In November 1972, Antony Baekeland fatally stabbed his mother, Barbara Daly Baekeland. Eight years later, he attacked his grandmother with a knife before taking his own life in prison.
Savage GraceAntony and Barbara Daly Baekeland had a tumultuous mother-son relationship that culminated in murder.
Antony Baekeland was the only son of Barbara Daly Baekeland, an American socialite known for her beauty. His great-grandfather was Leo Baekeland, the man who invented the first fully synthetic plastic. Antony’s life should have been one of privilege and ease — but that’s not how things turned out.
As a young adult, Antony began showing signs of paranoid schizophrenia. His father refused to pay for psychiatric treatment, while his mother tried to “cure” what she perceived to be his problem — his homosexuality — by encouraging him to hire female sex workers. Rumors even spread that Barbara tried to seduce Antony herself.
Of course, none of this helped Antony. His mental health continued to spiral until he snapped in November 1972 and stabbed Barbara to death. He was admitted to Broadmoor Hospital, England’s notorious psychiatric facility, but he was released to live with his grandmother in New York in 1980. Then, Antony tried to kill her, too.
Antony Baekeland took his own life in prison in 1981, at age 34. He was found in his cell with a plastic bag wrapped tightly around his head. The very material that had brought his family so much wealth had also brought about his demise.
A Family Built On Wealth And Instability
Antony Baekeland was born into one of New York’s most prominent social families. His father, Brooks Baekeland, was the grandson of inventor Leo Baekeland and an heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. His mother, Barbara Daly Baekeland, was a well-known socialite who moved easily through elite circles and modeled for the top fashion magazines of the time.
From the outside, their life looked polished. They had plenty of money and spent their time traveling between Europe’s most glamorous cities. But beneath the surface, the family was deeply unstable.
Public DomainLeo Baekeland, Antony Baekeland’s great-grandfather, on the cover of TIME in 1924.
Barbara was known for her volatile personality, sudden outbursts, and long struggles with depression. She drank heavily, and she made multiple suicide attempts over the years. Both parents were also unfaithful, and their marriage slowly unraveled under the weight of the dysfunction.
Although they maintained a home in New York, the Baekelands spent much of their time abroad. The family lived a nomadic, high-end lifestyle, spending time in London, Paris, Switzerland, and Italy. For Antony, childhood was less about stability and more about constant movement and emotional unpredictability. At the same time, his adolescent mind was undergoing similar turmoil — and soon, it would all boil over.
The Troubled Relationship Of Antony Baekeland And Barbara Daly Baekeland
As Antony Baekeland grew older, his relationship with his mother became increasingly intense. Barbara grew fixated on his sexuality, believing he was either gay or bisexual, and took it upon herself to “cure” him.
In 1967, 20-year-old Antony reportedly became involved with an Australian man named Jake Cooper. Cooper denied a sexual relationship, though he did introduce Antony to hallucinogenic drugs. When Barbara learned of the situation, she immediately brought her son home.
Find a GraveBarbara Daly Baekeland with Antony as an infant.
Once Antony was back under her control, Barbara began orchestrating situations meant to change his sexuality. She encouraged his relationship with a young Spanish woman named Sylvie. Instead, Sylvie became involved with Brooks, which contributed to the final collapse of the Baekelands’ marriage. Brooks divorced Barbara in 1968 and later married Sylvie.
Still convinced she could change her son, Barbara escalated her efforts. She reportedly hired sex workers in an attempt to force Antony into heterosexual encounters. According to Barbara, she even attempted to intervene personally, though those claims were widely disputed and never proven.
In 2008, Sam Green, an American art curator and director who had a brief affair with Barbara in the late 1960s, wrote about these incest rumors in the Daily Mail: “She started telling people she had had an incestuous relationship with her son as a way of ‘curing’ him of homosexuality. One of her friends said: ‘Sons and lovers — nobody knows the difference anymore.’ But I don’t believe she had sex with Tony. I think she simply enjoyed shocking people.”
What is clear is that the relationship between mother and son had become deeply enmeshed, controlling, and emotionally unhealthy.
The Murder Of Barbara Daly Baekeland
As the family continued to fracture, Antony Baekeland’s mental state deteriorated further. He began showing signs of paranoia and schizophrenia, becoming increasingly disconnected from reality. Despite his condition, his father initially refused psychiatric intervention, dismissing mental health treatment as unnecessary.
Without consistent care, Antony’s behavior became more unstable. In one incident in July 1972, Antony attempted to push his mother into traffic. He failed only because of intervention from a bystander. Barbara refused to press charges.
Wikimedia CommonsBarbara Daly Baekeland was an American socialite and model.
Antony was briefly admitted to a psychiatric hospital after the murder attempt, but he was released not long after. Even then, professionals warned that his condition was serious and worsening. One psychiatrist cautioned Barbara directly that her son was capable of murder.
Antony himself later wrote of this turbulent summer. In a letter to his grandmother printed in the 1985 true crime biography Savage Grace, Antony admitted, “An odd thing is that she told me that I would kill her this summer several times. I thought this the most unlikely thing in the world.”
Tragically, Barbara’s premonitions turned out to be true.
On Nov. 17, 1972, Antony and Barbara got into an argument at their apartment in the Chelsea district of London. As Antony described in his letter to his grandmother:
“During the time preceding what happened a lot of rather strange things were happening. I think my mind was slightly wacky and I was very much under my mother’s powerful influence. I felt as though she were controlling my mind… I can’t remember exactly what started the fight… [S]he ran into the bedroom where I hit her, then she ran into the kitchen. I ran after her and stabbed her with the kitchen knife that was lying on the table… It was horrible — I held her hand and she would not look or speak to me. Then she died.”
Barbara Daly Baekeland was 51 years old. When the police arrived, Antony was reportedly on the phone ordering Chinese takeout.
The case drew significant attention, not only because of the violence but also because of the prominent family behind it. Antony’s attorneys argued that severe mental illness played a central role in the killing. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and the court ultimately accepted his defense of diminished responsibility.
Instead of prison, he was committed to Broadmoor Hospital, a high-security psychiatric institution in England. Opinions about his condition varied. Some saw him as a deeply ill man who was failed by his parents, while others believed he remained a serious danger regardless of his diagnosis.
The New York TimesA clipping from a November 1972 issue of The New York Times reporting on Antony Baekeland’s arrest.
Antony Baekeland remained at Broadmoor for eight years, but in 1980, he was released to the care of Barbara’s mother, Nini Daly, in New York. Unfortunately, tragedy almost immediately struck again.
Antony Baekeland’s Violent Final Years
As soon as Antony arrived in New York City in July 1980, concerns about his mental state resurfaced. He became increasingly erratic, isolating himself and reportedly constructing a shrine to his deceased mother.
Just six days after his release from Broadmoor, history repeated itself when Antony attacked Nini with a kitchen knife. He stabbed her eight times, but she survived. Antony was arrested and held on Rikers Island to await trial.
IFC FilmsJulianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne portrayed Barbara Daly Baekeland and Antony Baekeland in the 2007 film Savage Grace.
On March 20, 1981, a hearing was scheduled to determine if Antony could be released on bail. However, there was a delay in the transfer of his medical records from Broadmoor, and he was sent back to his cell.
Thirty minutes later, guards found 34-year-old Antony dead with a plastic bag wrapped tightly around his face.
In the end, Antony Baekeland’s life was consumed by the relationship with his mother that he could never escape, one that ultimately pushed him into violence and left tragedy in its wake. Their disturbing relationship later inspired books and the 2007 film Savage Grace, showing how a glamorous image can hide something far darker underneath.
After learning about Antony Baekeland, discover how Sam Elliott’s daughter Cleo Rose Elliott stabbed her mother, Katharine Ross. Then, go inside six infamous cases of incest.
