Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father Page #8

in Mr. Madden's response."

I'd taken Zachary to prison.

I'd sat in that same little room

with her.

And here I am

having to listen to this

and the judge fawn

on this woman.

And Welsh actually asked

an accused murderer

to promise she'd behave herself.

"If I make an order giving you

judicial interim release,

it would be on the basis that

you would not attempt to flee

or hide or avoid subsequent

judicial proceedings

related to this matter?"

"Yes."

"Is that completely understood

by you?"

"Yes, I completely understand."

And here are David and I

as if we don't even exist.

And we don't exist.

They don't care about us.

They don't even care

about the victim.

She concluded that...

And this is

from her written decision.

"Dr. Turner's detention

is not necessary

in the public interest.

While the offence

with which she is charged

is a violent and serious one,

it was not directed

at the public at large.

There is no indication

of a psychological disorder

that would give concern

about potential harm

to the public generally,

as her crime, while violent,

was specific in nature."

She is saying, in effect,

if I understand that sentence,

even if she did it, she's not

a danger to the community

because she's already killed

the only one she wanted to kill.

He's the one she was mad at.

He's dead.

So she's not likely

to kill again.

And I find that logic

absolutely atrocious.

Most of us do not kill people

who anger us.

We go kick a door,

scream and shout,

some of us throw a punch,

but we don't set them up

and kill them.

You have here a human being

who thinks they have the right

to kill other people

who anger them.

And you still let them out

in the general populace.

I find that appalling.

She was again let go

on $75,000 in sureties,

not one penny of which

had to be paid.

And with that,

the government of Canada

let a probable pre-meditated

first-degree murderer

walk the streets again.

And they gave you back to her.

And after that,

things got really weird.

We went and wrote

another consent order.

And we agreed

to a schedule of visits

with 3 or 4 hours

three times a week

and an overnight

every two weeks.

We got them to let us have

more contact with Shirley

- in order to...

- Pass him back and forth.

Otherwise,

we never could have done it.

Because we've always had to

arrange for a third party.

And then that third party

would be not available.

And we saw that we'd never get

visits with the baby

because she could always find

a reason

that there was nobody there,

you know?

So this evolved into us actually

spending a great deal of time

with Shirley Turner.

In order to be around Zachary.

- What kind of things did you do?

- Go to the mall.

Go to the movies.

Swimming lessons we took him to.

She came here, bold as brass,

coming to be "in our face"

kind of thing.

I had enormous fears for them.

I had a fear that Shirley

would go for them.

And they didn't seem to be

worried for themselves.

In fact, they said they weren't.

That, at this point,

that they didn't care.

Can you describe what that

process was like for you?

- Disgusting!

- Oh, disgusting.

But going up to the door,

I mean, was...

Having to be with her...

...was just nauseating.

We religiously did not talk

about the case.

She'd try to suck us

into conversation.

Like, she'd talk about,

"Was Andrew's hair light

when he was a baby?"

And we'd just shut up.

I thought it

was like being at war.

Nobody wants to do it,

but you got to do it.

So facing this b*tch...

...that's the price

we had to pay

to make sure we had a good

connection with Zachary.

He knew us.

We knew him.

So that when she finally

went to prison...

...he'd have a smooth transition

into our life.

I just feel awe about that.

I can't...

I don't know how they did it,

Kurt.

I don't know how they did it,

but I know why they did it.

And, finally, after thousands

of miles and memories,

on a rainy Sunday afternoon,

we met.

Hello, bud!

Hello!

This is your Uncle Kurt.

Hi, buddy.

He knew your daddy

when he was a little boy.

It's Uncle Kurt.

It's okay.

Is there anything that you

would like to say to Zachary?

Oh, wow.

Without tearing up here?

First of all,

I saw your pictures.

And you are a very cute kid,

and you look

exactly like Andrew.

Definitely the cheeky

Andrew face, definitely.

Zachary,

you're a lucky little boy.

And you're

an unfortunate little boy.

Your father,

who you'll never know,

was such an amazing guy.

And he touched so many people

in such a short period of time.

It's not just stories.

He was a real person.

Quite frankly,

don't let anybody lie to you.

Wouldn't eat anything green

until he went away to college.

Zachary is asleep

in the other room.

He's spending the night.

And you're

an unfortunate little boy

because you're more

than likely to grow up

without your biological father

or your biological mother.

But with a little bit of luck,

you'll get to grow up

with Andrew's parents.

And let me tell you this.

They did the most amazing job.

You couldn't ask

for two better people.

Grandma loves you,

yes, she does

Granddad loves you,

yes, he does

Daddy loves you,

yes, he does

Uncle Kurt's here,

he loves you, too

We all love you, all we can

Darling, darling little man

So, from that perspective,

you're the luckiest little boy

in the world.

They love you

more than life itself.

And if you ever need anything,

I'm not far away either.

And know that we'll be there

for you

in every way that he can't be.

Zach, when you're old enough

and you watch this,

if you ever want to talk with me

personally

or you want to come and see me,

you have an open invitation

and you should know that.

And you're loved

and I love you

and I care about the person

you're gonna become.

We love him, and we do simple

things like send him books.

- Happy Birthday!

- Can't wait to meet him.

I hope to get the chance

to meet you.

Oh, I hope I'm Uncle Ken

to Zachary.

'Cause if you're anything like

Andrew, it's gonna be good.

I think you'll turn out

just great.

It says "Student Affairs."

Are you a student?

Who knows? Maybe someday

you'll be applying here

to the Faculty of Medicine.

Does this look exciting?

We're gonna do an interview.

Even though

things started tragically,

you know, he's the blessing

Andrew left behind.

I parked the van two blocks away

'cause it was

the only vehicle for miles

with California plates

and would give away to Shirley

that I was in town.

- Sort of a stealth van, you see.

- Exactly.

If she knew, I was afraid

she would find excuses

to withhold you

so that I couldn't see you.

Every time the doorbell rang,

I hid in the back bedroom,

as it could have been her

just dropping by unannounced.

Hi, David. Hi, Kate.

This is Shirley.

On the days we didn't have you,

I discovered your dad's

medical-school world,

met his classmates, found

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