A Controversial Neighborly Dispute Over Trees and a Stunning Bay View
A New York couple has been accused of poisoning their elderly, blind neighbor’s trees to improve their view from their summer home in Maine. The incident has sparked a legal and ethical debate over the lengths people will go to for personal gain.
Stephen Antonson, a painter and sculptor, and his wife, Kathleen Hackett, an interior designer and author, purchased a $320,000 home in Rockport in 2017. From the moment they moved in, they began pressuring their neighbor, Ruth Graham, a widow in her late 80s, to remove trees from her garden that blocked their view of Penobscot Bay. Graham refused, but the couple allegedly continued to pressure her, even sending her a handwritten note supposedly from their teenage children asking her to sell them part of her land.
Graham declined the request, but by 2021, she noticed her trees were dying. An investigation revealed that the trees had been poisoned with herbicidal substances. According to a report from the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, the damage was limited to a specific corridor of trees directly in line with the deck of the Antonson residence.
Antonson and Hackett have denied any wrongdoing, but Antonson agreed to pay a $3,000 fine after signing a consent agreement earlier this year. However, the case has not been fully resolved, as the board later rejected the initial agreement due to concerns about the lack of accountability.
The dispute between the neighbors began almost immediately after the couple moved in. Despite Graham allowing all her neighbors, including the Antonsons, to use her dock freely, tensions arose over the trees. Graham had lived in Rockport for years, having moved there with her husband, Wallace, in 2010. After his death, her two sons invited her to live with them in Massachusetts or New Jersey, but she chose to remain in her five-bedroom, four-bathroom house.
Her decision led to some unusual confrontations with the family next door. In the summer of 2020, the couple sent Graham a note signed by their children, who were teenagers at the time. The note, which was later obtained by The New York Times, expressed a desire for more outdoor space and asked for 25 feet of land. Graham showed the note to her son, Steven Graham, who believed it was likely written by the parents themselves.
Graham also felt that the couple was exploiting her age and vulnerability. She refused to sell her land, and when she began noticing her trees dying, she contacted an arborist. This led to a series of escalating events, eventually involving the Maine Board of Pesticides Control.
Investigations found that six to eight cedar trees and about four maple trees were dead or dying. Bore holes in the trees contained liquid that tested positive for herbicidal poison. The trees affected were located directly in line with the Antonson residence.
Graham, worried that the dead trees might fall on her house, had them removed. Her son explained that she didn’t want to engage in a hostile situation with her neighbor and preferred to avoid discomfort when leaving her home.
However, in the fall of 2023, a friend of Graham’s noticed more trees dying on her property. Further investigations revealed more maple trees, each about 30 or 40 feet tall, with poison dumped at their bases. Again, these trees were adjacent to the Antonson-Hackett home.
The board’s report stated that the positioning of the affected trees, along with previous correspondence from the Antonsons requesting tree removal, indicated that Antonson would have benefited from the herbicide application. Despite this, Antonson denied administering the poison.
The board later rejected the initial consent agreement, demanding that Antonson admit guilt. The case is still ongoing, with Graham’s son waiting to see if Antonson will acknowledge the poisoning. If he does, it could lead to a lawsuit.
Graham passed away in the winter of 2024 at the age of 95. Her home, which spans nearly 4,000 square feet, is now on the market for $2.5 million. Her son continues to seek justice for what he believes was an unjust act against his mother.
Neighbors and friends have spoken out against the lack of accountability in the case. One neighbor, Douglas Cole, wrote a letter to the board expressing frustration over the minimal fine and the lack of consequences for the alleged crime.
Despite the controversy, the case highlights the complex relationships between neighbors and the lengths some may go to achieve their goals. It also raises questions about the ethics of using someone’s vulnerability for personal gain.
