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Trial Evidence and Deaths
Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother, is standing trial on murder charges in the deaths of her three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, after her husband Patrick Clancy returned home from picking up the family’s dinner on Jan. 24, 2023 and found the children in the basement choked by exercise bands.
“telling his now ex-wife Lindsay to "wake up"”
In Plymouth Superior Court, WBUR described a seven-minute 9-1-1 call in which Patrick Clancy told Lindsay Clancy to "wake up" when he found her on the ground outside their home, and then repeatedly screamed when he discovered the children in the basement.
WBUR reported that Clancy’s defense is not denying that she killed her children, but says she should not be held criminally liable because she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and did not receive proper medical treatment.
The prosecution is arguing Clancy acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible for the deaths, and ABC News reported that Gregory Saathoff, a senior psychiatrist for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, testified as the prosecution’s final rebuttal witness.
ABC News said Saathoff testified he spent about 11 hours interviewing Clancy and told jurors that her description of a voice commanding her to kill her children was "very unusual" compared to most descriptions of psychosis.
Competing Mental-State Theories
As the trial approached closing arguments, ABC News reported that Saathoff raised concern about inconsistencies between Patrick Clancy’s account and Lindsay Clancy’s account, including Patrick Clancy saying the kids were already eating chicken nuggets when he left the house while Lindsay Clancy said she was preparing the chicken nuggets when she heard a voice telling her to kill her children.
NBC News reported that Saathoff told the court it was "surprising" Clancy was able to bring the children to the basement "without any other kind of direction or plan," and said the sequence indicated she had control of what she was doing.
The Guardian reported that Kirk Heilbrun, a forensic psychologist hired by prosecutors, told the court he believed Clancy was "criminally responsible" for the deaths and said she retained an awareness of the illegality of killing others, including her children.
The Guardian also reported that defense witness Dr Phillip Resnick testified Clancy was "clearly psychotic" on the day she killed her children and was not in control of her actions, echoing psychologist Paul Zeizel’s conclusion that Clancy "had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act."
Verdict and Aftermath
As jurors weigh competing narratives about whether Clancy had postpartum psychosis and whether she could understand the wrongfulness or criminality of her conduct, CBS News reported that if Clancy is found guilty of first-degree murder, Massachusetts law has a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“won't face prison time”
CBS News also reported that if Clancy is found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, she "won't face prison time" but would be committed to a state mental health facility, where she is now, indefinitely.
WPRI reported that Kirk Heilbrun testified Clancy did not have acute psychosis when she killed her three children and said she took their lives so they wouldn’t "suffer" after she took her own life.
WPRI further reported that after Heilbrun mentioned Clancy’s Catholic faith, Judge William Sullivan denied a mistrial request and instructed the jury to disregard the reference to "the religion that the defendant was raised with," calling it "an absolutely inappropriate area of testimony."
ABC7 Los Angeles reported that closing arguments were expected Thursday after the judge’s charge conference, with Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington seeking an insanity defense and prosecutors arguing Clancy is criminally responsible for her children’s deaths.