Sharing voices. Mr. DAVID BAGBY: I threw the phone at the desk, and I jumped up and just screamed, `No! It has been our privilege to have the trust and support of our East Coast communities for the last 200 years. She would never go away. Mr. BAGBY: He's now engaged to this lovely girl, and he's going to go to med school. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Are you sure? 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. -, "**** (Four stars). This film was no longer a letter to you, Unidentified Man #23: Well, everybody always says, well, what. Unidentified Man #25: I love them very much. An autopsy report would show that an anti-anxiety drug, prescribed by the very psychiatrist who put up Shirley's bail money had been, mixed into Zachary's formula. Mr. KUENNE: You know, he said--she said, `Look, I'm not looking for another husband. Lori Kaufman rw. . (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. He was like, `Eh, mm.' Both screenings were sold out and received sustained standing ovations, an exceptionally rare event in the 14 year history of Slamdance. Any reference to Turner as a flight risk, for instance, is accompanied by birdsong and pictures of flying pigeons. Dear Zachary recently won the Audience Award at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, Alabama! MORRISON: The girl was Heather, also an aspiring doctor. 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." Parents Kate and David Bagby's story of identifying Andrew's body is devastating. They should have been given custody of Zachary to begin with. murderer in check. MORRISON: What do you do about this? They were somewhat successful with the passing of Bill C-464 in December 2010 with the added clause that bail could be denied if it was deemed necessary for the protection of anyone under the age of 18. Lying on my shoulder and looking up at me as if to say, Yes Nan, Im here.. Hello. Was it a tight bond? Hoping to gain custody of the child, the Bagbys moved to Newfoundland. And Im blessed to have David and quite frankly David is blessed to have me, said Kate. So he came straight for me. The Bagbys, who recently marked their 50th wedding anniversary, say it sustained them for nearly a decade as . It would take two weeks. Andrew's parents say he tried, frequently, to ease out of the relationship altogether, but Shirley wouldn't buy it. MORRISON: Because Zachary liked you best? KATE: I thought, `Well, God, this is it.' The victims choices, preferences, actions, and relationships are either boiled down to a heap of clues and red herrings, or offered as a backdrop in a spirit of dutiful empathy before getting down to the business at hand. I said, `This woman was in town. 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. Inspired by his mother's tales of interesting medical cases and wonderful patients, Andrew decided he would be a doctor. He was in, Mr. SHEARS: I would cook supper sometimes when she wasn't around. Watching the documentary brings up a mix of feelings from joy to hatred. MORRISON: After you found out about Andrew's death, the impulse just ended. You can't tell them this over the phone. Did anyone have more friends than he? Mr. KUENNE: He liked playing bad guys a lot. MORRISON: Was she taunting them, they wondered? MORRISON: You're in turmoil at that point. MORRISON: Must have seemed like the enemy was in the camp. He said, `What can happen?'. And one, of the first to see her there was T.J. Shears, the eldest of Shirley's three. After the shooting, according to Kate, Turner called her claiming she was trying to reach Andrew. Skewed imagery. to reconsider getting some help with that. you have anywhere to put that, or that Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) Not yet. So I gave her the. But a few weeks later, she showed up in Pennsylvania, unexpected, for the wedding of one of his friends. 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.' Ad Choices. Andrew came to St. John's. 1 Photo. hoped Shirley Turner would be returned to the US to face a murder trial. Now armed with a powerful tool, "Dear Zachary: A Letter, to a Son about his Father," the tribute film Kurt Kuenne started making, first. Kate and David Bagby traveled to Ottawa last week to speak as witnesses for the bill before the House's Standing Committee on Justice & Human Rights. T.J. and his girlfriend went to bed. We need each other, have each other to get through this, added David. He said, `Well, it's 4:30 now. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) I do have a complaint, finally. 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. Kuenne finished his documentary and dedicated it to the memories of both Bagby and Zachary. She was coming here to take care of me. If she had her way, we would not have had any visitation at, MORRISON: Coming up, fighting not just to see their grandson, but. The Bagbys could scarcely believe. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) 1 Video. Purchase the album on: Amazon (Physical CD) iTunes Amazon MP3, DAVID BAGBY'S "DANCE WITH THE DEVIL" RETURNS TO PAPERBACK AND E-BOOK, After four years of being out of print, David Bagby's book "Dance with the Devil" (Andrew Bagby's father's powerful memoir of the events depicted in "Dear Zachary") is finally available in paperback and e-book. The first time we had contact with her was over the phone. (Photo of Andrew; cell phone towers; photo of Shirley; maps; suburban street; photo of house; newspaper clipping; photo of Shirley; maps; cell phone tower; Shirley in court; court documents; flashing police lights; American flag. He's a little bleary eyed, but. MORRISON: Two weeks after Andrew's murder, cell phone records, would show that Shirley Turner drove all the way from Iowa to Andrew's, neighborhood in Pennsylvania, arrived there the day of the murder, and then, she, or at least her cell phone, returned to Iowa. Because she didnt know love either. thing, because up until Andrew was murdered, I was a Pollyanna. to live with his father in a tiny coastal village hundreds of miles away. 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. Mr. BAGBY: (Talking in group) This is about making public exactly what, MORRISON: The Bagbys' public outrage had some results. Mommy misses you. If Shirley, Turner had her way, they wouldn't have met Zachary at all, claiming she didn't. But as someone else says, Grief is loves unwillingness to let go. So Andrew's father could just as easily be talking about love. It's. Unidentified Woman #12: We won't forget their son. Dear Zachary had its Canadian premiere at the Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto, where it was welcomed by a line down the street and around the block to get in. At least he might have asleep when she went in. MORRISON: How did you find out what happened, how he had been killed? They are selfless. It's great. Unidentified Man #24: Two I have ever known. Serious crime is rare in this country. (Driving through rainy street; correctional facility sign; Andrew; Kurt, Unidentified Woman #8: They would drive two hours to the jail. The Bagbys still hold a bitterness when they talk about how they were failed by a legal system that let Turner out on bail and allowed her to retain custody of Zachary. Mr. BAGBY: The police didn't give us very much information, but they started. MORRISON: It's no easy thing to be a doctor in America. MORRISON: But Andrew did agree to meet Shirley in a nearby park. MORRISON: And tell me about your mum with Zachary. This is a huge step forward in the mission Dear Zachary was created to accomplish. On Nov. 5, Kate, who is originally from England, pictures Turner sitting on top of a Guy Fawkes bonfire and her family all around it with fireworks. Published by Statesville Record & Landmark on. Dear Zachary was named one of the top 5 documentaries of 2008 by the National Board of Review! I can understand that. Zachary, I love you, baby. They held their breath. What a flaky person. And that's when she said, `He loves you, more than me. They told us that they'd found the body. ', KATE: He's so loved. don't have these meltdowns and emotional scenes. While the police investigation was still underway, Turner, a Canadian citizen, packed off to St. Johns, Newfoundland. January 15, 2008: USA | Canada | UK, Original poster artwork by Evan B. Harris, Proceeds from this film benefit the Dr. Bagby Scholarship and the Dr. Andrew Bagby and son Zachary Bursary, Watch this short film to see the quest to complete Dear Zachary and amend Canadian bail law. 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. "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." 2023 Cond Nast. February 24, 2009: Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) His parents don't even know, do they? to the house and found a card from a police officer that we knew. Click HERE for ticket information. 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. They are warm. You will laugh, you will smile, you will cry, and you might even want to stand up and shout at the screen. You can reach out to David Bagby-cantu via phone number 915-383-8358. will not hurt Zachary, period. CORNER BROOK, N.L. And she followed Andrew to St. John's. Information on who and where to write can be found by going to the "Support Bail Reform" page. She landed a residency at a hospital in Iowa, several states away but still close enough to allow occasional weekends with Andrew in Pennsylvania. DVD: Amazon | B&N The reason we go through the lawyers is so that we. Oh, my God. Mr. BAGBY: By this time we're pretty damn sure she's complete. MORRISON: How'd you feel about having a much younger brother come, Mr. SHEARS: I thought it was great. did. David and Kate Bagby know all about the unlikely power of love funneled through rage. It's great. I had a husband I loved. Maybe the last time you talked to Shirley there was some very subtle change in tone. How dreadful the knowledge of the truth can be, wrote Sophocles, when theres no help in truth.. And if that picture never reveals itself, it feels like a letdown, not a tragedy. She has to veer away from the image and instead see him as a living being. For one thing, Shirley, required the Bagbys to bring Zachary to visit her once a week in jail. 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. Ms. TURNER: (Audio recording) This is Shirley Turner, yes. I dont understand how that can be ignored.. 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. 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. Kate to keep up their end of that bargain. The Bagbys attended the hearing, of course, and, could not quite believe their ears when they heard the judge's ruling. with a supervisor, and we had to be searched. I dont know how else to say it except they are grown-ups: they are funny, but serious; playful, but organized. This is not the worst instance in this story of someone seeing something bad coming but not being able to stop it. ', 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.' There are things to do, he said, and they try to enjoy life as much as possible. Unidentified Woman #11: I love them very much. We're churning. There were moments when something happened that had my heart beating so fast I became lightheaded and had to refocus myself. I only live a block away.' I had a son I used, (Photo of young Kate; photo of Kate and David; photo of Kate and Andrew), KATE: And then suddenly you're in the pits, and then you have to learn that, MORRISON: Two weeks after Zachary's murder, the press covered a, Mr. BAGBY: (Press conference) We believe that the legal system helped her to, MORRISON: Charging the child protection authorities dropped the, ball, and that a disastrous bail system allowed a probable first-degree, (Zachary; court document; Shirley and Andrew). The documentary was originally released in 2008. October 22, 2009: Mr. BAGBY: Yes. would now have to be something else, a visual letter to Andrew's baby. See details above! 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." Well never understand how anybody can ignore the fact that murderers are dangerous, he said. Information on who and where to write can be found on the "Support Bail Reform" page. We don't--we don't gush very much. Blu-Ray | DVD, BLU-RAY And now it's just. (A number of his male friends say that they asked, or would have asked, him to be their best man.) Our 100 journalists strive to inform and improve our East Coast communities by delivering impartial, high-impact, local journalism that provokes thought and action. KATE: And so she said, `Oh, take him and get him dressed,' to me. 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. With that kind of goodness, there is no limit to the possibility of transcending all manner of evil. Mr. BAGBY: Constable Walsh asking to call him. Kate Bagby feels her son was too trusting to agree to meet Turner at the park the day he was killed. Yeah, I mean, I can watch that for sure. Mr. KUENNE: He warmed up to me as the--as the week wore on, MORRISON: But the Bagbys were especially anxious. 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. None of his friends liked Turner because she was often inappropriate and even harassed one of Bagbys exes and just generally appeared to be an incredibly unstable, crude, and unlikeable personbasically Bagby's exact opposite. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. We couldn't let the authorities who let this happen get away with it. They watched the legal proceedings grind, infuriating and slow. A security guard reported hearing a. Mr. SHEARS: When we woke up in the morning, realized they weren't there. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father sounds like the kind of movie I would never want to see, which is why it took me so long to actually see it. (Photos of David and Kate with Zachary; Shirley being escorted from court). How the fuck do you live like that? thoughts, his wife sees something that rocks her to the core. Mr. SHEARS: Yeah, I guess it did at the time, but I still didn't have, MORRISON: How difficult must it have been to ingratiate, themselves with their son's suspected killer? Around 11:30 PM Shirley came downstairs, asking to borrow T.J.'s car. I didn't even know why I was going, other than Mom didn't want. Go away.'. Turner - the son of Andrew Bagby whom she gave birth to after Bagby's death. doesn't take much to pull a trigger, does it? When Kuenne narrates the particulars of the crime, the evidence, or the legal proceedings, his voiceover shifts to a stylized, rapid-fire clip, making it easy for the audience to miss key details. Awaiting extradition, Turner drowned 13-month-old Zachary and took her own life as well. You know when you see pictures of some of your friends and then pictures of their parents as kids and they look identical? MORRISON: It was August 2003, the wee hours of the morning by the ocean. 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. KATE: (To Zachary) Kurt knew your daddy when he was a little boy. MORRISON: Andrew tried to make a clean break with Shirley in October 2001. Our SaltWire team is always watching out for the place we call home. (David; Kate and Zachary; Shirley and Zachary). It comes down to probable cause, the right to bail and the presumption of innocence. 1 suspect was his estranged girlfriend, Shirley Turner, also a medical doctor, who was raised in western Newfoundland and was then practicing in Iowa. Then the questioner got choked up.the best thing I've seen in Austin (at SXSW)." Dance with the Devil is David Bagby's . Couldn't be her. That's what Kurt does, he's an independent filmmaker. It will make you question your faith in the world. 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? 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. prayed that his murderer, whoever it was, would be swiftly brought to justice. David Bagby David Russell Bagby, 64, of Statesville, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. See rank. You dont leave it behind. her. 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. She called trying to get Andrew when he was here doing a rotation here in California. And Turner had said he was a, MORRISON: But there were some caveats. Jackson, Kentucky. (Trailer park; parking lot; water; Kurt on boat; excerpts from "Dear Zachary"; houses seen through rainy window; Kate and Zachary). He said, `What can happen?'. Thought, you know, `Who would want to kill him?'. All rights reserved, Click here for information on becoming a member. (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.