Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father Page #4

wasn't all just for a show.

And then fear at that point for,

you know, Heather's safety.

She came up

and sort of butted one

of my friends out beside me

and said just awful things

and, obviously,

I cared a lot more about him

than he ever cared about me.

And I definitely

wasn't important in his life.

Got an e-mail from Shirley.

A horrible, scathing e-mail.

It was all basically,

I was nothing,

and she was everything.

How wonderful their love was

and how that'll never die now.

To try to lure her

back to the United States,

Shirley was invited to the

memorial service in California,

but she didn't take the bait.

So, finally, she was charged.

She was arrested

in St. John's, Newfoundland,

on December 12, 2001,

and was let go on bail

the very same day.

And then this flight risk.

It seemed to me common sense

that if she isn't

in the jurisdiction

where they want her, she's fled.

Crown Prosecutor Mike Madden

did not even argue

against her release on bail

and instead entered

the courtroom

with an agreement already

in place for her release.

Pending the next hearing

in the extradition process

to the United States,

all Justice David Russell

required Shirley to do

was post $75,000 in sureties.

$65,000 of this was posted

by her personal psychiatrist,

but I'll come back to him.

Turn in her passports,

sign in once a week

at the local police station,

promise not to leave

Newfoundland,

and avoid contact

with these people.

And with that,

the government of Canada

let a probable pre-meditated

first-degree murderer

walk the streets.

- I thought it was crazy.

- Should never be.

- Should never have been.

- I thought it was insane.

Who the hell

is the system protecting?

I could not believe

this was happening.

But the most unbelievable part

was when we found out about you.

Kurt, this is Matt Oetinger.

I just got a call

from Mrs. Bagby.

The abbreviated version is

what's her bucket, that b*tch,

held a press conference

and announced

she's 4 months pregnant

with Andrew's baby.

They can't prove it

until the child's born.

If it is true, the Bagbys

are going to sue for custody.

My movie now took on

a whole new meaning.

It was no longer just my search

for what was left of your dad.

It might be the only way you

could one day go back in time,

see, and get to know him.

This is a time machine.

Yes.

A time machine.

And I vowed to collect

every memory for you

before they were gone.

So, finally, I set off.

First, I would go to England

to interview your grandma's

side of the family for you.

Then I'd return to the U.S.

to do an epic road trip

across North America.

I'd start on the west coast

of California and motor east,

stopping to interview all of

your dad's friends and family

along the way.

And I would keep driving

until the land ran out

in St. John's, Newfoundland,

the eastern-most point

in all of North America,

where the last living piece

of Andrew, you,

would be waiting for me.

I grabbed

a digital video camera,

a 16mm wind-up movie camera,

and an old Nikon.

I have a good idea.

I'll go back in time

and stop you from dying.

And set off on a quest

to bring your dad back to life.

And while I raced to rescue

your history,

your grandma and grandpa

quit their jobs,

dug into their savings,

and gave up everything

to move to Newfoundland

to fight for your future.

I met Kate and David

in the spring of 2002.

I'll never forget it.

They needed a lawyer

to assist them

in making sure that their rights

and the baby's rights

were protected, I guess.

I instantly liked them.

I thought

that it was so important

that they have a relationship

with that child.

Our lawyer Jackie

went to see Betty Day,

an administrator somewhere

in the hierarchy

of Child Protective Services,

and told her that we,

the Bagbys,

are concerned

about the safety of the baby

because the mother is accused

of a pre-meditated murder.

To me, I thought they were

very emotionally intelligent

in how they were bearing up

under all of this

incredible stress.

You know,

that was a Sunday afternoon.

The next morning,

they had to sit in the courtroom

and look at her.

When your grandma and grandpa

first arrived in Canada,

they were told,

"The law is slow."

And they weren't kidding.

February 15th.

Prosecutor Mike Madden

acknowledged

that the extradition request

had been received.

They adjourned until March 11th,

when they decided

they'd reconvene

to select a date

for the extradition hearing

on March 25th,

where they decided

to set the date

for the extradition hearing

for May 27th, where they got

caught up debating

the French-versus-English

translations

of Section 32

of the Extradition Act,

and decided to adjourn

for a specific translation

until June 11th,

a hearing

which lasted five minutes,

at which Judge Derek Green

said he wasn't in a position

to rule on the translation

and they would adjourn again

until July 30th.

And while they waited for

justice and for you to arrive,

your grandma and grandpa made

a new home and new friends.

They made friends

all over St. John's.

People in the legal community,

the medical community.

But here at St. Michael's,

yeah, they got right in there

and got right involved.

It seems like

they've always been here.

Basically, they have more

friends in Newfoundland now

than we do.

Well,

it's a very small province.

The land mass is as big as...

Well, maybe not quite as big

as California,

but not far off.

And yet we only have

scattered over that land mass.

You can't go anywhere

in St. John's

without running into somebody

you know.

I mean, it's the oldest city

in North America.

It's a very safe place, I think.

The big drawback

against living here

is getting out of here.

The weather here is terrible.

The weather is awful.

We have 8 months of winter

and 4 months of bad weather.

And the other very consistent

thing that I hear

is that the people

are so friendly.

How would you describe them

to someone who had

never met them before?

Oh, do you have an hour?

I was hoping you would ask me

about Kate and David,

who are very...

Young at heart.

Childish.

That's not the right word.

He's an engineer

in the truest sense of the word.

The guy likes Pintos, okay?

Logical.

Does things in steps,

logical steps.

Comparing Andrew as a teenager

and Dave as a teenager,

- they're almost twins.

- He's the older model.

- It was wonderful.

- It was wonderful.

He always calls you "mate,"

his father does. "Mate."

"How you doing, mate?"

And Kate calls you "love."

Oh, I thought she was feisty.

Like a little ball of fire.

She's so tiny, and then

big things come out of her.

It's great if she's on your side

because she'll always stand

up for what she believes in

and those that she loves.

They're a rare pair.

They were from the start.

In itself, it's quite a story,

their marriage, you know.

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