A new documentary airing on CBC this month explores an extraordinary partnership that has been forged in the aftermath of the death of a beloved local father and husband who was killed at a house party.
The documentary which airs on the main CBC network on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m., looks at the relationship between Katy Hutchison, the widow of lawyer Bob McIntosh, and the man who was convicted for his homicide, Ryan Aldrige.
Much has changed in the nine years since McIntosh was killed on New Year's Eve 1997.
The investigation and subsequent trial took years, and when the process was over Aldrige had been convicted of manslaughter. He has since served his time and been released from prison.
Much has changed in Hutchison's life as well, from her remarriage to her lawyer, Michael Hutchison to her work with Aldridge, who appears with her presenting The Story of Bob in auditoriums across the country, relating to many people, including troubled youths, the impact that such a tragedy can have on people's lives.
"My interest in this story would date back to 2003, when I read a piece in the paper about Katy," said the film's producer, Sue Rideout. "It was about what she was doing with presentations on the aftermath of an event like this. Katy mentioned that she would like Ryan Aldridge, who by then had been convicted of manslaughter in the case, to join her onstage.
"When I read that, I thought it would make a great documentary. So I met with Katy, talked to the CBC about making a documentary, and started filming with Katy and Ryan.
The first filming was done in November 2004, with principal photography finishing in late 2006.
Along the way director Helen Slingers joined the process.
"I became involved in the spring of 2005," said Slingers."One of the reasons I wanted to be involved is what Sue had in mind was an intimate documentary and getting as close to our subjects, in this case Katie and Ryan, as possible.
"It is always an interesting balance about how close we can get to the people we follow in documentaries or for stories."The pair both have experience as journalists working for, among other organizations, the CBC.
"We are both old newsies, and we've seen so many of these traumatic events, and you always wonder how people make it through," said Slingers. "I always thought about that, about how family members somehow manage to on through real tragedy."
The film also provided the pair with opportunity to look at how people who have endured horrific situations continue on.
"It's not simply about the immediate family going through the act of grieving," said Rideout. "It is in these instances of tragedy, and particularly homicide, about how it affects such a huge number of people."
"In the documentary," adds Slingers "we use the analogy of dropping a pebble into a river - actually it's the Cheakamus River - and how that ripples out affecting such a large area."
Aldridge and Hutchison do not tour together constantly, however they do put on a number of presentations together over the course of each year, and the documentary focuses considerably on those encounters.
The filmmakers did their best to design the documentary as an intimate psychological portrait of Hutchison and of Aldrige."He was convicted of manslaughter and he served two-thirds of his sentence, prior to parole," said Rideout. "I think Ryan is a real example of moving on."
However, the filmmakers did their best to ensure that the scope of the film went far beyond just that pair.
"The reason I wanted to make the documentary in the first place was that it was very complex story," noted Rideout. "People tend to think of these types of things in terms of the victim and the perpetrator. This documentary strongly demonstrates that it is much more nuanced."
"It had a huge impact on the community at the time," added Slingers. "I was attracted by the movie because Sue intended to spend a lot of time on this and really show the many layers to something like this."
Both contend that the aftermath of tragedy reaches far into a community, having a significant impact not only on the families immediately involved, but also friends, teachers, colleagues, the police and even journalists covering the case.
"This could be a healing piece for people who went though this difficult time in Squamish," said Rideout.
