PLYMOUTH, Mass. — First responders offered jurors a firsthand account Thursday of what they found after Lindsay Clancy killed her three children and tried to end her life during an episode her lawyers argue was postpregnancy psychosis.
The testimony came a day after jurors listened to the anguished 911 call made by Clancy's then-husband, Patrick Clancy. He discovered the bodies of 3-year-old Dawson, 5-year-old Cora, and 8-month-old Callan after returning from an errand to their Massachusetts home in January 2023.
Officers Stephen Hall and Brian Josephine of the Duxbury Police Department were separately dispatched to the house that evening. They arrived before Patrick Clancy realized his children had been strangled with exercise bands in the basement, according to testimony.
Hall said Patrick Clancy was yelling for help from behind the house, where his wife lay in the snow, drifting in and out of consciousness. Lindsay Clancy remains paralyzed from the waist down after she jumped from the home's second-story window and used multiple methods to try to kill herself.
Patrick Clancy rushed into the house as officers tended to his wife. He let out a loud scream when he saw the scene inside, the officers testified.
"I can't wake them up — I can't get them up!" he frantically told the officers when they ran downstairs, Josephine testified. Only 8-month-old Callan had a faint pulse.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive advocates and mental health professionals have closely followed the case as an example of how the legal system handles postpartum psychosis, a rare but severe condition linked to hormonal changes and sleep deprivation following childbirth.
Lindsay Clancy's defense team argues she suffered from bipolar disorder and that antidepressants prescribed after her third child's birth worsened her condition. Her lawyer said in opening arguments Monday that on the day of the killings, she heard a voice telling her: "This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself."
Defense attorneys argue Clancy sought care from experts in postpartum mood disorders and was placed on multiple psychiatric medications. When nothing worked, she checked into a psychiatric hospital. She killed the children 19 days after being discharged.
Mental health advocates contend that criminalizing mothers for actions during psychotic episodes fails to account for medical science showing psychosis can severely impair reality testing and volition.
What the Right Is Saying
Prosecutors argue Clancy acted intentionally and bears full criminal responsibility for the deaths of her three children. They note she was a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, suggesting familiarity with maternal health that did not prevent her actions.
Patrick Clancy has said in interviews that he forgives his ex-wife and viewed her as ill rather than evil. The trial marks the first time he has seen Lindsay Clancy since the killings. His forgiveness does not affect the criminal proceedings.
Victim advocates argue that the children's lives must be central to any analysis of the case, emphasizing that three young children were killed regardless of the defendant's mental state at the time.
What the Numbers Show
Lindsay Clancy is charged with murder. If convicted, she faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.
Postpartum psychosis occurs in approximately 1 to 2 per 1,000 births, according to the American Psychiatric Association. The condition typically develops within the first two weeks postpartum and is considered a psychiatric emergency.
The case is being tried in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts, where jury selection began Monday with opening arguments delivered shortly after.
The Bottom Line
The trial raises significant questions about how courts balance mental illness against criminal responsibility when a defendant admits to killing but contests culpability. Jurors must determine whether postpartum psychosis impaired Clancy's capacity to understand her actions or distinguish right from wrong at the time of the killings.
If acquitted due to lack of criminal responsibility, Clancy would likely face indefinite institutionalization rather than prison time — a outcome prosecutors argue would fail to account for the gravity of three child deaths. The case is expected to continue for several more weeks.