Savage Grace - Natalie Robins (52 page)
From Police Files
Nature of grandmother’s injuries: multiple (eight) stab wounds to chest, arms, and hand; fractured collarbone; multiple fractured ribs (four-five), causing breathing problem; bruises and abrasions. Confined to Lenox Hill Hospital.
Other members of family fear for their lives. Ask for remand.
Victim may not want to press charges. Told one police officer she still loved him.
From a Psychiatric Interview with Antony Baekeland, New York City, 1980
Oh, my grandmother survived. She has ways and means I know nothing about, but let’s forget about her and talk about homosexual relations.
I’m not going to call the hospital and find out how she’s doing—why should I call her? She talks to me all the time through the special power that she has.
From the Logbook, Sergeant Joseph Chinea, July 27, 1980
9:00 p.m. Defendant held over for a.m. 7/28 arraignment.
From the Arraignment, The People of the State of New York Against Antony Baekeland, Defendant, Criminal Court of the City of New York, County of New York, July 28, 1980
The Court:
Psychiatric examination ordered, administrative psychiatric segregation; suicide watch.
Headline, the
New York Times,
July 29
,
1980
E
X-PATIENT IS
H
ELD IN 2D
S
TABBING
Headline, New York
Daily News,
July 29
,
1980
H
E’S
C
HARGED WITH
S
TABBING
G
RANDMA AFTER
S
ERVING
T
IME IN
M
URDER OF
M
OM
Headline,
Daily Express,
London, July 29
,
1980
F
REED
B
ROADMOOR
P
ATIENT
A
CCUSED OF
U.S. M
URDER
B
ID
Dr. Frederick Baekeland
It was very much against my opinion and my advice that Tony was let out of Broadmoor without any adequate follow-up program set up. I’m not surprised that there was a problem eventually.
From
Broadmoor,
David Cohen, Psychology News Press, London, 1981
If an ex-patient commits a crime, the symphony of outrage from Fleet Street is loud and vicious. In 1980,
Now
magazine ran a dossier on Broadmoor “disasters” and identified twenty cases in which ex-patients had committed acts of violence after being released.
Michael Alexander
The papers in London attacked Dr. Maguire quite strongly over what happened with Tony. And Tony was described in the media here as “the mad axman of Broadmoor.” It was “the mad axman strikes again” sort of touch, you know. I got on to the papers about that. I said, “Look, that’s not the way to present this case. Dr. Maguire behaved extremely correctly under the circumstances.” I didn’t get very far. They stuck to their story.
Letter from Dr. Patrick G. McGrath to Miwa Svinka-Zielinski, Undated
Broadmoor
Dear Mrs. Svinka-Zielinski,
I have received your letter and clip from the
New York Times.
I have also heard from Antony’s father. Let me say straightaway how distressed we here all were to hear of Mrs. Daly’s injuries at the hands of Antony, but we are somewhat relieved to see from the report that she will recover.
I do hope that the whole family, including Antony, will recover from this incident which you rightly describe as a catastrophe.
Yours sincerely,
Patrick G. McGrath
Physician Superintendent
Letter from Dr. Thomas Maguire to Cecelia Brebner, Undated
Broadmoor
Dear Mrs. Brebner,
I am very grateful for your letter to me which gave me details of the tragic events. Strange to relate, I have had no further communication from anyone although I was expecting a request for a medical report and history from his present medical attendants. I wonder whether you have knowledge of subsequent events which you might pass on to me as of course I am intensely interested to learn from my faux pas.
Yours sincerely, Thomas Maguire
Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist
Dr. Thomas Maguire
He’s the only patient who ever backfired on me like that.
Heather Cohane
During the week he was in New York, Jack and I were on our boat in Italy, miles from any telephone or any communication. We didn’t know for a long time what had happened. And when I heard, I was upset for days, and the reason I was upset was because I had trusted my judgment. I just couldn’t believe it—the grandmother, the one person left that he loved!
Letter from Antony Baekeland to an unidentified friend, “Eryl,” written in police custody, 1980
Dear Eryl,
I am in trouble, I am sorry to say. The spirit which has been directing me has for a span been “misdirecting” me—not, I hope, to cause this grief, now passing, but in order to serve Mammon and the powers of disorder and wickedness, which through lack of eternal and infinite vision have tied knots in the fabric of life, or some, thank God, of it.
I have been held captive here for a very long span, thinking that I served the Power of Love when I had been lured into bondage and captivity by certain pleasures which may under correct direction prove creative and progressive, but which caused me great pain and grief, since I believed in those who held me in this state of being. I do not think for 2 minutes that the spirit that has been behind me wilfully caused my troubles, but that He was misled by those whom
He served, and so on. Indeed, my Whole Family here is of the House of Hades. So please will you keep your eye on me so I can come out.
Tony
Thilo von Watzdorf
Three weeks after I’d tried to call Tony at his grandmother’s and it just rang and rang with no answer, I tried the number again and this time somebody picked up. I said, “Is Tony Baekeland there?” And the voice said, “I’m his grandmother’s nurse. Something terrible happened. Tony is on Rikers Island. Would you like to speak with his grandmother?” I said no, I wouldn’t—I mean, I had never even met her. But
she
wanted to speak with
me.
She got right on the phone and she told me what had happened. She said, “Isn’t it terrible? I love Tony so much.”
RIKERS ISLAND
JULY 27–OCTOBER 31, 1980
THE MAJORITY OF NEW YORK CITY
inmates are housed on an island in the East River between the Bronx and Queens, known as Rikers Island. It originally belonged to a Dutch immigrant by the name of Jacob Ryker, who sold all of the original ninety acres to the city in 1885.
In 1900, a wood-frame construction suitable for one hundred prisoners was completed; soon afterward, wooden barracks capable of housing up to four hundred were added. By 1918, there were eight barracks on the island, as well as a stable, a guardhouse, a mess hall, and several employee buildings. Inmates labored on coal barges, iceboats, and garbage dumps, and on a hog farm located on the premises.
Eventually the workhouse aspect of Rikers Island was abandoned and in 1955 the island became known officially as the Penitentiary of the City of New York. Landfill increased its size to over four hundred acres and by the 1980s it was home to six major prison facilities—three for adult male inmates, one for females, one for adolescent boys, and a hospital. It also now contains a power plant, maintenance garage, firehouse, print shop, shoe-repair shop, tailor shop, laundry, and bakery. Eight days after his return from England, Tony Baekeland was entering a community not unlike Broadmoor.
Property Envelope, Department of Correction, City of New York
L
IST OF
P
ROPERTY
None
I Acknowledge The Surrender Of My Property As Listed Above
Date:
July
28, 1980
Signature of inmate:
Antony Baekeland
Floor and Cell Location Form, Department of Correction, City of New York
Date:
July 29, 1980
Floor:
Mental Observation
Cell:
Lower 6-8
Letter from Antony Baekeland to Shirley Cox, July 30
,
1980
Rikers Island
Dear Shirley,
More Horror. In case you don’t know what happened, this is it—by Tuesday I realized that it was no good. I had been up several nights reading in the Bible and was feeling very nervous. I began to hear Nini’s voice, clear as day coming from her room. (It felt just like a wolf gnawing at my entrails.) When I would go and ask her what she was saying, she said she had said nothing. I had
no one
to talk to—I had tried to give myself to Nini in various ways but it was no go. It was like having someone you loved right in the next room and thousands of miles away. Once in the middle of the night I had a very clear vision or memory of us (Nini and I) a long long time ago in our house in Italy, how we used to go hunting for pretty stones and leaves and things, and how we used to hold hands. I also remembered how my family sheds its blood (and each other’s blood) for one another. Anyway, I was in tears and I got up and quietly went into her room. She was asleep and I held her hand but she didn’t wake up.
Anyway, I finally realized I couldn’t stay, that it wouldn’t be right for either of us, and Sunday morning I went to her room and began telephoning for reservations for England. Please realize that I was in a
desperate
state of mind—many beautiful and terrifying spiritual things had been happening and I hadn’t slept properly for a week. N kept on at me and I warned her
three
times that if she wouldn’t be quiet I would throw the telephone at her. Anyway, finally my nerves broke and I threw the phone at her. She fell down and began to moan and I realized what I had done and that she had probably broken more bones. Then I felt that
all her suffering
in the past (hip, etc.) had been for
my sake
and that was too much to bear. I knew that if I gave her the
Coup de Grâce
God would take her Home and there would be no more misery. I tore into the kitchen, found a knife, rushed back, and tried to kill her but wasn’t strong enough and/or didn’t know how. Then I started screaming and praying and pleading with God to take her Home. I tried ringing the ambulance for
1
/2 hour without realizing that the phone was kaput. The poor darling asked me to straighten her legs which I did. Then Lena came and I told her to get an ambulance. The police came as well and took me away.
Shirley, if you do not want to speak to me or see me again I understand perfectly but I want you to know that I am as horrified as you are—believe me please. I am sure if I hadn’t been so alone it wouldn’t have happened, but it’s no use saying “if,” ever.
If you would like to help me could you get me my Bible, Shakespeare, & Spiritual Canticle by St. John of the Cross. They are on the table in the drawing room.
If you would like to visit I would like to hear how N is. Do ring up the place beforehand as I
may
be in court that day. My number: 349-80-4228. Could you send or bring any letters which may have come for me?
After it happened, at the police station and here, I continued to hear her voice, saying,
“Honi soit qui mal y pense,”
and other things.
I am better off here than I was at Nini’s. At least there is company. (Blacks and Puerto Ricans mainly.)
I am on Legal Aid but am hoping my lawyer will let me have him on a money basis as I feel unable to accept government help since I have money.
Please understand that
I
understand what a terrible thing this is for you, me, and any friends we may have.
Yours,
Tony (and of course, Nini)
Dr. Helene Weiss
I saw Tony Baekeland on July 29, 1980. At first he was generally cooperative, and then he just started to decompensate after a while. But he wasn’t what I would call crazy. Even though he was here on attempted murder, he was not basically a criminal personality per se. His acts had been done more out of passion than out of criminal pathology.
Letter from Brooks Baekeland to Nina Daly, July 29
,
1980
Block Island
Dear Nini,
I have heard of your new adventure with a heavy heart. That so much bravery and goodwill should be repaid that way! But I am very glad that you are out of danger. How you were able to defend yourself, only you and God know, but somehow you did.
I must tell you that I did not expect this. I knew of course that
Tony had not changed basically. His irrationality (and arrogance) continued to make a very bad impression on me, but I worried more about his ability to understand
what the world was like
and what he had to do to survive (or thrive) in it than I did about his acting out the violence of his nature again. It came to me as a surprise, although not apparently to Fred. I did however warn Maguire that Tony was dangerous when crossed. I received some very ugly letters from Tony whenever I seemed to frustrate what he deemed I owed him or he deserved—exceedingly mandatory, abusive, even scatological. I pointed out these things to Maguire, but
Broadmoor simply wished to get him off their hands
—and the Bleeding Hearts Club never stopped pounding their drum, either. You are lucky to be alive. The road to hell…
Poor Tony—what an enormous failure of intelligence. And what a pity that you did not warn someone of the danger that you felt growing, or ask for help once you realized that he should not have been discharged.
I’m going North for a while—plans still very uncertain. I bought a secondhand car yesterday and will just see a little of America for a while. It’s been a long time—14 years. I have come back as a foreigner.
Well, dear, get well soon, and if you need anything let me know through my lawyer in New York. One day I will settle down somewhere or be in one place long enough to receive mail. I will then call him and ask him to forward any messages that have come for me.
Love,
Brooks
Note from File on Antony Baekeland
Tony called his family lawyer Wed. July 30. T was cordial, rational.
Miwa Svinka-Zielinski
There was nobody who was absolutely interested in Tony’s case now. I suppose I could have visited him on Rikers Island, but I didn’t have any authority to go to his lawyer and ask what the situation was. Why wasn’t he being acquitted as schizophrenic? Why was he sitting in a prison which is a regular prison for criminals?
Edward Hershey
Of the ninety-two hundred inmates in our system today, sixty percent will be out after seven days. With that kind of turnover, the Department of Correction, and I’m assistant commissioner for public affairs there, has a very challenging but in some cases not very fulfilling mission. Our major mission is to provide pretrial services, get the inmates to court and so on. We don’t have an opportunity for long-term relationships. We have to look out for red lights, and when they flash we take action, because there’s not a lot of time.
Sandra Lewis Smith
On a typical day in prison the inmates get up at five in the morning if they’re going to court. Even if they’re not going to court, there’s so much noise in the cell block they probably get up about five anyway. The wagon delivers the breakfast—hot cereal, scrambled eggs, toast, juice, sometimes fresh fruit—apples, oranges—coffee, or hot water and makings for coffee—or tea. Then the people going to court are taken to court. The rest of the inmates simply hang out. They might read, they might put in an interview slip to go to the legal library and do some research on their case, they might go to the clinic for medication or to be examined for whatever ailment they might have, they might just stay in the area and watch television or play cards or checkers, or they might be called down to receive a visit from their attorney.
Martin J. Siegel
I was asked by the court to represent Tony Baekeland at his first arraignment. Later he said to me, “I’d like to hire you privately.” So I advised Judge Haft that I had been assigned by the court but that the client now wanted to retain me privately and do I have permission. Judge Haft asked Tony if he had the funds and he said yes and the judge said okay.
Tony was always pleasant in all my dealings with him, but he was a very troubled person. He told me once about being in a café with a girl he was in love with and his father was sitting next to her and started to come on to her. He was very bitter about that.
He struck me as the type of person who could be manipulated very easily. I guess you know he was a homosexual. I felt that he wanted to be dominated by someone who played the male role and that any strong individual that came by could readily dominate him.
Our defense was going to be insanity. I hoped to have him institutionalized in a hospital-type setting, where he could really be helped, as opposed to a penal-type setting.
From Psychiatric Examination Reports on Antony Baekeland ordered by the Criminal Court of New York, August 27 and September 2, 1980
KNOWLEDGE OF CHARGES:
What is the charge against you?
“Either murder or attempted murder of my grandmother.”
KNOWLEDGE OF COURT PROCEEDINGS:
Have you entered a plea? What plea have you entered?
“No, I haven’t.”
What is the name of the Defendant’s Attorney?
“Mr. Siegel.”
What is the function of a Defense Attorney?
“To help me.”
What is the function of a District Attorney?
“He represents the borough and I’ll be up against him.”
What is the function of a Judge?
“Evaluates whether you can be punished or not, then sentences.”
What is the function of a Jury?
“Twelve ladies and gentlemen who decide whether you’re guilty or not guilty.”
What are the consequences of being found Guilty?
“Depending on seriousness, they are given various penalties.”
SUMMARY OF PSYCHIATRIC FINDINGS:
The defendant was alert, cooperative, articulate. Although he stuttered, speech was coherent and relevant. Delusions and hallucinations were denied. The defendant became intermittently tearful in discussing his alleged offense and his father’s reaction to it. He stated he felt “chastened” by his experience in jail. Memory is intact. Defendant understands court procedure and is deemed able to assist counsel. He is fit to proceed.