Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband testifies about the day she killed their 3 children
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- Patrick Clancy testified about discovering his three children dead in their home more than three years after their mother, Lindsay Clancy, strangled them.
- Prosecutors argue Lindsay Clancy acted intentionally, while her defense claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
- The trial hinges on Lindsay Clancy's mental state at the time of the killings, with potential outcomes ranging from life in prison to commitment to a mental health facility.
More than three years after a Massachusetts mother strangled her three young children, her former husband recounted the harrowing discovery of their bodies, as a jury heard his frantic 911 call. Patrick Clancy described returning home to find his children, 3-year-old Dawson, 5-year-old Cora, and 8-month-old Callan, deceased.
She was pretty quiet. It sounded like she was busy.
Prosecutors contend that Lindsay Clancy's actions were deliberate, pointing to her request for her husband to pick up takeout food and stop at the pharmacy that day as evidence of premeditation. Surveillance footage from the pharmacy showed Patrick Clancy calling his wife, who sounded "pretty quiet" and possibly busy, he testified. He recalled thinking she might be bathing the children when he returned to a silent house.
His search led him to the main bedroom, where he found extensive blood and evidence that Lindsay Clancy had attempted to end her own life by jumping from a second-story window. She survived but remains paralyzed. Badly injured, she reportedly told her husband the children were in the basement, without revealing they were dead.
I remember hanging up thinking she was probably in the middle of giving baths or something like that.
Jurors listened to the 911 call in which Patrick Clancy, upon discovering the children, alternates between sobs and screams of "Oh my God!" before stating, "She killed the kids." Lindsay Clancy, who was present in the courtroom, reportedly sobbed as the call was played. Her parents also appeared to be crying.
She killed the kids.
The defense's case centers on postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness associated with childbirth stress, sleep deprivation, and hormonal shifts. Her lawyer asserts that Lindsay Clancy suffered from bipolar disorder, and that antidepressants prescribed after her third child's birth exacerbated her condition. The defense claims she heard voices instructing her to kill the children and then herself. If convicted of murder, she faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.
This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by PBS NewsHour. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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