Shirley Turner


Book Description

On November 6, 2001, Dr. Andrew Bagby was found dead in a parking lot for day use at Keystone State Park in Derry Township, Pennsylvania. He had been shot to death. There were five gunshot wounds as well as blunt force trauma to the back of the head. He had been shot in both the face and chest as well as the back of the head, back and buttocks. He was left face down in the parking lot in his scrubs, next to his Toyota Corolla. He died there. The bizarre murder case of Andrew Bagby entails far more than death, although it has that threefold. It also brought to light a woefully inept Canadian legal system and the frighteningly dark mental descent of a woman scorned. While evidence was steadily mounting against her, Dr. Shirley Turner dropped everything, left her car, apartment and every worldly possession, and went back to Canada. By the time Pennsylvania had an open warrant on her, she was in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. There, she gave birth to Andrew's son, Zachary. While in jail, she wrote to a judge. Against legal precedent, this judge wrote her back and gave her legal advice on how to proceed with her case. The United States presented evidence of her crimes and their investigation and findings thus far. It was overwhelming. Her lies were exposed, her gun casings matched and witnesses placed her car next to his at the time of the murder. What happened next is one of the strangest decisions in legal history.




The Destroying Angel


Book Description

A blistering story of surviving, and overcoming, the worst kinds of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual. Shirley Turner tells her own story, from a squalid childhood in Maine, to a forced marriage and motherhood, constantly moving from place to place with her controlling husband. Ironically, it is becoming a mother that brings her greatest happiness, and also her greatest tragedy. This is a journey of triumph, a story that exalts the incredible courage of one human being who refused to buckle under a barrage of despair, hatred, and trauma, inspired by the one pure love of her life.




Dance with the Devil


Book Description

Immortalized in the acclaimed documentary Dear Zachary, this brutally honest memoir chronicles a system’s failure to prevent the murder of a child. In November 2001, the bullet-riddled body of a young doctor named Andrew Bagby was discovered in Keystone State Park outside Latrobe, Pennsylvania. For parents Dave and Kate, the pain was unbearable—but Andrew’s murder was only the beginning of the tragedy they endured. The chief suspect for Andrew’s murder was his ex-girlfriend Shirley Turner. Obsessive and unstable, Shirley lied to police and fled to Newfoundland before she could be arrested. While fending off extradition efforts by U.S. law enforcement, she announced she was pregnant with Andrew's son, Zachary. Hoping to gain custody of the child, the Bagbys moved to Newfoundland. They began a drawn-out court battle to protect their grandson from the woman who had almost certainly murdered their son. Then, in August 2003, Shirley killed herself and the one-year-old Zachary by jumping into the Atlantic Ocean. Dance with the Devil is David Bagby’s eulogy for a dead son, an elegy for lives cut tragically short, and a castigation of a broken system. “[An] incendiary cri de coeur.”—The New York Times DANCE WITH THE DEVIL is a eulogy for a dead son, an elegy for lives cut tragically short, and a castigation of a broken system.




Parents Who Kill - Shocking True Stories of The World's Most Evil Parents


Book Description

The bond between parent and child is the strongest natural connection imaginable. But in rare and shocking cases, that bond can be brutally broken. The Philpott family, 'baby P' and jasmine Beckford are just three cases that have made a nation's blood run cold. But what could possibly drive a parent to commit the cruellest crime of all - the killing of their own child.In Parents Who Kill, renowned crime expert Carol Anne Davis explores the motives behind an act which flies in the face of all reason and instinct. This timely study examines some of the most harrowing cases documented in recent legal history, ranging from tragic negligence to more culturally specific instances of religious honour killings for 'sexual deviancy'.Update to include analysis of the most recent case of Mick and Mairead Philpott, who killed six of their children after setting fire to their own home, Davis casts a forensically objective eye over powerful themes encompassing jealousy, insanity, greed and everything in between. But this is more than just a study in the macabre. David shows great compassion and insight to reveal the psychology behind disability, mercy killings and post-natal depression, whilst in a final conclusion she proposes solutions to these issues and potentially life-saving avenues of help.Parents Who Kill is the compendium for anyone seeking to answer the hardest queston: 'What could possibly turn a parent into a killer?.'Carol Anne Davis writes with dangerous authority about the deadly everyday...You've got to read her.' - IAN RANKIN




The Fringe Hours


Book Description

Every woman has had this experience: you get to the end of the day and realize you did nothing for you. And if you go days, weeks, or even months in this cycle, you begin to feel like you have lost a bit of yourself. While life is busy with a litany of must-dos--work, parenting, keeping house, grocery shopping, laundry and on and on--women do not have to push their own needs aside. Yet this is often what happens. There's just no time, right? Wrong. In this practical and liberating book, Jessica Turner empowers women to take back pockets of time they already have in their day in order to practice self-care and do the things they love. Turner uses her own experiences and those of women across the country to teach readers how to balance their many responsibilities while still taking time to invest in themselves. She also addresses barriers to this lifestyle, such as comparison and guilt, and demonstrates how eliminating these feelings and making changes to one's schedule will make the reader a better wife, mother, and friend. Perfect for any woman who is doing everything for everyone--except herself--The Fringe Hours is ideal for both individuals and small group use.




Black Folklore and the Politics of Racial Representation


Book Description

Before the innovative work of Zora Neale Hurston, folklorists from the Hampton Institute collected, studied, and wrote about African American folklore. Like Hurston, these folklorists worked within but also beyond the bounds of white mainstream institutions. They often called into question the meaning of the very folklore projects in which they were engaged. Shirley Moody-Turner analyzes this output, along with the contributions of a disparate group of African American authors and scholars. She explores how black authors and folklorists were active participants—rather than passive observers—in conversations about the politics of representing black folklore. Examining literary texts, folklore documents, cultural performances, legal discourse, and political rhetoric, Black Folklore and the Politics of Racial Representation demonstrates how folklore studies became a battleground across which issues of racial identity and difference were asserted and debated at the turn of the twentieth century. The study is framed by two questions of historical and continuing import. What role have representations of black folklore played in constructing racial identity? And, how have those ideas impacted the way African Americans think about and creatively engage black traditions? Moody-Turner renders established historical facts in a new light and context, taking figures we thought we knew—such as Charles Chesnutt, Anna Julia Cooper, and Paul Laurence Dunbar—and recasting their place in African American intellectual and cultural history.




Lincolnton


Book Description

Lincolnton was born as a starting point for westward expansion in the days when America's frontier was Western North Carolina and Tennessee. The first textile mill in the South was built in Lincolnton, and although the industry suffered early setbacks, by the late 19th century, mills dominated the local economy. Today, Lincolnton manages to maintain its quiet Southern small-town atmosphere while offering the opportunities of a bustling, thriving city. Lincolnton's early history is recorded in deeds, will books, journals, and letters. From the 1940s through the 1970s, Clyde R. "Baby Ray" Cornwell (1912-1987) captured Lincolnton in images that showcase mill villages, civic organizations, parades, local government, and residents. No distinctions between race, gender, or socioeconomic background were seen through his lens. All of the photographs in Images of America: Lincolnton are from the Clyde R. "Baby Ray" Cornwell Collection, part of the permanent collection of the Lincoln County Museum of History. In 2005 the Lincoln County Historical Association celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Lincoln County Museum of History was organized and is maintained by the historical association for the collection, presentation, and promotion of the county's rich historic heritage.




The Crisis


Book Description

The Crisis, founded by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP, is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color. For nearly 100 years, The Crisis has been the magazine of opinion and thought leaders, decision makers, peacemakers and justice seekers. It has chronicled, informed, educated, entertained and, in many instances, set the economic, political and social agenda for our nation and its multi-ethnic citizens.




Final Exams


Book Description

This book is an in-depth exploration of four fascinating true crime cases from the files of Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D. Coauthored by crime writer Dawna Kaufmann, it explores both the technical and the human sides of murder--and includes new and shocking revelations for each case. Presented first is the puzzling death of a wealthy self-help guru at the hands of "The Harlem Kevorkian" and the case's latest legal ramifications. Next is the abduction of a little girl, held captive within shouting distance of her loved ones, and her killer's bizarre trial. The third case is the story of a relative who refused to give up on solving the vicious murder of a popular dentist when law enforcement tried to cover up the crime. Last is an unimaginable tale of two heroic grandparents who worked to save a baby from the depths of evil.




The African American Woman Golfer


Book Description

The African American Woman Golfer: Her Legacy gives a brief historical overview of African American women in golf and examines the sport to uncover all African American women who have been involved in golf over the past 75 years. M. Mikell Johnson shows how these women-who were seemingly far removed from the white, male, privileged world of the country club-broke both color and gender barriers to become golfers. This book traces the history of how African American women got involved in golf. Title VI and Title IX alleviated some of the racial and financial burdens for some young women in high school and college athletics, allowing them to participate in all sports regardless of race, creed, or gender. Women's clubs also provided a stable foundation for female athletes in male-dominated sports. The misinformation, social apathy, financial encumbrances, and, finally, the role of the media in both promoting and preventing black women's opportunities in golf are discussed. The African American Woman Golfer: Her Legacy identifies over 300 women and their lives in golf. The author also profiles prominent golfers such as Althea Gibson, who crossed the LPGA color line; Helen Webb Harris, who created the first club for black women golfers; and Ann Gregory, who broke the USGA whites only clause in women's golf.