Details of Lindsay Clancy’s psychiatrist assessment days after she killed her three kids shared
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide, which some readers may find distressing.
A psychiatrist who examined Lindsay Clancy days after she killed her three children and attempted suicide has testified that she was ‘calm and co-operative’ following the tragedy.
The 35-year-old from Massachusetts is currently on trial for three counts of murder for the killings of her children - Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan - who were strangled with exercise bands in 2023, while her then-husband Patrick was out running errands.
Prosecutors accuse Clancy of intentionally killing her children in a premeditated attack, which took place in 2023. She has pleaded not guilty.
Her defence does not dispute that she killed the children; however, they are raising an insanity defence and trying to prove that she was not in her right mind, as she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, which began when she welcomed her youngest daughter eight months prior.
Clancy was left partially paralysed that same night after an attempt to take her own life.
On Tuesday (4 August), the trial continued, with testimonies from psychiatrists, as well as doctors and nurses who treated Clancy in the ER and ICU.
Among them was Dr Sejal Shah, who testified that she examined Clancy multiple times at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in January and February 2023 following the killings.
The psychiatrist claimed that during an assessment on 30 January 2023, five days after the killings, Clancy denied having any suicidal or homicidal intentions, hallucinations or delusions, and that her thought process was ‘goal-directed’ and ‘organised’.
She described herself as an ‘honest’ patient, and outlined that the reason for the assessment was to determine whether she was in a proper mindset to change her health care proxy from her husband to her parents.
Shah said: “She felt they were very supportive to her and would have her best interests in mind.”
The psychiatrist added that Clancy had just gone through spinal surgery, which resulted in her experiencing some visual hallucinations in the hospital due to anaesthesia and a lack of oxygen.
Dr Shah spoke to Clancy again on 21 February 2023, before she was transferred out to a rehabilitation hospital.
At that time, she reported feeling ‘down’ about her current situation.
Shah confirmed that Clancy ‘wasn't thinking about killing her children throughout the day, every day’ and ‘her thoughts about what she had done were not constant,’ reports CBS News.
Defence attorney Kevin Reddington said during proceedings: "This is not someone who was trying to exaggerate her conditions for some legal reason, correct?" to which the psychiatrist agreed.
Dr Jhilam Biswas, another forensic psychiatrist, evaluated Clancy two days after the killings and her suicide attempt.
He said that while she could not speak because she was on a ventilator, she asked for a paper and pen to write her answers, said she was ‘horrified,' 'seemed very anxious' and asked for an attorney.
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.
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.
Topics: True Crime, Mental Health, US News, Crime, News
Madison Burgess