As Lindsay Clancy stands trial over the deaths of her three children, the Massachusetts mother claims that a “compelling” voice demanded she “kill the children.”
When Patrick Clancy left the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on January 24, 2023, he thought he was making a quick trip to grab some takeout and medicine for his 5-year-old daughter, Cora.
When he returned home around 6 p.m., something immediately felt wrong.
The house was unusually quiet. Believing the children might be upstairs getting ready for bed, Patrick made his way to the bedroom, only to discover the door was locked.
After forcing his way inside, he found a bloody knife resting on the nightstand and noticed the second-story bedroom window was open.
Chilling 911 call
He raced outside, where he found Lindsay lying on the ground below, covered in blood with injuries to her neck and wrists.
After calling 911, Patrick reportedly turned to his wife.
“What did you do?” Patrick asked in the recorded call that jurors will hear during the trial.
“I tried to kill myself,” Lindsay replied.
Still searching for answers, Patrick asked the question every parent dreads.
“Where are the kids?”
“In the basement,” she answered.
Three children stranged
The devastated dad then found Cora, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan, all with exercise bands still wrapped around their necks.
Desperately trying to rip the straps from their throats, he begged each child to breathe, his cries echoing through the house.
“What do you do when you have three kids like that?” he told the The New Yorker of the pain he experienced in deciding which child to save. “How do you pick?”
Those final moments before first responders arrived were replayed during a hearing this week, where prosecutor Jennifer Sprague said Patrick could then “be heard screaming in agony and shock as he found his children,” according to CNN.
All three kids were rushed to nearby hospitals, where they later died.
Lindsay survived after jumping from the bedroom window but was left paralyzed by her injuries. She was later charged with three counts of murder and strangulation in connection with the deaths of her children.
Postpartum psychosis
More than three years later, the case has entered a new chapter as Lindsay’s long-awaited murder trial gets underway in Massachusetts.
The proceedings, which are expected to last several weeks, are likely to focus heavily on postpartum psychosis, a rare condition affecting a very small percentage of women after childbirth that can cause severe delusions and, in some cases, hallucinations.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Cora, Dawson and Callan.
Her attorneys – and Patrick – have maintained that she was not responsible for her actions because of her mental illness.
Prosecutors, however, argue the killings were intentional and carefully planned, not the actions of someone who had completely lost touch with reality.
‘I wasn’t married to a monster’
Despite losing his three children in such horrific circumstances, Patrick has continued to publicly stand by his wife. In the months after the tragedy, he said he forgave Lindsay and urged others to do the same.
“I wasn’t married to a monster – I was married to someone who got sick,” he said in his interview with the New Yorker.
The grieving father has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against several of the suspect’s healthcare providers on behalf the three children, alleging she had been prescribed at least nine medications – including Valium, Prozac and Ambien – in the months leading up to the killings. Patrick suggested the medication failed to stop his wife’s rapidly deteriorating mental health – and according to Lindsay, “the medications were making her worse.”
‘Voices’ demanding action
According to the filing, Lindsay’s mental health took a frightening turn in the weeks before the killings.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the complaint alleges she heard “a compelling and unrecognizable singular male voice” telling her, “This is your last chance” and that she had to “take them” with her.
On the day the children died, the lawsuit claims the messages became even more alarming. Lindsay allegedly heard voices saying, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself.”
Another voice warned “that her children would suffer if she was gone”
Those allegations are expected to be central to the trial, where jurors will hear sharply different arguments from prosecutors and the defense as they decide whether Lindsay Clancy was legally responsible for the deaths of her three children.
What do you think of Lindsay Clancy’s defense? Do you think postpartum psychosis is an excuse to kill three children? Please share your thoughts with us and then share this story so we can hear from others!
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