Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Plot synopsis:
Kurt Kuenne and Andrew Bagby grew up as close friends in the suburbs of San Jose, California, and Bagby frequently appeared in Kuenne's home movies. As these movies became more professional in quality in later years, Bagby invested in them with money he had saved up for medical school. While studying in Newfoundland, Canada, Bagby began a relationship with Shirley Turner, a twice-divorced general practitioner thirteen years his senior. Bagby's parents, friends, and associates were uneasy about the relationship because of what they saw as Turner's off-putting behavior. Turner moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, while Bagby worked as a resident in family practice in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
In November 2001, as the relationship began to crumble, Turner became increasingly possessive. Bagby broke up with her and put her on a plane to Iowa. Turner drove almost 1,000 miles back to Pennsylvania overnight, and asked Bagby to meet her at Keystone State Park. Bagby was found dead the following day, face down, with five gunshot wounds. When Turner learned she was a suspect in the murder investigation, she fled to St. John's, Newfoundland. As the legal drama unfolded, Kuenne began collecting footage from his old home movies and interviewed Bagby's parents, David and Kathleen, for a documentary about his life.
After she reached St. John's, Shirley Turner revealed that she was pregnant with Bagby's child. While her extradition was pending, Turner was not held in custody; she gave birth to a boy she named Zachary. Bagby's parents moved to Canada to gain custody of Zachary and to obtain Turner's rendition for a trial in the U.S.. However, the extradition process was repeatedly prolonged by Turner's lawyers based on legal technicalities. When a provincial court ruled that enough evidence pointed to Turner as Bagby's killer, she was put in jail and Bagby's parents, David and Kathleen, were awarded custody of Zachary. Meanwhile, Kuenne traveled across the U.S. and the United Kingdom to interview Bagby's friends and extended family. Kuenne also went to Newfoundland and visited Zachary in July 2003.
In jail, Turner wrote to a judge and, contrary to normal legal procedure, received advice on how to appeal her arrest and imprisonment. Turner was later released by a Newfoundland judge, Gale Welsh, who — despite what the film presents as ample evidence that Turner was psychologically disturbed — felt she did not pose a threat to society in general. Turner was therefore released on bail and successfully sued for joint custody of Zachary with the Bagbys, although their arrangement was tenuous. The arrangement ended in tragedy when, on August 18, 2003, Turner jumped into the Atlantic Ocean with thirteen-month-old Zachary in a murder-suicide. David and Kathleen were left dumbfounded and grief-stricken. Kuenne's attempts to arrange interviews with the prosecutors and judges who facilitated Turner's freedom were rebuffed.
Distraught over Zachary's death, and outraged at the Canadian legal system's failure to protect the child, David and Kathleen mounted a campaign to reform the country's bail laws, which they believed had helped allow Turner to kill her child and herself. A panel convened by Newfoundland's Ministry of Justice agreed, releasing a report stating that Zachary's death had been preventable and that the government's handling of Turner's case had been inadequate. Turner's psychiatrist was found guilty of misconduct for having helped her post bail, and the director of Newfoundland's child welfare agency resigned. David Bagby wrote a best-selling book about his family's ordeal during the saga. Kuenne finished his documentary and dedicated it to the memory of both Bagby and his son; the film ends with the Bagbys and their relatives, friends, and colleagues reflecting on the father and son, as well as the impact that David and Kate had on all of them.

Tags: murder, sentimental

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