Lindsay Clancy speaks out for first time during trial for murder of her three children
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Lindsay Clancy has spoken in court for the first time since her trial began to agree to a stipulation of facts.
The 35-year-old from Massachusetts is currently on trial for three counts of murder for the killings of her children in January 2023.
Clancy allegedly strangled Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan while her then-husband Patrick wasn’t home. She then tried to take her own life and was left partially paralysed.
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Prosecutors accuse her of killing the children intentionally in a premeditated attack, to which she has pleaded not guilty.
Clancy’s legal team have raised an insanity defence - while they don’t dispute that she killed the children, they allege that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, which began when she welcomed her youngest son eight months prior.
While the court has heard from a number of people during the trial, such as Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick and psychiatrists who treated her at the hospital, Tuesday (4 August) was the first time she had spoken in court herself.
Agreeing to a stipulation of facts, she answered questions from Massachusetts Superior Court Judge William Sullivan.
For context, a stipulation of facts is an official agreement between opposing sides in a legal case.
It’s where both sides agree that certain facts are true, and because they agree, they don’t need to spend time proving these facts in court.
It means Clancy will not be able to contest certain facts in the case going forward.
As per The New York Post, Sullivan asked: "You agree that the Commonwealth doesn’t have to prove the facts that are in the stipulation?"
Clancy replied: "Yes, Your Honour," and nodded her head.
Then, when asked whether anyone had forced or threatened her to accept the agreement, Clancy confirmed: "No, Your Honour."
As reported by PEOPLE, Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington revealed that the stipulation involves ‘facts related to chain of custody of DNA evidence’.
This could speed up the case as it means prosecutors will no longer have to call certain witnesses to testify for the facts, because they’ve already been agreed upon.
It comes after Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick testified that in December 2022, a month before the children's deaths, ‘her big spiral started’.
As per the BBC, he said: "She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed, and she was having a really hard time."
The NHS describes postpartum psychosis as a 'serious mental health illness' that can affect someone soon after giving birth, affecting around one in 1,000 mothers.
Symptoms often begin suddenly within the first two weeks after giving birth, often within hours or days. More rarely, though, they can develop several weeks after the baby is born.
Clancy claims she experienced hallucinations and delusions after giving birth and was undergoing medical treatment for psychiatric problems when the children were killed.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.
Timeline of Lindsay Clancy case
May 2022
Lindsay gives birth to her third child, Callan.
She’s open about her postpartum struggles with her other two kids on social media. Six weeks after Callan’s birth, she posts that she’s feeling ‘dialed in’ while focusing on exercise, nutrition, and mindset, and ‘it has made all the difference’.
September 2022
As the end of her maternity leave nears, Lindsay, who works as a labour and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, starts to experience anxiety about returning to work.
She visits two different psychiatrists and receives a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Lindsay is prescribed several different psychiatric medications.
October 2022
According to court docs, she writes in a note on her phone: “I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby. And I know that’s not fair to them. I know that. I was feeling so depressed last evening when Cora and Dawson came home from school, I know it runs off on them, so we had a pretty rough evening, I want to feel love and connection with all my kids.”
December 2022
Lindsay undergoes an evaluation at the Women and Infants Hospital Center for Women’s Behavioral Health. She is not diagnosed with postpartum depression, prosecutors say.
Lindsay’s husband Patrick tells police she is having suicidal thoughts and thoughts of harming their children, according to his testimony in court.
1-5 January, 2023
Lindsay admits herself to McLean Hospital for psychiatric treatment. She is discharged after five days as clinicians do not believe she poses an imminent danger to herself or others, prosecutors say.
22 January, 2023
Lindsay, Patrick, Cora and Dawson have dinner at family friend Kyle Carney’s home. Kyle later tells police that Lindsay ‘seemed fairly normal’.
23 January, 2023
According to prosecutors, Lindsay pens a note on her phone which says she has ‘a touch of postpartum anxiety’ about going back to work.
24 January, 2023
Prosecutors allege the following took place this day:
Morning: Lindsay takes Cora to a scheduled pediatrician appointment. After returning home, they play in the snow with Dawson. She sends photos of the kids to Patrick and her mom.
4:02pm: Lindsay searches for ‘kids Miralax’ (a laxative) on her phone, and 11 minutes later looks up ‘take out 3v’, referring to restaurant ThreeV in Plymouth. She uses Apple Maps to calculate how long it would take to drive from the family’s home to ThreeV.
4:47pm: Lindsay rings a CVS in Kingston to ask if they have any Miralax in stock. A manager tells her they don’t, but they do have similar medications.
The manager later tells authorities that she did not slur her words or sound impaired during the call.
4:35pm: Lindsay texts Patrick, who is working from home: “Any chance you want to do takeout from 3V … I didn’t cook anything … It’s been a long day.”
Patrick says yes, and Lindsay asks him to ‘check the menu when you can’.
5:10pm: Lindsay calls ThreeV to place the order.
5:15pm: Lindsay allegedly texts Patrick: “Pedialax liquid stool softener.” He then leaves to pick up the medication.
5:33pm: When Patrick arrives at CVS, he rings Lindsay, but she doesn’t pick up. She rings back one minute later and confirms the medication.
5:54pm: Patrick gets to ThreeV, pays for the food and leaves.
6:09pm: Patrick returns home. “The first thing he noticed was the silence,” prosecutors say. “He did not see or hear the defendant or the children.”
Patrick calls for his wife but gets no response. He discovers their second-floor bedroom is locked. Patrick eventually manages to get in the room but sees blood on the floor and an open window. He runs outside and finds Lindsay lying on the ground, according to prosecutors.
6:11pm: Prosecutors say that Patrick rings 911 and Lindsay is saying: “I tried to kill myself and jumped out the window.”
He is then said to ask Lindsay: “Where are the kids?” She responds: “In the basement.”
While on the call, Patrick goes down to the basement and is heard ‘screaming in agony’,
Cora and Callan are discovered on the floor of the den. Dawson is found in his dad’s home office.
When officers arrive at the scene, Patrick alleges: “She killed the kids.”
Lindsay is taken to hospital, where she is treated for injuries that leave her paralysed below the waist. The three children are also rushed to hospital.
7:28pm: Cora and Dawson are pronounced dead. Callan is medically flown to another children’s hospital.
25 January, 2023
Police issue Lindsay an arrest warrant, charging her with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation or suffocation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
27 January, 2023
Callan is pronounced dead at 11.18am.
According to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, Lindsay later wakes up and uses a whiteboard to ask: “Do I need an attorney?”
6 February, 2023
While in the presence of a psychologist hired by her lawyer, Lindsay calls Patrick and tells him she had a ‘moment of psychosis’ and heard ‘a man’s voice telling her to kill the kids and kill herself’ after he left on January 24.
7 February, 2023
On the day of her arraignment, Lindsay’s attorney says that she’s still suicidal. She pleads not guilty to three counts of murder.
October 2024
Patrick asks the public to forgive Lindsay, telling The New Yorker: “I wasn’t married to a monster - I was married to someone who got sick.”
January 2026
Lindsay and Patrick file a civil lawsuit, accusing medical providers of not properly diagnosing, treating and monitoring her for a ‘severe postpartum psychiatric condition’.
9 July, 2026
The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says the three counts of strangulation would be subsumed into the murder charges.
27 July, 2026
Lindsay’s murder trial begins.
Topics: Mental Health, News, US News, Crime, Women's Health
Madison Burgess