Dear Zachary The bill received unanimous support in the Canadian House of Commons, and received support from Liberal Senator Tommy Banks. 4. Lets create a culture that celebrates expression rather than forces unrealistic expectations. The bill, which helps protect children in relation to bail hearings and custody disputes, was signed into law the following year. Screaming is absolutely inevitable. Best Documentaries on Amazon Prime Markesteyn, Peter H.; Day, David C. (September 2006). In my lifetime, I have watched a great number of movies like these ones which are really emotional, but the only one that has ever caused me to cry for real was the documentary titled Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, which was released in 2008. During her remedial second residency period in early 2000, Turner missed nine days of her three-month rotation and falsified clinical reports. Like The Thin Blue Line, Dear Zachary borrows some narrative dramatic tricks, and they pay off remarkably well. Were introduced to Andrew through a series of home videos, from Kurt and Andrew screwing around with a camera to Andrew delivering a speechat Kurts wedding. They're leaving and you're the last one of the group left at school. One of Turner's former roommates became so alarmed by Turner's behavior towards her children that heabandoned his tenancy. However, in the summer of 2000, Turner confessed to a relative that she had spent the baby bonuses on her own living expenses and doctoral education. Those two exams just stripped you of your pride. Your friends are all done with their finals and you still have one more to go. A senseless crime Andrew Bagby, a medical student, was murdered by his girlfriend Shirley Jane Turner soon after he ended their stormy relationship in 2001. You simply must see this film." On 18 August 2003, Zachary was scheduled to be in his mother's custody. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. The speed at which Kuenne rushes through the details of the case would not do at all for any professional true-crime documentary set to lure in an audience with gruesome facts. Here's Why 'Dear Zachary' Is The Most Upsetting Documentary Ever Made, Dear Zachary:A Letter to a Son About His Father, Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father. WebDear Zachary is a documentary, and there is a fallacy about documentaries that this one proves wrong- that they are all logic and lack heart. It's widely believed that if she hadn't been released, Zachary would probably still be alive today. Dear Zachary Markesteyn ultimately concluded that internal disagreements between caseworkers and managers weren't openly discussed and that an intervention by an outside office should have been made. ", On 7 April 1999, Doucet found Turner lying semi-conscious outside of his apartment, having ingested a combined 65 milligrams of over-the-counter drugs in a suicide attempt. Narrative duties are split between Kuenne and Andrews many friends and his wonderful parents, David and Kate. He grew up in Silicon Valley, where at age 7, he met the late Dr. Andrew Bagby, the subject of Dear Zachary. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father One note had been addressed to Doucet and the other to her psychiatrist; the latter read, "I am not evil, just sick." I sit; prisoner to my own body. Turner completed her undergraduate education while raising her children with help from her second husband. Shouldnt those around us love us for us rather than the clothes we are wearing? After consulting with his parents, Doucet moved to Westtown Township, Pennsylvania, United States in 1998. After the films release, Kuenne sent four hundred copies of Dear Zachary to every member of the Canadian Parliament to campaign for a bill to give more protection to children in custody disputes. The documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father gathers the fragments of a true crime story about young doctor Andrew Bagby and the terrible events surrounding his death. While this fraught situation dragged on, Kuenne traveled to the United Kingdom and across the U.S. to interview Bagby's friends and extended family. Best of all, you can do it all from the comfort of your own home or wherever you happen to be spending your summer. But after ordering and returning items multiple times due to feeling uncomfortable in them, I realized that this wasnt my style. What is the French language plot outline for Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)? On August 18, 2003, 42-year-old Shirley Turner ended her life as well as the life of her infant son, 13-month-old Zachary. From a young age, girls are introduced to a culture where they are expected to dress to impress specifically the men around them. [18] It was introduced to the Senate of Canada on March 23, 2010,[19] and signed into law on December 16over seven years after Zachary's death, and over two years after the film was released. When, in November 2002, a provincial court ruled that enough evidence pointed to Turner as Bagby's killer, Turner was again arrested, and Bagby's parents were awarded custody of Zachary. In October 2006, Winnipeg-based coroner Peter Markesteyn released the Turner Review and Investigation, which concluded that Zachary's death was preventable and criticised Newfoundland and Labrador's social services system for failing to protect the child from his mother, stating, "Nowhere did I find any ongoing assessment of the safety needs of the children." The conception of Zachary came shortly after this phone call. I wish I could discuss more about the plot line, but that would be sacrificing your open mind. He travels the country finding footage of Andrew and interviewing his family and friends, eventually making it all the way up to Newfoundland where hemeetsAndrews newborn son, Zachary. [8] David Bagby wrote Dance with the Devil: A Memoir of Murder and Loss, a best-seller in Canada in 2007, about his family's ordeal. However, Newfoundland Justice Gale Welsh believed Turner, then 40, wasn't a threat to society, despite the murder charges awaiting her in Pennsylvania. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is a 2008 American documentary film written, produced, directed, edited, and scored by Kurt Kuenne. And,with no evidence of tampering, it was highly likely Turner was the culprit. Police discovered his body in a parking lot at Keystone State Park. In a later interview with an assessment officer at the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, the supervising physician, in hindsight, described Turner as "a manipulative, guiltless psychopath." Little did I know this documentary would send me into a fit of hyperventilation and ugly crying. The staff became "so concerned about Shirley Turner's approach to confrontation and the truth that we would never give her feedback or hold any major discussion [with her] alone." The deaths of Andrew Bagby and Zachary Turner became the basis for the 2008 documentary film Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, directed by Kurt Kuenne. In high school, I worked in a casual restaurant that served soup so I wasnt dressing to impress there either. But Ive found that these are the clothes that I feel most confident and like myself in. It would be insulting to Kuenne to go into this film with any preconceived notions, one simply has to experience it on their own. So here it is: If theres one documentary you need to watch before you die, its Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about his Father. I hear the last words of the song and I lift my head cautiously. Dear Zachary [15] The website Film School Rejects place the film third in their list of the "30 Best Films of the Decade". Throughout middle school and high school, I played cross country and soccer, leading me to stick with athleisure most days. The extradition process was repeatedly prolonged by Turner's lawyers based on legal technicalities, and Turner gave birth to a boy she named Zachary on July 18, 2002. WebDear Zachary is the sort of documentary that, in delivering its debilitating news, ensures that every person in the theater leaves their seat with the strongest reminder to continue to cherish those they love, and to reminisce without mercy for those they've loved and lost. It is about Kuenne's close friend Andrew Bagby, who was murdered after Bagby ended a relationship with a woman named Shirley Jane Turner. WebDear Zachary is the sort of documentary that, in delivering its debilitating news, ensures that every person in the theater leaves their seat with the strongest reminder to continue to cherish those they love, and to reminisce without mercy for those they've loved and lost. Kuenne initially intended for Dear Zachary to be a private project for Andrew Bagbys friends and family. Later, a Derry resident reported having seen Bagby's Toyota Corolla parked next to Turner's RAV4 ten minutes after Bagby made his last phone call to Simpson and the Corolla parked alone the following morning. to every member of the Canadian Parliament to campaign for a bill to give more protection to children in custody disputes. [12], Turner's body was found on a beach by a vacationing couple, with Zachary's body discovered nearby. Although it's hard to watch, it's a must-see. After Zachary's birth on 18 July 2002, Turner initially refused to allow David and Kathleen Bagby to see their grandson, fearing they would kidnap him. Bagby agreed to talk with her about the pregnancy during a wedding that Bagby was scheduled to attend. If you know me, I literally cry in every movie I see, so this question was not out of the ordinary. David remembers uttering, "It's really him," and recalls how the two cried over the body, tears falling on to Andrew's face. Kate [Andrews mother] went to kiss him, he cries, and the plug came out where hed been shot in the left cheek.. Ellie and I ended up scrolling through Netflix, trying to find an interesting show to watch. The couplingdidnt make sense to Bagbys friends. Bagbys childhood friend Kenneth Kuenne made the film as a way to document the memories of Andrews life. She arranged to meet Bagby at Keystone State Park that evening, where Bagby was found dead the following morning, having been shot five times. Dear Zachary On November 6, 2001, Bagbys body, shot five times, was found in a park near his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Last night, I watched the best documentary I have ever seen. Its that powerful of a film, but not for the faint of heart. In August 2000, Turner moved to Sac City, Iowa, to begin work for Trimark Physicians Corporation. In short, when it comes to the genre, I know whats up. Need some creative inspiration? Hear me out. Beginning in early 1999, Turner began dating Andrew David Bagby (25 September 1973 5 November 2001), an American medical student studying at Memorial University for his third year. There was just something off about her, one family friend explains. The next twist is like a punch to the gut. A Timeline Of However, in January 2003 Justice Welsh again released her, arguing that the murder "was not directed at the public at large" and that Turner was presumed to be innocent.[10]. On 23 October 2009, Scott Andrews, then a Liberal MP from Newfoundland and Labrador, introduced Bill C-464, or "Zachary's Bill", which would change the Criminal Code of Canada to allow the courts to justify refusing bail to those accused of serious crimes in the name of protecting their children. She hung the fake pregnancy over Bagby's head and used it to harass any woman who was close withhim. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. At approximately 1:00p.m. local time, Turner embarked on a 16-hour, 1,523-kilometre (946mi) drive to Latrobe with her gun and ammunition inside a gun box in her Toyota RAV4. Cataloging the most poignantDear Zachary moments may seem like a fool's errand, but to do so is to engage directly with the documentary's most troubling content. "[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 11 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Dear Zachary also takes steps to highlight the flaws in the Canadian legal system & Bagbys parents exhausting battle to find justice for their lost son and grandson. Your favorite summer hobby and how you got into it. She confesses her profuse love for this song, but she doesnt even understand it. Dear Zachary is beloved among the true-crime documentary community for being honest, heart-felt, infuriating, and devastating. On 4 July 2003, Turner met a young man at a bar in St. John's. A patient of the clinic refused to return after an encounter with Turner. Dear Zachary Cataloging the most poignant Dear Zachary moments may seem like a fools errand, 12 Documentaries With Twist Endings A senseless crime Turner first purchased her prescription of lorazepam from a St. John's pharmacy. The documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father gathers the fragments of a true crime story about young doctor Andrew Bagby and the terrible events surrounding his death. When confronted with this evidence, Turner claimed that she met with Bagby at Keystone State Park but that he put the gun in his trunk. But just days after they separated, Turner showed up at Andrews front door, having driven 16hours overnight to confront him. Feature photo of Andrew Bagby from "Dear Zachary" via MSNBC Films. I wonder what its like to be free. There arent many documentaries likeDear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. Turner was arrested as a suspect, and, shortly thereafter, announced she was pregnant with Bagby's child, a boy she named Zachary. She was arrested in December 2001, but released on bail while her extradition to the United States worked its way through the Canadian courts. Dear Zachary During my time abroad, we were encouraged not to wear athletic clothing to fit in with the European culture. While updating my wardrobe for my four months abroad, I found that more modest, loose clothing was what I felt most comfortable and confident in. You will curse the Canadian justice system for showing no concern for human life. Dear Zachary Zachary How do you pass that up? WebShocking and moving, this documentary shows both the good and bad side of humanity. His intention was just to explore Bagbys life and interview those who knew him. Some of those thoughts included him, without Kate's knowledge, taking out Turner and allowing himself to be imprisoned. Bagby acted in many of Kuenne's amateur movies and, as these films became more professional in quality, he invested in them with some of the money he was saving up for medical school. Though her track record showedan increasing pattern of abuse and neglect towardher family and partners, an alarming turning point in Turner's history came only when she fatally shot Andrew Bagby. As Turner was leaving Bagby's apartment to travel home, she decided to turn around. Kuenne adds his own memories to the film, along with his anger & grief over the senseless crime. is not a cinematic marvel, and its frantic editing and heavy-handed imagery can be off-putting. Andrews later said that the law "gives [the Bagbys] some sense that someone has heard their cries so this will not happen again, to change the law to make sure something this tragic will never happen again. No shade to them, everyone has their own style that they like and feel confident in. Youll never be out of style. In a market awash with true crime docs,Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is unique. Turner followed the man to Pennsylvania, leaving threatening voicemails over the following year and making unannounced visits to his apartment. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father 2008 9 Andrew Bagby, a medical student, was murdered by his girlfriend Shirley Jane Turner soon after he ended their stormy relationship in 2001. Bagbys parents were forced to give Turner joint custody of Zachary. Despite the evidence gathered, Turner had fled the country by the time authorities obtained a warrant for her arrest. Andrew tried to leave Shirley entirely in November 2001. Released in 2008, the film makes the cut as one of the greatest documentaries of all time. Kuennes film transforms into a visual letter to the child that Andrew never got to meet. 10 Haunting Documentaries The psychiatrist later filed a report with social services, and Turner's children confirmed the allegations. WebShocking and moving, this documentary shows both the good and bad side of humanity. When the child washed ashore, the man who found them wrapped Zachary in a blanket, forgoing the usual plastic bag, to keep him as far as possible from the unstable, albeit deceased, woman who took his life. The ultimate tragedy of this story came when Turner, in 2003, jumped into the Atlantic Ocean, holding her one-year-old baby Zachary in her arms. You will grow attached to this family and you will leave the film feeling compelled to act. According toCBC News: "The social services system in Newfoundland and Labrador failed [Zachary].". After graduating in 2000, Bagby moved to New York to work as a surgical resident, and Turner moved to Iowa, also for work, but they maintained a long-distance relationship. These chains still hold me to someone who left a long time ago. Dear Zachary, which unfolds chronologically, has not one but two major twists. Dear Zachary A possessive and jealous Turner also confronted Bagby about his friendship with an ex-girlfriend. Haven't done anything all day Time to start cramming. Turner's second husband claimed that she only used the belt as a threat in his interview. It's hands down one of the most mind-blowing true-crime movies in recent memory, fiction or nonfiction. Turner, however, ended up making off with a large stash of Bagby's personal belongings. And I realize thats all I have left. Kurt Kuenne and Andrew Bagby grew up as close friends in the suburbs of San Jose, California. Despite the distance between states, Turner and Bagby initially tried to maintain a long-distance relationship. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Road-tripping with your friends? The film also received the Special Jury and Audience Awards at the Cinequest Film Festival, was named an Audience Favorite at Hot Docs, received the Audience Awards at the St. Louis International Film Festival and the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, and was named Best Documentary at the Orlando Film Festival. The following day Doucet received a voicemail from a female caller who stated, "Dr. Turner died last night.". Those awful seven hours of studying paid off, definitely aced that exam. Acting in collaboration with the Pennsylvania State Police, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's (RNC) Intelligence Unit conducted surveillance on her movements. Dear Zachary Bagby's parents moved to Canada to attempt to gain custody of their grandson. It is about Kuenne's close friend Andrew Bagby, who was murdered after Bagby ended a relationship with a woman named Shirley Jane Turner. His intention was just to explore Bagbys life and interview those who knew him. WebThe case led to the passage of Bill C-464, or Zachary's Bill, strengthening the conditions for bail in Canadian courts in cases involving the well-being of children. Bagby's parents, friends, and associates were uneasy about the relationship because of what they saw as Turner's off-putting behavior. Luckily, they chose to go on and fight for their son, especially after finding out he had a child on the way. [16], As part of a campaign to change federal bail laws, Kuenne sent a copy of Dear Zachary to each of the over 400 members of Canada's Parliament. And she dances. gathers the fragments of a true crime story about young doctor Andrew Bagby and the terrible events surrounding his death. Even if it doesn't send you bawling like me, you will feel a whole range of emotions: sadness, anger, disgust, impatience, injustice, despair. [15], Dear Zachary was released on DVD on February 24, 2009, by Oscilloscope Laboratories. Turner insisted that she would earn "big money" after completing her post-residency training and would repay the savings for her children's post-secondary education. He explains that as parents who lost a son, they "could do nothing but cry, all day,every day." Turner claimed that she was pregnant by the man, but no evidence was found showing this to be the case. [11] She then drove with Zachary to nearby Conception Bay South, where the man she had met at the bar lived. Tears fall from my face the same way petals fall from wilted flowers. Dear Zachary WebThe case led to the passage of Bill C-464, or Zachary's Bill, strengthening the conditions for bail in Canadian courts in cases involving the well-being of children. Jeffrey Epsteins unredacted flight log finally uncovered, Here's why Dayana Espinoza is an actor to watch. Dear Zachary After Turner mademultiple failed attempts to arrangefor the children to reside with differentfamily members, they eventually settled in with their respective fathers. Kristen Haddox, Penn State University4. [4] The Bagbys had to give Zachary back to Turner, but they were able to arrange a visitation schedule. Lists about some of the most shocking and upsetting documentary films & series that you should totally watch anyway. It has serious heart, and its unusual approach makes it all the more heartbreaking.
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