Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband Patrick recalls their three kids final hours before she killed them
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Warning: This article contains discussion of child death and suicide, which some readers may find distressing.
A court has heard that Lindsay Clancy spent the morning building snowmen with her three children before strangling them to death with an exercise band.
Her ex-husband, Patrick, gave his first witness statement this week, backing up the Massachusetts mum's defence that she'd been battling severe postpartum psychosis before the January 2023 attack.
Her team have raised an insanity defence, citing that Lindsay had been prescribed medical treatment for psychiatric issues that developed postpartum following the birth of her youngest son, and that she spent several days at a psychiatric institution in the weeks before the attack.
Advert
Lindsay also attempted to take her own life that day, which resulted in her becoming paralysed.
Prosecutors argue, however, that Lindsay, 35, had 'intentionally' killed her daughter Cora, five, and sons Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months.
They argue that Lindsay sending Patrick away from their Duxbury property to run errands on the day of the killings is proof that the attack was 'premeditated'.
In court earlier this week, Patrick - who has since divorced Lindsay and remarried - told Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan and a 12-member jury how his ex had spent the hours leading up to killing her children.
He recalled that Lindsay spent the morning with their daughter at a doctor's appointment before the pair returned home.
With her sons, the family then built a snowman together while Patrick worked downstairs in their basement.
Claiming it was one of Lindsay's 'best days', he recalled: "She seemed happy."
Patrick doesn't dispute that he ventured out to run errands that afternoon - to pick up takeout food and a prescription for Lindsay - while she murdered their three children and attempted suicide.
The prosecution is using this element of the story against Lindsay, alleging she looked into how long it might take Patrick to return home before acting.
Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney, Shanan Buckingham, claimed in court: "One by one, [Lindsay] grabbed exercise bands around each one of the kids’ necks and pulled until their little bodies were limp and lifeless."
Despite this, Patrick insisted Lindsay had been 'very depressed' before the alleged attack, and that in the immediate month prior, 'her big spiral started'.
"She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed, and she was having a really hard time," he said, per the BBC. "She was having a really hard time. She started to say that she was suicidal."
Patrick and Lindsay filed a civil lawsuit earlier this year, accusing her medical providers of both failing to issue a proper diagnosis and not monitoring her 'severe postpartum psychiatric condition' after prescribing her treatment.
In court, Patrick recalled her switching psychiatrists before the attack, claiming her previous treatment 'wasn't working'.
He also claims he asked Lindsay 'if she needed to be kept away' from the children, even though she 'did not show any intention of harming the kids'.
"It was very confusing," Patrick continued. "The next minute, she was making them lunch or playing with them."
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 at 116 123, or contact Harmless by visiting their website at https://harmless.org.uk.
If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5 pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58, and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.
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’.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Lindsay, Patrick, Cora and Dawson have dinner at family friend Kyle Carney’s home. Kyle later tells police that Lindsay ‘seemed fairly normal’.
According to prosecutors, Lindsay pens a note on her phone which says she has ‘a touch of postpartum anxiety’ about going back to work.
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.
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.
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?”
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.
On the day of her arraignment, Lindsay’s attorney says that she’s still suicidal. She pleads not guilty to three counts of murder.
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.”
Lindsay and Patrick file a civil lawsuit, accusing medical providers of not properly diagnosing, treating and monitoring her for a ‘severe postpartum psychiatric condition’.
The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says the three counts of strangulation would be subsumed into the murder charges.
Lindsay’s murder trial begins.