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Trial and the 911 call
Lindsay Clancy, a former nurse who has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges, is on trial in Plymouth Superior Court after prosecutors say she strangled her three children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months—in their Massachusetts home on Jan. 24, 2023.
““She killed the kids!” he yells.”
Patrick Clancy, her ex-husband, testified that he returned home to an unusually silent house, found his bedroom door locked, and then told the 911 dispatcher, "She killed the kids!"
Jurors heard the anguished 911 call as Patrick Clancy described finding the children in the basement with exercise bands around their necks, and the courtroom reacted as Lindsay Clancy sobbed while the recording played.
In the same trial, prosecutors argued that Clancy acted intentionally and is criminally responsible, while her defense says she should not be held criminally liable due to postpartum psychosis and extreme mental illness.
The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday, and the case centers on Lindsay Clancy’s mental state at the time of the killings.
Mental health dispute
In opening statements, Plymouth County assistant district attorney Shanan Buckingham said, "People with mental illness commit crimes everyday and are responsible for them," while Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued she was suffering from "psychosis" at the time.
ABC News reported that Patrick Clancy testified Monday that Lindsay Clancy experienced mental health issues after the births of their children, including that at one point she was suicidal and had thoughts about harming their kids.
The prosecution and defense both tied the case to postpartum mental illness, with prosecutors saying Clancy acted intentionally and with her lawyers seeking to prove postpregnancy psychosis linked to stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes.
AP News reported that on the day of the killings, Lindsay Clancy said she heard a voice telling her, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself,” according to her lawyer.
NBC Boston and other coverage described the defense as seeking an insanity defense, while prosecutors said she planned to get Patrick Clancy out of the house to kill the children.
What happens next
The case also includes evidence and testimony about the events surrounding the killings, including Patrick Clancy’s account that he was out running errands after Lindsay Clancy asked him to go for takeout food and medication at a pharmacy for Cora.
“"She killed the kids," Patrick Clancy yelled.”
NBC Boston said prosecutors allege Lindsay Clancy strangled her children after sending Patrick out for errands, and that she then jumped from the home’s second-story window and was paralyzed from the waist down.
WBUR reported that after paramedics arrived to tend to Lindsay Clancy, Patrick Clancy stayed on the line and went to look for his children, then repeatedly screamed, "She killed the kids," as he discovered them in the basement.
If convicted of murder, AP News reported she faces life in prison without parole, while if found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility she would be committed to a state mental health facility.
The courtroom testimony described a conflict over whether Clancy received proper medical treatment, with her defense saying she was not properly diagnosed, treated and monitored, and prosecutors arguing she deliberately planned the killings.
