Barbara Daly Baekeland

Barbara Daly Baekeland (September 28, 1921 – November 17, 1972) was a wealthy American socialite who was murdered by her son, Antony "Tony" Baekeland.

She was the ex-wife of Brooks Baekeland, who was the grandson of Leo Baekeland, inventor of Bakelite plastic.

She was murdered at her London home when her son Antony stabbed her with a kitchen knife, killing her almost instantly.

Antony was found at the scene of the crime, and later confessed to and was charged with her murder.

Barbara Daly was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In January 1933, when Barbara was aged 11, her father, Frank, committed suicide by carbon Monoxide poisoning from the exhaust of his car in the garage.

After the life insurance payment had been collected, Barbara and her mother moved to New York City, taking up residence in the Delmonico Hotel.

As a young woman living in New York City, Barbara became a prominent socialite.

She was recognized for her beauty, posing for painters and modeling with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

Her social status and beauty resulted in frequent invitations to high society parties, allowing her to date various wealthy admirers.

She also had mental health problems like her mother, and was a private patient of psychiatrist Foster Kennedy.

An invitation to Hollywood for a screen test with the actor Dana Andrews did not lead to film stardom, but did lead to a friendship with fellow aspiring actress Cornelia "Dickie" Baekeland.

She introduced Barbara to her younger brother Brooks, a trainee pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

After Barbara falsely told Brooks Baekeland that she was pregnant, the couple quickly married in California.

At the time of the marriage, Barbara listed her profession as painter, while Brooks listed his as writer.

After the marriage the couple set up home in a luxury apartment in the Upper East Side of New York, where they held extravagant dinner parties for their friends, who included Greta Garbo, Tennessee Williams, William Styron, and Yasmin Aga Khan.

Over time, Barbara became well known to many for her unstable personality, rude outbursts, and bouts of severe depression.

She also drank heavily, and both she and her husband participated in extramarital affairs.

Barbara gave birth to a son, Antony Baekeland, on August 28, 1946.

From the summer of 1954 onward, with Antony aged eight, the Baekeland family led a nomadic seasonal existence, maintaining their home in New York while being mainly based in Europe.

Renting houses and villas in London, Paris, Zermatt, Cap d'Antibes, and many parts of Italy, Barbara and Brooks continued to live extravagantly, entertain guests, and have affairs.

From 1960 onward, the family's main base was an apartment in Paris, where during one party, Brooks met an English diplomat's daughter who was 15 years his junior.

After Brooks requested a divorce and Barbara subsequently tried to commit suicide, Brooks terminated the affair.

In 1967, with the family based in Switzerland and the Catalan resort of Cadaques in Spain, the 20-year-old Antony met Jake Cooper, a bisexual Australian man.

Cooper introduced Antony to various hallucinogenic drugs, which they traveled to Morocco to obtain.

Antony and Cooper also allegedly began an affair at this time, though this is denied by Cooper.

When Mrs. Baekeland was informed of this by her friend Barbara Curteis, she traveled by car to Spain to bring her son back to Switzerland.

However, at the French border, Antony was found not to have his passport.

After the ensuing fracas, both Antony and Barbara were arrested and placed in jail.

Returning to Spain, Barbara accepted the extent of her son's relationship with Cooper, but preferred his developing relationship with a young Spanish girl, Sylvie.

However, Sylvie then started an affair with Barbara's husband Brooks.

After discovering the affair in February 1968, Barbara again tried to commit suicide.

Brooks decided that he had had enough of Barbara's behavior and again, pursued a divorce.

This led Barbara to severe depression and another suicide attempt, from which her friend Gloria Jones, wife of author James Jones, saved her.

Brooks married Sylvie and had one son.

They later divorced and he married Susan Baekeland.

In 1969, Barbara met noted pop art curator Samuel Adams Green, with whom she started an affair.

When later introduced to her son Antony, Green was very unimpressed by his artistic capabilities.

After six weeks, Green broke off the relationship, although Barbara was still obsessed with him.

She pursued Green relentlessly; when she returned to the United States that Fall, she walked barefoot across Central Park in the snow wearing nothing but a Lynx fur coat to demand entry to his apartment.