The Waterlow Killings

Book excerpt: Anthony Waterlow left his decrepit room in a run-down boarding house at 4.45 p.m on Monday 9 November 2009. By 6 p.m, the 42-year-old was seen leaving another home: his sister Chloe’s in Randwick. He left behind her slaughtered body and that of their father; celebrated art curator Nick Waterlow. The pair had been stabbed multiple times, in front of Chloe’s three young children. The Waterlow Killings delves beneath the public face of a successful and affluent family, to reveal private suffering that even their closest friends could not have guessed. The story takes us deep into the world of musical, literary and visual artists who defy conventionality, push boundaries and become international celebrities. But behind that apparently glamorous life of the Waterlow’s—with British aristocratic blood lines and Nick’s art world fame—lay a story of love, despair and torment. Anthony Waterlow’s descent into the pits of a mental darkness began at a young age. Like too many of those who suffer from a serious mental illness, he fell through the cracks. The Waterlow Killings ultimately highlights the issues that confront families coping with mental illness and the failings of the health systems in times of need.