under any circumstances meet Shirley Jane Turner alone. Sixteen years have passed but for the Bagbysthe story of the deaths of their only son and grandson resurfaces all the time. to let out hints that Shirley Turner was the prime suspect. Was it a tight bond? In January, the film was nominated for Best Documentary by both the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Online Film Critics Society, who also nominated writer/director/composer Kurt Kuenne for Breakthrough Filmmaker of 2008. did. Curated newsletters for curious minds. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) This is Shirley Turner, yes. Which is to say, the woman who killed Dr. Andrew Bagby is pregnant with Dr. Andrew Bagbys baby. -, "urgent, furiousadmirably well editedthis incredible, well-researched documentary demonstrates the vast gulf one life can leave behind." But that didn't erase their unease, or a remarkable feeling, (Shirley and Zachary at birthday party; David), Mr. BAGBY: I considered killing her myself, seriously considered it. Andrew came to St. John's. Creating stronger communities. MORRISON: Coming up, a knock at the door, and then the news. -Managed leading Egyptian companies' accounts with the firm, including in the oil and gas, financial, consumer goods, real estate and automotive sectors. KATE: (To Zachary) Kurt knew your daddy when he was a little boy. Dear Zachary was also a hit at Silverdocs, the AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival over the weekend of June 21st & 22nd, where both screenings were once again met with standing ovations; Silverdocs nominated Dear Zachary for its inaugural Writers Guild of America Documentary Screenplay Award. Kuenne, a childhood friend of Andrews, started out to make the movie as a tribute to Andrew, but it kept taking on new meanings, first with Zacharys birth and then his death. Mr. SHEARS: When we woke up in the morning, realized they weren't there. MORRISON: Shirley also claimed to have been at home in Iowa, sick in bed the day of the murder. I cannot stress this enough: this movie frightened and disturbed me more than any horror film I've ever seen in my life. Djing. Maybe the last time you talked to Shirley there was some very subtle change in tone. February 24, 2009: 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. They are warm. She turns to talking of her son and calls him Gods blessing. granddad? will not hurt Zachary, period. Digital: iTunes | Amazon | Google Play, Order David Bagby's book June 25, 2008: There won't be any question about whether she can hurt, MORRISON: Coming up, as David Bagby wrestles with these terrible. MORRISON: Shirley, meanwhile, seemed to be preparing for her, extradition, and perhaps she was looking for a way to exclude the Bagbys from. (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. Schultz quotes the brother of Hae Min Lee, the victim of the murder at the center of the first season of Serial, responding, on Reddit, to the surge of interest in the case: I wont be answering any questions because . Lastly, Dear Zachary was screened in Ottawa on March 11, 2009 for various members of Parliament and their staff; as a result, a small but committed group of Parliamentarians are now drafting a bill based on the issues raised in the film. MORRISON: What do you do about this? Either she's grabbed Zachary and taken off and she's trying to, escape, and she has a snowball's chance in hell of getting away with that. If Shirley, Turner had her way, they wouldn't have met Zachary at all, claiming she didn't. He was in, Mr. SHEARS: I would cook supper sometimes when she wasn't around. MORRISON: What did you think that she would do, kill you? In November 2002, when, Zachary was four months old, a Canadian judge ruled that a properly instructed, jury would likely find Shirley Turner guilty and ordered her incarceration, while awaiting a decision from justice officials to surrender her to the, United States. 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. thoughts, his wife sees something that rocks her to the core. I couldn't see the point anymore. KATE: On Sunday night I got out of bed and prayed because I thought Andrew was at risk. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) That you aren't trying to take my place. We were kind of like, `Well, we're not the best ones to be taking care of a child.' She was, pregnant, and the baby was Andrew's. Unidentified Man #22: We will develop policy specific to children. I'm tired of this. The only thing about his life that didn't make sense to some friends and family was his relationship with that doctor from Newfoundland, the one he'd started dating when going to medical school there. But they also contribute to the feeling of watching something urgent and unmediated. But he was accepted here, St. John's, Newfoundland, the easternmost point in North America. KATE: You get a different kind of relationship with God after this kind of. was that they'd have to accept her daily phone calls. Very, very serious. 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." Mr. BAGBY: Oh, this ranks right up there. 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. I dont know how else to say it except they are grown-ups: they are funny, but serious; playful, but organized. The news and opinions youll love for only $10 for 1 year. It's. It didn't clue in, MORRISON: T.J. says while he was touched that she'd shown up at, the hospital, he was also a little surprised. 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. children, who had recently been in a bad car accident. And I prayed to God to be looking after him. However awkward Shirley Turner made it, they were sweet, cooperative. Kate said Shirley insisted on keeping Zachary in, the deep pool, which frustrated him because he couldn't move on his own. We don't--we don't gush very much. But that is what the Bagbys. Also, today MP Scott Andrews of Newfoundland introduced a bill in Parliament for its first reading that proposes a modification to Canada's bail code that would justify detention in custody for a suspect who is a potential danger to their own minor children. Andrew, of all people, seemed to have no enemies at all. I mean, she. You can reach out to David Bagby-cantu via phone number 915-383-8358. Click HERE for ticket information. Please check back for updates as the bill makes its way through the Senate in the coming weeks -- and if you are a Canadian Citizen, please write your Senator to voice your support of C-464 during this crucial time. TO ME ITS REAL LIFE. Dear Zachary avoids the first pitfall by directly confronting the second. Mr. KURT KUENNE (Director): I decided to go on the road to interview people, because I thought, you know, he's never going to have a wedding. with a supervisor, and we had to be searched. And he's like, `I'm not looking for anything serious. I knew, exactly what my son looked at before he died. . And I said, `Who?' to live with his father in a tiny coastal village hundreds of miles away. So I gave her the. HEATHER: I knew he'd been struggling with me moving on and dating other people. Watching the documentary brings up a mix of feelings from joy to hatred. An abridged version of "Dear Zachary" will premiere on CBC Newsworld in Canada on Sunday, October 25th at 10 PM ET/PT. Andrew was found dead Nov. 5, 2001 in a state park just outside Latrobe, PA, where he was a resident in the local hospitals family medicine programme. Photo courtesy of David and Kathleen Bagby, dear zachary a letter to a son about his father, Defector Freelancer Policies, Created In Partnership With The National Writers Union. I'm absolutely sure. 7:30 I'll be at your house.'. It also recently screened at the Calgary International Film Festival and the Edmonton International Film Festival to standing ovations from Canadian audiences, where it inspired many audience members to write their Parliament in support of bail reform. "Kurt Kuenne has crafted a documentary that began as a legacy of a friend in the form of a letter to that friend's child, and that is powerful enough to endure as legend. One of those forgettable pieces of solipsistic pseudo-art that is essentially just a scrapbook that was released to the public and then everyone just said it was good because no one wanted to hurt anyones feelings. Unidentified Man #21: (Talking in group) I know. They also have Andrews friends, like Kuenne, who remain in their current lives and with whom they can talk about Andrew. Or it's in the car. Cpl. How do you represent the fact that when you see a crime coming from a mile away you still cant do anything to stop it? would be the difference if one person weren't alive? I can understand that. Lying on my shoulder and looking up at me as if to say, Yes Nan, Im here.. Cpl. Zachary's life, even talking to her eldest son and his girlfriend about it. Please consider joining us in this mission by becoming a member of the SaltWire Network and helping to make our communities better. A court mandate allowed David and Kate Bagby to spend time, with their grandson, babysitting, even sharing in joint activities with. kind of the only way that this little boy is going to get to know his dad. This couple have endured more grief and pain that most people will endure in a lifetime. David and Kate Bagby channeled their grief & anguish into changing some Canadian laws. Check your local listings for channel info. The documentary was originally released in 2008. I got to see what happens to the bastard who did this. MORRISON: But then things changed. Kurt Kuennes 2008 documentary, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, deserves a second look, especially in light of the recent popularity of true-crime programs like Serial and Making a Murderer., Photograph courtesy Oscilloscope Pictures / Everett. Andrew Bagby, a gregarious family-practice resident at Latrobe, was found shot to death on Nov. 5, 2001, in Keystone State Park. The Bagbys have done their best to resume life in California. MORRISON: In Kurt Kuenne's documentary, Clark Simpson, one of Andrew's close friends at the hospital, remembers that November morning just two weeks later when Shirley surprised Andrew again. If it looks like she's likely to go back, how is she going to behave? (Photo of Shirley, Kate and Zachary; photo of Shirley, David and Zachary; Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Well, I just want your word that I'm going to, know where he's at, like any babysitter, you know, if you're going to take him, anywhere, just say, `Shirley, we're going to run out and do this. Did. 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. HEATHER: I was so excited that he was dating somebody. MORRISON: The Bagbys said that Shirley would later apologize for, her reaction. -, "A 10 out of 10. Shirley Turner, awaiting, extradition for murder, was out of prison on bail. KATE: People thought she was delicate, you know, and looked KATE: She couldn't kill. MORRISON: The rage was tempered with a yearning to know just why Andrew had been assassinated. We had to pack up Zachary, Mr. BAGBY: We just climbed right back upstairs and went to bed and melted. His medical studies in Newfoundland were complete. I would have to dream up some reason to go over, there in the middle of the night, to--for me to just appear on her doorstep, Mr. BAGBY: Turned out I wasn't. Mr. BAGBY: The police didn't give us very much information, but they started. MORRISON: A couple of hours later, there was another knock at the, Mr. BAGBY: Told us what happened. Why would she say that if he wasn't? Mr. DAVID BAGBY: I threw the phone at the desk, and I jumped up and just screamed, `No! The Bagbys, who recently marked their 50th wedding anniversary, say it sustained them for nearly a decade as they struggled to come to terms first with the 2001 slaying of their 28-year-old son, Dr. Andrew Bagby, and later with the murder of Andrew's son, 13 . Why don't you just take him?'. Meeting her at 6. How dreadful the knowledge of the truth can be, wrote Sophocles, when theres no help in truth.. Kuenne finished his documentary and dedicated it to the memories of both Bagby and Zachary. 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. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Then I can't consent to more time right now. I, Mr. BAGBY: (Audio recording) Look, we will do what is best for Zachary. Click HERE for ticket information. But it will also introduce you to some of the most inspiring, strong and caring people ever to grace the big screen."" Senior Writer and Project Manager. (Sea at night; photo of Shirley and Zachary; autopsy report; photo of man; photo of Shirley and Zachary; Zachary sleeping; David and Kate), Mr. BAGBY: Kate just quit. Dear Zachary was the most honored film at Cinequest 18 in San Jose, receiving sustained standing ovations from packed houses at all 3 screenings and winning 2 awards - a Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature and the Audience Award. Subscribe here. (David and Kate; photo of Andrew by tape being put into recording device; Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Are you babysitting? -, "Demonstrates independent film at its finest." It stays so close to Bagby and to the people who loved him that theres never any question that its their side of the story being recounted. Except, OK, sometimes not. We. Our SaltWire team is always watching out for the place we call home. What a flaky person. 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. We need each other, have each other to get through this, added David.