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First responders detail scene after mother killed children amid psychosis claims
🇺🇸 United States /Crime & Justice

First responders detail scene after mother killed children amid psychosis claims

From PBS NewsHour · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • First responders testified about the scene they encountered after Lindsay Clancy killed her three children in January 2023.
  • Clancy's defense argues she suffered from postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors contend she acted intentionally.
  • Testimony included details of the children's condition and Clancy's own state after attempting suicide.

First responders described the harrowing scene they discovered at the Massachusetts home of Lindsay Clancy in January 2023, during testimony at her murder trial. Officers recounted finding the bodies of Clancy's three young children, Dawson, Cora, and Callan, after Clancy's then-husband returned home and alerted authorities.

I can't wake them up, I can't get them up!

— Patrick ClancyClancy's then-husband frantically told officers about his children's condition after discovering them.

The trial is centered on Clancy's mental state at the time of the killings. Her defense team asserts that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis, a severe mental illness linked to the hormonal changes and sleep deprivation following childbirth. Prosecutors, however, maintain that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, acted with criminal intent and is responsible for the deaths.

Officers Stephen Hall and Brian Josephine of the Duxbury Police Department testified separately about their arrival at the scene. They described finding Clancy's ex-husband in distress outside the home, where his wife lay in the snow, semi-conscious. Clancy had jumped from a second-story window, sustaining injuries that left her paralyzed from the waist down after attempting to end her own life.

Based on my training experience from previous incidents, I knew it wasn't going to be good.

— Brian JosephineOfficer Brian Josephine described his initial assessment upon seeing the children.

Inside the house, the ex-husband let out a scream upon discovering the children in the basement, where they had been strangled with exercise bands. Officers testified that only the youngest child, 8-month-old Callan, had a faint pulse. Fire department supervisor PJ Hussey also testified, recalling a glimpse through a basement window of the father attempting to remove an exercise band from a child's neck, describing the situation as having "turned very chaotic very quickly."

It turned very chaotic very quickly.

— PJ HusseyA fire department supervisor described the scene as more emergency services arrived.

Clancy's lawyer stated in opening arguments that she suffered from bipolar disorder, and that antidepressants prescribed after her third child's birth exacerbated her condition. The defense claims she heard a voice instructing her to kill the children on the day of the incident.

This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yours.

— Voice heard by Lindsay ClancyLindsay Clancy's lawyer stated she heard a voice instructing her on the day of the killings.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by PBS NewsHour in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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