A harrowing true-crime documentary, dubbed ‘the most upsetting ever’, is available to stream in the UK.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, released in 2008, centres on the killings of 28-year-old doctor Andrew Bagby and the murder-suicide of his infant son Zachary and ex-partner Shirley Jane Turner. You can see a trailer here:
Bagby and Turner began a relationship in 1999 but they split two-years later.
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Seemingly unable to cope with the breakup, Turner drove almost 1,000 miles to see Bagby, and arranged to meet him at Keystone State Park in Pennsylvania.
The following day, Bagby’s body was found in a parking lot of the park, having been shot five times and killed.
Turner was arrested for the murder and revealed that she was pregnant with Bagby’s child - a son, she would name Zachary.
Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne was a close friend of Bagby and in the wake of his death decided to make a movie about his friend’s life for his loved ones, including Zachary, to watch.
As well as Turner’s horrific crimes, the documentary also examines the custody battle between Turner and Bagby’s parents David and Kate.
However, while filming further tragedy struck when Turner - then aged 42 - ended both her life and 13-month-old Zachary’s in a murder-suicide.
After dropping a sedative into her young son’s bottle, Turner strapped him to her stomach and jumped into the Atlantic Ocean, where they both died.
The harrowing documentary has been branded one of the most upsetting of all time, with one viewer taking to social media to say: "Dear Zachary ripped my guts out in the way very, very few films ever have.”
Another commented: “The Dear Zachary documentary is upsetting. I've never cried so much for people who I've never met in my life.”
A third said: “Friendly reminder that Dear Zachary is the most upsetting movie of all time.”
Someone else wrote: “I think everyone should see Dear Zachary at least once. It is so f**king heartbreaking but revealed a lot of dangerous things in regards to the way murderers were treated based on appearance, and how many holes there were in Canadian/American law.”
A fifth viewer warned: “Dear Zachary is absolutely the most traumatic cinematic experience of my life. Viewer beware.”
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is available to stream on YouTube.
Claire Reid