State police allege that an angry Iowa physician flew from Pennsylvania to Iowa, turned around and drove 16 hours back to Latrobe to kill the lover who had spurned her days before. State police Thursday charged Dr. Shirley Turner, 40, of Council Bluffs, with the Nov. 5 murder of Dr. Andrew Bagby, 28, a first-year resident at Latrobe Area Hospital. Bagby's body was found Nov. 6 in Keystone State Park in Derry Township. He had been shot five times in the head, chest and rectum, and suffered a head injury. In announcing Turner's arrest at a news conference, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said troopers amassed some "very positive evidence" linking Turner to Bagby's murder despite finding little physical evidence at the scene. "We feel very strongly we have a very solid case," said Capt. Frank Monaco, commander of Troop A in Greensburg. "Their relationship was coming to an end." Turner, who holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenships, is in Newfoundland, according to police. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has been notified of the charge, but Turner is not in custody, according to Peck. Peck said he will begin extradition proceedings to return Turner to Pennsylvania to face a first-degree murder charge, a process that could be "involved and complicated." That could take some time, he said. Peck must persuade Canadian authorities that the evidence against Turner is credible before a judge in Ottawa will allow her to be extradited. But Peck already has removed one hurdle. He will not seek the death penalty against Turner if she's convicted. Peck said the Canadian government is reluctant to extradite its citizens to the United States if they face possible execution. If Turner is convicted, she faces life without parole. Turner's attorney, Julianne Dunn-Herzog of Omaha, Neb., conceded that her client spent a week with Bagby in Latrobe before returning to Iowa on Nov. 3. But troopers Mike McElfresh, Randall Gardner and Kirk Nolan were able to trace Turner's alleged return automobile trip to Latrobe and subsequent return to Iowa by using cellular telephone records to trace her journey. Troopers allege that Turner began her return trip to Latrobe on Nov. 4. According to an affidavit accompanying the charge, she made two calls on her way back to Pennsylvania on Nov. 4 from Chicago. She made a third call to Bagby the same day from South Bend, Ind. Records also indicate Turner made a call from Pittsburgh on Nov. 5, even though she told state police she was not in Pennsylvania the day of Bagby's murder. "These records indicate Dr. Turner's path of travel to Pennsylvania," McElfresh stated in the criminal complaint. The phone records also revealed Turner made calls from Cleveland on Nov. 5 and the next day from Stuart, Iowa. "These records indicate her path of travel back to Iowa," said McElfresh. Dr. T. Clark Simpson, the chief resident at Latrobe Area Hospital, told state police that Bagby told him Turner had showed up unexpectedly at his apartment at 5 a.m. Nov. 5. "Bagby appeared to be angered by her arrival, according to Simpson," police stated in the affidavit. Meanwhile, investigators have been searching for a gun they believe is the murder weapon, a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun purchased by Turner in Iowa. According to the affidavit, Turner has given conflicting and incriminating statements to police and others. On Nov. 6, Turner told Gardner by telephone she had the weapon in Iowa and said she would turn over the gun to the Council Bluffs police the next day. Before Iowa detectives reached her home, Turner had called Gardner and said the gun was missing. On Nov. 7, she changed her story again. Turner told Gardner she had given the gun to Bagby, "but she didn't specify when or why," according to the affidavit. Another witness linking Turner to the missing gun is a Council Bluffs firearms instructor, Paul Fryett. State police interviewed Fryett, who said he taught Turner how to shoot using the missing weapon. Fryett also said Turner unexpectedly called him on Nov. 6 and told him that her gun was missing. Fryett, according to the affidavit, said Turner also admitted lying to police about the gun. Police interviewed a mutual friend of Bagby and Turner in Nova Scotia who told investigators that Turner admitted to him she had seen Bagby on Nov. 5. Chad Timothy Nelson Burkhart said Turner called him on Nov. 9 and told him she had spent a week with Bagby and the visit "went well." Bagby's body was found early in the morning of Nov. 6 in Keystone State Park. The night before, William Smith of Derry Township was walking along the main road through the park and saw Bagby's Toyota Camry parked next to a sport utility vehicle in the lot near the boat launch area, state police said. The next morning, Smith was walking in the same area and saw Bagby's car still parked there, but the other vehicle was missing. State police said they later learned that Turner drove a late model Toyota RAV 4. Dunn-Herzog said she officially learned her client was a suspect when McElfresh telephoned her on Wednesday. She said her client has cooperated in the investigation. "That was the first knowledge she was a suspect," Dunn-Herzog said. "The Pennsylvania State Police said they wanted to speak with her to clarify a few matters. "She was not in any condition to talk. I asked the trooper if she was a suspect or not and he said, 'Yes, I guess she is.' That was the first time." Dunn-Herzog said Turner returned to Newfoundland several weeks ago because her son was injured in an auto accident. She said the boy was discharged Wednesday from a Canadian hospital. She confirmed that Bagby and Turner were romantically involved and described them as "very dear friends" who went on occasional vacations together. Turner did not attend a memorial service for Bagby earlier this month in Latrobe. However, Peck said Turner did attend a service for Bagby held at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where they attended medical school together. Turner, according to her attorney, was born in the United States to Canadian parents. She was raised in Daniel's Harbour, Newfoundland, a remote fishing area on the province's west coast. She has been married and divorced twice and has two children who live in Newfoundland. Turner was a schoolteacher for 11 years before enrolling in medical school, her attorney said. Bagby was born in St. Louis, but grew up in Sunnyvale, Calif. - the heart of Silicon Valley, where his father, David, works as a software engineer. After graduating from medical school, the physicians worked together at a hospital in Syracuse, N.Y. Bagby then began a three-year residency in family medicine at Latrobe and Turner moved to Sac City, Iowa, to work at Loring Hospital. She moved to Council Bluffs and worked at a clinic operated by Alegent Health there. Dunn-Herzog said Turner has taken a leave of absence.

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