Lindsay Clancy trial enters defense phase after weeks of harrowing testimony

After weeks of wrenching testimony from medical examiners, detectives and psychiatrists, the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy has shifted to the defense phase, with her attorneys preparing to argue that the Duxbury mother was not criminally responsible for the deaths of her three young children in January 2023.

Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges, but her legal team has never disputed that she killed 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan in the family’s home on Jan. 24, 2023. Instead, the defense contends that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder, and that the cocktail of medications she was prescribed had eroded her grip on reality. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have argued that Clancy planned the killings and then staged a suicide attempt.

Here are some pivotal moments from the trial as the defense begins making its case:

When prosecutors rested on Aug. 17, Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, took the stand. She recalled a conversation in December 2022 — weeks before the killings — during which Clancy told her and then-husband Patrick Clancy that she needed to share something troubling.

“She told us that she had thoughts of harming the children,” Musgrove testified.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague pressed Musgrove on whether she had been concerned enough to seek help or have Clancy committed. Musgrove said she had not. She also described her daughter’s deteriorating mental state in the days before the deaths, saying Clancy had become paranoid and complained of memory loss.

“The medication was pretty much just destroying her mind, and it wasn’t her,” Musgrove said. “She said that, ‘This isn’t me. I just want to feel better and enjoy my kids again.’”

The jury has also heard extensive evidence about Clancy’s internet searches and the diary-like notes she kept on her phone. Massachusetts State Police Detective Timothy Chiappini read one entry aloud in court on Aug. 13, in which Clancy expressed sadness over being unable to parent her third child the way she had her first. Her writings also revealed hesitation about starting new treatments.

“I’m on the fence about starting a new med or not. I want to feel happy, but it would be nice to feel authentically happy and not fake,” Chiappini quoted Clancy as writing.

Chiappini also testified that Clancy searched “Can you treat a sociopath?” on her phone four days before the killings. But during cross-examination, defense attorney Kevin Reddington highlighted other searches — including “how to slit your throat to die” and “can you turn airbags off on kia sorrento,” referring to Clancy’s own car. He noted that in January 2023, her searches also included the terms “schizophrenia,” “hallucinations” and “intrusive.”

A particularly raw moment came on Aug. 12, when Clancy sobbed loudly as a medical examiner described the children’s injuries. She cried out, “I can’t do it,” and was wheeled out of the courtroom. Clancy, who is paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window following the children’s deaths, had already broken down once that day. Judge William Sullivan dismissed the jury both times and reminded them of their oath to separate emotion from deliberation.

“I’m instructing you that the law says you must separate any emotional reaction on your part from the informational value and weight that the evidence produces,” he said.

The jury also heard from Dr. Jennifer Tufts, a psychiatrist who held 14 telehealth appointments with Clancy over roughly four months, with the final session occurring the day before the killings. Tufts testified that Clancy never appeared psychotic. When asked whether she knew Clancy had told her husband about thoughts of harming the children, Tufts said she did not — and that she would have been “very concerned” if she had.

Tufts said Clancy reported feeling numb and unable to sleep, and though she denied active suicidal thoughts, she was “close to feeling suicidal.” Under questioning from prosecutors, Tufts revealed that Clancy had tried at least 10 medications in an effort to ease her anxiety and depression, and that Clancy blamed the drugs for her condition and was reluctant to keep taking them. Tufts had prescribed Zoloft, an antidepressant carrying a warning about increased suicidal thoughts in some people aged 24 and younger — a caution Tufts said she did not believe applied to Clancy.

“I don’t believe there’s evidence that it causes that at all in individuals over 24,” Tufts told Reddington.

The trial is expected to continue with additional defense witnesses, including experts who may testify about postpartum psychosis and the effects of polypharmacy on new mothers. The case has drawn national attention to the intersection of maternal mental health, medication management, and the criminal justice system — and it is likely to shape debates over how the legal system treats mothers who harm their children while experiencing severe psychiatric distress.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline online.

For more information about mental health care resources and support, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email [email protected].