Jury weighs Lindsay Clancy’s fate after 22-day trial centered on postpartum psychosis
PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Massachusetts jury is now deliberating in the case of Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother who admitted killing her three children but says postpartum psychosis left her unable to control her actions. The case reached jurors after 22 days of testimony that swung between harrowing descriptions of the children’s deaths and a mountain of evidence about Clancy’s deteriorating mental health.
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. She killed the children in their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023, then tried to take her own life. She slit her throat and jumped from a window, breaking her neck; the fall left her paralyzed.
From the first day, the question was not whether Clancy caused the deaths. It was whether she was legally responsible. Her defense argued she was overmedicated and suffering from postpartum psychosis, and that she could not have formed the intent required for murder. Prosecutors argued that she planned the killings and faked her suicide attempt.
Patrick Clancy’s testimony
The first major witness was Patrick Clancy, her husband at the time and now her ex-husband. Over two days, he described both his former wife’s struggles and the normalcy of the hours before the killings. On the first day, he said Lindsay Clancy had “one of her best days” in the hours before she killed their children, despite her ongoing mental health struggles.
The second day brought more detail. Patrick Clancy said he left the house to pick up takeout food Lindsay had ordered. While he was out, she texted him to stop at CVS, and they spoke on the phone as he ran the errand. When he came home, he said, “the house was really quiet.” He knew something was wrong when he found the bedroom door locked.
Inside, he testified, there was “blood everywhere” that looked like it had been sprayed, “almost like with a hose,” and an open window. He ran outside and found Lindsay on the ground with deep cuts on her wrists and a red line across her neck. She told him she had tried to die by suicide. When he asked where their children were, she said they were in the basement and gave no indication they had been harmed. He stayed with her until first responders arrived; then he ran to the basement, found the children, and tried to perform CPR.
Responders and evidence
First responders described a chaotic scene. Officer Stephen Hall said he heard Patrick Clancy’s voice calling for help from the backyard, where he found Lindsay with cuts to both wrists and her neck. After hearing “a loud scream from inside,” Hall and Officer Brian Josephine entered the home and found Patrick in the basement, where he had discovered the children’s bodies. “She killed the f-----g kids,” Patrick shouted, according to Josephine.
Duxbury Fire Capt. PJ Hussey said the scene “turned very chaotic very quickly” as more crews arrived.
The trial also included a window into Clancy’s own words. Prosecutors read entries from her diary in which she wrote that she was struggling with her youngest son’s sleep schedule and “felt like I’m drowning every day.” In a Nov. 18, 2022 entry, she wrote: “It’s like I’m so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me.”
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington read another entry in which Clancy described “horrible insomnia and anxiety which is causing depression,” “crazy brain fog,” and “no appetite.” She also wrote that she felt “horribly guilty” about her marriage, “completely disconnected with” her baby, and “like I’m going through the motions every day.” In one line, she wrote: “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I want help. I want to be well.”
In an Oct. 25, 2022 note stored in her phone, Clancy wrote about struggling to connect with Callan and being “on the fence” about a new medication. “Cal was so very planned and desired,” she wrote. “I want to be able to give him all the love he deserves.”
Her medical treatment became a central issue. Dr. Jennifer Tufts, who was treating Clancy at the time of the killings, testified that the day before the murders Clancy “completely denied any suicidal ideation or homicidal ideation.” Tufts said there were “no signs of psychosis or mania” and no serious indication that anyone’s safety was at risk. She did not recommend hospitalization. Under questioning from the defense, she disagreed that a medication increase had pushed Clancy “over the edge,” though her notes indicated Clancy was struggling with side effects.
Psychiatric nurse practitioner Rebecca Jollotta, who treated Clancy in 2022, testified that Patrick Clancy expressed concern about his wife’s reaction to psychiatric medications. Jollotta said she worked with the family to take Clancy off certain medications in response to his concerns.
Clancy’s emotional state was on display throughout the trial. She hunched over the defense table as the 911 call was played, and she was wheeled from the courtroom sobbing when it ended. She cried loudly as autopsy photos were shown. On day 12, she could be heard saying “I can’t do it” as a medical examiner described the children’s injuries, and jurors were sent out twice.
At one point, Reddington claimed he heard prosecutors say “shut her up” over an open microphone as Clancy cried. The district attorney’s office said the voice was an unknown court employee saying “shut it off,” referring to the projected image on a screen.
Family and expert testimony
Several family members and former colleagues described a woman asking for help. Margaret Hamp, who worked with Clancy at Mass General Hospital, testified that the two talked about postpartum mental health after a patient came to the hospital with plans to harm herself while pregnant. Hamp asked Clancy if she had heard of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the drowning deaths of her five children. Clancy said she had not. “How could a mother hurt her children?” she asked Hamp, crying.
Her former mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, said Lindsay was a “wonderful mother” who was “begging for help” as she dealt with insomnia and anxiety. Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that her daughter sent texts asking her to stay over and expressing concern about her medications. Musgrove also recalled a conversation in which Lindsay said she feared she might hurt the children. Musgrove said she was not worried because she was present at the time. Her sister, Allison Ozga, testified that Clancy appeared to be in a “really tough spot” in December 2022, but said she was safe when asked. Ozga saw her two weeks before the killings and said she had no concerns for the children’s safety.
The most significant expert testimony came from psychiatrists on both sides. Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist who met with Clancy after the killings, testified that she told her then-husband she heard a male voice ordering her to kill the children and herself. “She told Patrick that she loved him very much,” Zeizel said. He said Clancy described the voice as telling her she had no choice. He did not believe she was faking her symptoms. Patrick Clancy gave a similar account, saying Lindsay told him she heard a man’s voice warning her that if she did not act then, she would lose her chance.
Dr. Avram Mack, a forensic psychiatrist called by the prosecution, testified that Clancy described the same voice, saying roughly, “You should kill the kids, this is your last chance so that you can kill yourself.” Mack said Clancy told him she said “go to God” while the killings were happening. In his opinion, she knew right from wrong and retained the capacity required for criminal responsibility. He also said he saw no evidence that her medication caused her psychosis.
Defense expert Dr. Phillip Resnick, who was a key witness in the Andrea Yates trial, reached the opposite conclusion. He said Clancy was “clearly psychotic” on the day of the killings and acting under a “command hallucination.” “Not only did she hear a command, but she felt that her body was taken over by an external force,” Resnick said. “It was almost like she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings.”
The trial nearly ended in a mistrial after a forensic psychologist mentioned Catholicism. Dr. Kirk Heilbrun said Clancy told him in April that she believed “she and her children would be together in heaven with God,” and he began to ask, “Isn’t suicide a mortal sin?” before the defense objected. Reddington moved for a mistrial, saying it was the second time religion had come up and that such testimony was “just over the top.” Judge Sullivan denied the motion, told jurors the religious remarks were “immaterial, irrelevant and to be disregarded,” and ended court early.
Closing arguments and what’s at stake
Both sides closed their cases Aug. 27, the trial’s 22nd day. Reddington spoke for 52 minutes. He argued that prosecutors manipulated objective evidence to make Clancy look guilty, that doctors failed her, and that she was overmedicated when the killings happened. “My God, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help and she was not getting it,” he said. At least two jurors were seen weeping.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague followed for 54 minutes. She conceded that Clancy was mentally ill, but argued the real question was whether she could distinguish right from wrong. Sprague highlighted Clancy’s behavior before the murders, including looking up how long it would take Patrick Clancy to run the errands she had asked him to complete, as evidence of planning and rational thinking. As Sprague described the killings, Clancy cried.
The case has drawn broader attention to postpartum psychosis and the way the legal system treats mothers who kill while severely mentally ill. Clancy’s supporters have pointed to her repeated attempts to get help in the months before the killings. Clinicians estimate postpartum psychosis affects roughly 1 to 2 of every 1,000 women who give birth, less common than postpartum depression but far more acute, and the trial echoed familiar questions from the Andrea Yates case about how much of a person’s mind must be lost before the law excuses her actions.
Under Massachusetts law, a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity would not mean Clancy simply leaves court. She would be committed to a state psychiatric facility. A first-degree murder conviction, by contrast, would carry a sentence of life in prison without parole. The jury’s decision, after weeks of devastating testimony, now rests on whether they believe Clancy was a mother who lost her mind or a woman who knew exactly what she was doing.