Dear Zachary

This is a documentary that a man made about his best friend, Andrew, who was slain by an ex-girlfriend. The Zachary in question is Andrew's son. Kurt Kuenne started making this movie as a letter to Zachary about who is father was.

Zachary's mother? The suspected murderess.

It will make you cry. These people loved Andrew sooo much, and miss him so much. His poor father just plainly states 10 minutes into the movie that he and his wife were going to go to Pennsylvania, take care of Andrew's affairs, and then go back home and kill themselves, because what else was there to do?

Obviously, they didn't. And at one of Andrew's many memorial services held throughout the country a friend of Andrew's stood up and reminded Andrew's parents that he and all Andrew's friends practically grew up in their house, and they had many more children, and I'm crying right now. DUDE 20 MINUTES INTO THIS MOVIE AND I LOVE ANDREW AND ALL HIS FRIENDS AND HIS PARENTS AND HOLY CRAP BURN THAT MURDERING BITCH.

The bitch flees to Newfoundland, fights extradition (which Newfoundland courts made VERY EASILY) and makes it very hard for Andrew's parents to see Zachary. When she's FINALLY arrested, the grandparents get Zachary, but there are conditions. She gets to call their house every day to "talk" to the baby, and every week they are required to drive 2 hours to allow her to visit him.

I'm actually still watching the movie as I write this. A judge let her out of prison with basically a promise from the bitch that she would not run away. A PROMISE. Wow. Canada. You suck ass. The poor grandparents were forced to play nice with Shirley (bitch) in order to spend time with Zachary. Seriously, they went on outings with them, they bought him food and diapers, they talked to her all the time. And they hated it. But when Shirley would finally go back to prison for good they wanted the transition to be as painless as possible for Zachary. These people are saints.

A month before Shirley was to appear in Canadian court for yet another extradition trial (where it was pretty likely they'd put her back in prison to be extradited) Shirley drowned herself and Zachary in the ocean. Bitch.

Why am I watching this? This is heartbreaking! HEARTBREAKING!!!! Those poor grandparents, to have their son and then their grandson taken from them by the same crazy bitch.

Just watched a little more and they think she actually did this NOT as an escape from prison, but because a man she went on a few dates with refused to date her anymore after his friends showed him articles about her. She called a friend and told them she was with the man at his house. She drove to his house and left a used tampon and pictures of herself and Zachary in his front yard, and then (luckily) drugged the baby and herself (unluckily) before jumping off a pier. And I'm crying again.

The grandparents became activists. The usual: child advocates, court reform, all that. They are trying to prevent shit like this from happening.


Andrew's father wrote a book about it, and here 'tis!

Kurt Kuenne made a fantastic movie. It's heart-wrenching, and I sincerely wish that he never had the reason for it, but he took the interviews and news clips and pictures and home movies, and made them into a very touching film.

And at the very end he talks about how he almost quit the movie when Zachary was murdered, because the purpose of the whole thing was FOR Zachary. And then he realized that the movie was a letter to someone else: Andrew's parents. And he finishes it up with all these sound bites of Andrew's over the years, and Andrew's friends, all saying what wonderful people Kate and David Bagby are. Commense even more tears.