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. HEATHER: I was so excited that he was dating somebody. We were in the way, I guess, of her trying to go to school. Well, I was hurt in an, accident. Woman #11: Doesn't matter what happened. Remember these two things as I go on. KATE: I had a great childhood. It opens with a gushing montage of the friends of a doctor named Andrew Bagby, none of whom have one real bad word about him. Mr. KUENNE: (Kate holding Zachary) Hello, bud. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) He is too happy, Kathleen. The film ends with the Bagbys and their relatives, friends, and colleagues reflecting on the father and son, as well as the . It comes down to probable cause, the right to bail and the presumption of innocence. Except this story is worse. TO ME ITS REAL LIFE. Dear Zachary avoids the first pitfall by directly confronting the second. ', KATE: He's so loved. 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. Much of this DATELINE report incorporates material from Kurt's documentary, as well as something else: the childhood films he made as he taught himself his craft. ), DEAR ZACHARY 10TH ANNIVERSARY HD REMASTERED EDITIONNOW AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY, DVD, and DIGITAL, For the film's 10th anniversary, Kurt Kuenne remastered "Dear Zachary", its epilogue, and its bonus features for HD, converting the original standard definition elements to HD shot-by-shot, while remixing the film in 5.1 surround, so that it now looks and sounds as originally intended on today's platforms. Mr. SIMPSON: You don't need to go out with a woman because you can't think you can do better. Then the questioner got choked up.the best thing I've seen in Austin (at SXSW)." This is the attention thing I was talking about. MORRISON: Winter is capricious in Newfoundland; repeatedly, spring is briefly offered and then taken back again. Dance with the Devil: A Memoir of Murder and Loss This marks the first time in history an MP from Newfoundland has been able to get a private member's bill through Parliament; since 2001, 2,510 Private Member's Bills have been introduced in the House of Commons, but only 23 - less than 1% - have received Royal Assent. And he was crying, so I went into the ladies room and sat there, KATE: Made her very angry. The next, hearing in the extradition process was set for September, at which time they. SCREAMS. In the, tribute documentary their son's best friend Kurt Kuenne was making to someday, give Zachary, the Bagbys' friends recount how difficult it was for David and. If you didnt realize the importance of that, Kuenne mutes the film to let you process it. Kate answered the phone, and she couldn't get off the phone for an hour. 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. -, "When this haunting, shattering film made its premiere at Park City's Slamdance Film Festival, it received the most sustained ovation of any film I saw this year in Park City. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) It's either in my closet or my bedroom. When police interviewed the hospital staff Mr. SIMPSON: I said, `Well, you don't have to look far.' Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) (Unintelligible) Hi, sweetheart. MORRISON: Life for Andrew Bagby was good. It's pretty easy to analyze what the, options are. Not too long ago? 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. David Bagby Obituary (2022) - Statesville, NC - Statesville Record Blu-Ray | DVD, BLU-RAY What do you want it Mr. BAGBY: Very seriously. They watched the legal proceedings grind, infuriating and slow. The bond between, Zachary and his grandparents grew and grew, and Shirley noticed, even from, KATE: (Audio recording) I think it was one time we were on the phone or, KATE: (Audio recording) Yeah, the baby cried, and I said, `Oh, there's my, Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Yeah, `Oh, my baby. 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. 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.). Man #14: I admire you and respect you so much for two things. MORRISON: The girl was Heather, also an aspiring doctor. doesn't take much to pull a trigger, does it? 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. murderer in check. Mr. BAGBY: She told the court she was afraid we would harm the baby. And the comfort they personify can be found in the fact that even in the face of Shirley Jane Turner, they not only continue, they remain good while continuing. Did. I mean, she. But you will come away believing in people. You can't tell them this over the phone. Unidentified Man #22: We will develop policy specific to children. Kathryn Schulz, reviewing Making a Murderer recently inThe New Yorker, described howtrue-crime projects can allow for bias to masquerade as objectivity and for people (particularly victims and their families) to be reduced to plot points. Also, by popular demand, a new printing of David Bagby's book "Dance with the Devil: A Memoir of Murder and Loss" featuring Dear Zachary's poster art on its cover is now in stores. (A number of his male friends say that they asked, or would have asked, him to be their best man.) you have anywhere to put that, or that Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Not yet. Shirley and Zachary, then 13 months old, had been staying with the couple. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. kind of panic sets in, I guess. But how? Tessa Bagby - Producer, 1st Assistant Director - LinkedIn Mr. BAGBY: We fret and worried and everything. Ad Choices. The committee passed the bill unanimously, which is how it came to be heard in the House for a final vote this week. But as someone else says, Grief is loves unwillingness to let go. So Andrew's father could just as easily be talking about love. When Bagby said he was going to anyway, Simpson asked him to come to his house right after. This film will be one of the best you're likely to see this year." With that kind of goodness, there is no limit to the possibility of transcending all manner of evil. It has been our privilege to have the trust and support of our East Coast communities for the last 200 years. (Canadian flags; Newfoundland; lake and coast; man in coat; photos of Shirley, and Zachary; Kate, David and Zachary; Shirley, Kate and Zachary; Supreme Court, building; photos of David, Kate, Zachary and Shirley), Mr. BAGBY: Dealing with Turner was like, I don't know, walking around with. 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. -. sixteen years have passed but for the bagbys the story of the deaths of their only son and grandson resurfaces all the time. Slain tot's grandparents welcome new bail law | CBC News He seems to be talking about the unfathomable grief Shirley Jane Turner left behind. Nobody drives 16 hours after you've just broken up with them.' Around 11:30 PM Shirley came downstairs, asking to borrow T.J.'s car. So I gave her the. ', Mr. SIMPSON: And I told him, I said, `You know, Andrew, when I break up with somebody and put them on a plane and send them 1300 miles away,' I said, `They knock on my front door, I'm going out the back door and I'm calling the police.' After Newfoundland woman killed their son and grandson, California In mid-December, the Bagbys talked to The Western Star about the rerelease of the documentary, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, by Kurt Kuenne. Its best to watch Kuennes documentary without too much background, but the basic setup is this: On November 6, 2001, Andrew Bagbys body was found, shot five times, in a park near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Bagby lived. MORRISON: But would that somebody turn out to be a blessing or a curse? They also went to Ottawa to push the case for Bill C-464, which had been introduced by then Liberal MP Scott Andrews, at a committee hearing. Home video captured what looked like a. typical domestic scene, but beneath these happy images lies a darker truth. We thought of him as a hostage, said David. We dont do anything related to murder anymore, he said. They began a drawn-out court battle to protect their grandson from the woman who had almost certainly murdered their son. Cpl. Former Assistant Pastor at Jackson Community Church. They hadn't been identified, but it's obvious who they, MORRISON: He was right. Mr. BAGBY: Yes. MORRISON: And then, in the spring of 1995, Andrew found someone, a Newfoundlander, also a doctor in training, a woman named Shirley Turner. 2015 - 20153 . Mr. BAGBY: That's one of the options, and that's the one we hoped for. I can understand that. I was just gone. They should have been given custody of Zachary to begin with. 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. Amazon | B&N 'Nothing to lose' | Gilroy Dispatch | Gilroy, San Martin, CA The bill has added an amendment to Canada's criminal code giving courts the right to refuse bail to someone charged with a serious crime who is deemed a potential danger to children under the age of 18. hoped Shirley Turner would be returned to the US to face a murder trial. After Canadian mother killed herself and their only grandchild, U.S 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. Even during his stilted summaries of events, you can sometimes hear Kuenne choking up. I knew, exactly what my son looked at before he died. Mr. BAGBY: By this time we're pretty damn sure she's complete. Asked if he would have done anything different back then, David replies, kill Shirley Turner.. 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. Unidentified Woman #12: We won't forget their son. We send a huge thanks to MP Scott Andrews, his assistant Ken Carter, MP Peter Stoffer, Senator Tommy Banks, his assistant Thrse Gauthier, Gord McIntosh and all those in Parliament who have seen across party lines and supported this bill to honor Andrew & Zachary and help prevent a recurrence of our story. MORRISON: But Shirley would make it tough for Andrew to do that. GARDNER: (Audio recording) I'm interested in the gun. We were done," Kate Bagby said, finishing her husband's thought, a quirk of their relationship that became apparent during a several-hour recount of how their lives spiraled out of control after that phone call from police. The private member's bill was introduced by MP Scott Andrews of Newfoundland last fall after he saw "Dear Zachary" at a March 2009 screening in Ottawa and decided to do something about what he saw. When Kate reached down to wipe one away, she accidentally knocked out the plug used to mask his facial wound. Dear Zachary will have its World Premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, January 17-25, 2008 in Park City, Utah! IMDbPro Starmeter. Shirley Turner, awaiting, extradition for murder, was out of prison on bail. a--with a hand grenade in the kitchen with the pin already pulled. Woman #9: to make that journey was awful. Typically, we meet the victim not as a person but as a dismantled puzzle to be put back together by the canny viewer, who is likewise appealed to not as a person hearing about a human catastrophe but as an analytical machine capable of sorting and weighing the relevant facts. She turns to talking of her son and calls him Gods blessing. ', Because I know you would be worried if we disappeared for a couple of days or, MORRISON: Was she planning something? See details above! It's great. Click here for ticket information! I said, `Find her, and I think you'll find who did this.'. Jackson, Kentucky. Cpl. (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. It's said there's nothing worse than the death of your child, and this film drives that point home harder and with the utmost care and precision." And if that picture never reveals itself, it feels like a letdown, not a tragedy. And in that way this tragedy remains hers and hers alone. I sat there. Kate says everything seemed to be going smoothly, until here. Happy Birthday Dr. Andrew Bagby. You should be 49 today. You should be Zachary's life, even talking to her eldest son and his girlfriend about it. us around. (Photo of David and Kate; airplane; lake and coast), MORRISON: But here's the thing. (Photo of Shirley; Zachary; photo of Shears and Zachary), Mr. SHEARS: There was a conversation one time she had with me and Erica, in, regards to if something ever happened to her and she had to go to jail or. (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.). The tragedy here is that even if you do see it coming, that still doesnt mean you can stop it. MORRISON: What was it like to hear that she was going to get out of prison? He was such a good baby. Mr. BAGBY: (Audio recording) Just got up. -, "urgent, furiousadmirably well editedthis incredible, well-researched documentary demonstrates the vast gulf one life can leave behind." We don't--we don't gush very much. His goal at first was simply to collect memories and tributes from people who were close to Bagby. KATE: And so she said, `Oh, take him and get him dressed,' to me. Sixteen years have passed but for the Bagbysthe story of the deaths of their only son and grandson resurfaces all the time. There won't be any question about, whether she can hurt him. I kind of need to move on from that because, like I. said, I'm a Bagby male. KEITH MORRISON reporting: He was everybody's idea of the perfect best man. 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. -Drafted and finalized press releases, articles, annual reports, websites, earnings releases and investor . MORRISON: Andrew's body was discovered the following morning with bullets lodged in his face, buttock, chest, the back of his head. Is it OK? Well, I said, `Bring some beer. Andrew assured his filmmaker friend Kurt that the 40-year-old was a passing fancy. I'm just looking for somebody to hang out with and have fun here in school.' I didn't even know why I was going, other than Mom didn't want. 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. January 15, 2008: 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. A few weeks after, Zachary's birthday party, the Bagbys and Shirley took the toddler swimming, an, activity he usually enjoyed. A huge chunk of the remainder of Dear Zachary is the Canadian justice system treating the Bagbys like common criminals while the actual criminal is given a breathtaking amount of freedom. HEATHER: You are the most amazing, strongest people I've ever. Mr. SHEARS: Mm, yeah. -, "To give you an idea how powerful it is, I'll just say that there was a lot of audible sobbing during the credits.and the first question in the Q&A started like this: "First of all, holy crap. The bill is called C-464 - An Act to amend the Criminal Code (justification for detention in custody). The legal system helped her kill Zachary. Office Manager. And Kate kissed him and held him and kissed him some more. On the 5th, however, Turner appeared back in Latrobe. MORRISON: Do you find yourself going back and playing that back in your mind? If she had her way, we would not have had any visitation at, MORRISON: Coming up, fighting not just to see their grandson, but. to let out hints that Shirley Turner was the prime suspect. MORRISON: It was November 2001 when Dr. Andrew Bagby, 28 years old, was found in hospital scrubs lying facedown in the state park in Derry Township, Pennsylvania. Kuenne finished his documentary and dedicated it to the memories of both Bagby and Zachary. It also took 3rd place in the National Headliner Awards for Best Documentary of 2008, given by the Press Club of Atlantic City. Click HERE for ticket information. Bring lots of kleenex and prepare to be equally angry and emotionally drained as you watch real, so-called justice in action. She. David R. Bagby Born: July 2, 1957 in Joliet, IL Died: January 5, 2022 in Statesville, NC David R. Bagby, 64 of Statesville, NC and formerly of Streator passed away Wednesday (January 5,. "In a tragic ending, we bring new beginnings with bail reform so that no other family will have to go through the devastation that Kate and David have gone through," Andrews said. Zachary, I love you, baby. Cpl. 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. Dear Zachary was a hit at Slamdance! But that is what the Bagbys. Mr. BAGBY: We first got to see him personally in family court. Well never understand how anybody can ignore the fact that murderers are dangerous, he said. (Photo of Shirley; "Canada" on building; T.J. Shears walking), Mr. T.J. SHEARS: My mom was just like, `Oh, hey.' Was it a tight bond? It, (Photo of Shirley; Shirley, Zachary and David; photos of Shirley and Zachary). But two months later, that would change, after Shirley appealed, again to be released on bail. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. While that change felt good, David wanted more. He was in, Mr. SHEARS: I would cook supper sometimes when she wasn't around. Man #26: and for having the strength to make it through, Unidentified Man #27: With what you've been through, to still be, carrying on, still to hold your heads up and keep going and pushing forward is, (Kate and David; photo of David and Kate), Unidentified Woman #13: I think God put some people down on Earth, Mr. A. BAGBY: (Wedding video) We're brothers, and I love you. He couldve introduced his friends death any way he wanted, and he went with this, with a kid who can barely pronounce the word killed asking why one of daddys friends has ended up that way. HOUSE OF COMMONS UNANIMOUSLY PASSES BILL C-464. They're like, `What do you mean?' 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. At one point, one friend says that if he had one tenth of the people who cared about him half as much as they do about Bagby, he would be happy. decision. (Talking in group) This is not about money. December 15, 2009: This is not the worst instance in this story of someone seeing something bad coming but not being able to stop it. It had happened almost surely the last, night they were together, and DNA tests would later prove that Andrew was, (Supreme Court exterior; court in progress; house exterior; Shirley and Shears. 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. KATE: You get a different kind of relationship with God after this kind of. I'm absolutely sure. It brings its own special brand of. I promise within the first five minutes you will be captured by it and you won't be able to tear yourself away. MORRISON: When T.J. heard about Andrew's murder Mr. SHEARS: I just figure, `OK, well, he was in America. Oh, my. Shirley. Mr. SIMPSON: Andrew, you know you can do a lot better. Any reference to Turner as a flight risk, for instance, is accompanied by birdsong and pictures of flying pigeons. MORRISON: What did you think that she would do, kill you? You know? Why? Andrew's parents say he tried, frequently, to ease out of the relationship altogether, but Shirley wouldn't buy it. Unidentified Woman #11: I love them very much. So we called, and he came over and told us that Zachary and Shirley were. -, "Some of the week's biggest flicks aren't at Sundancefilmmakers have praised Slamdance film. The Bagbys attended the hearing, of course, and, could not quite believe their ears when they heard the judge's ruling. Blu-ray: The bill now moves to the Senate where it is expected to be embraced in a similar fashion. MORRISON: How'd you feel about having a much younger brother come, Mr. SHEARS: I thought it was great. report that concluded the child protection system failed Zachary Turner. MORRISON: Coming up, Andrew dead. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS.