Dear Zachary
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father is a 2008 documentary detailing the life and death of one Dr. Andrew Bagby, a resident at a family practice in Latrobe, Pennsylvania who was brutally murdered by an Axe Crazy ex-lover, Shirley Jane Turner. Shortly after being taken into custody, Turner announced that she was pregnant with Andrew's child, a boy she named Zachary. Initially, Andrew's close friend Kurt Kuenne, a filmmaker, intended the film as a personal memorial and scrapbook so that Zachary could know the kind of person his father was. However, as events transpired, the focus shifted to the incompetence of the Canadian courts in keeping Turner behind bars, as well as the plight of Bagby's parents, David and Kate, in getting custody of Zachary, as well as justice for their son.
- Author Tract: Justified
- Big Bad: Shirley Turner
- Foregone Conclusion: You might already know how the events unfold, since it's been covered on Canadian television and on Wikipedia.
- If I Can't Have You: How Shirley dealt with her problems.
- Ironic Echo: Justice Gail Welsh's statements on Shirley Turner's behavior are repeated aloud, alongside evidence of the obvious contrary.
- Manipulative Bitch: Shirley was a master at being one. Discussed in interviews.
- Mood Whiplash: The movie starts with a written letter: "Dear Zachary, Your father was..." and then interviews are spliced in, taking about Andrew's qualities and quirks. But then a woman starts crying...
- Narrator: Kuenne himself.
- Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Discussed by people interviewed about Andrew.
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'You know how loved ones you've lost take on sort of a rosy glow in your memories? That's not what's happening here. |
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- OOC Is Serious Business: Andrew was never late... except that one time.
- Plot Armor: You'd think Zachary would grow old enough to watch the home movie. How wrong you'd be.
- Plot Twist
- Precision F-Strike: David Bagby, when talking about Shirley after Zachary's death.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Zachary.
- The Sociopath: Shirley Turner, a lot.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Shirley Turner got away with the murder of Andrew and her son Zachary.
- There Should Be a Law: And now, there is.
- The Unfair Sex
- Unreliable Narrator: Kurt Kuenne says the film is intended for Zachary. It was intended for him, but Real Life got in the way. Hard.
- Yandere: Shirley Turner. The sections about her history in the extensive government report here make her look like a walking poster child for dangerous manifestations of borderline personality disorder, for years even before the tragedies depicted in this film.