Excerpts from Lindsay Clancy's diary, read aloud in court, detailed her severe mental anguish in the months leading up to the killings of her three young children. The entries, spanning from October 2022 to January 2023, reveal Clancy's struggles with postpartum depression, anxiety, insomnia, and guilt over her perceived failings as a mother. At the time of the killings, Clancy was 35 years old.
One entry from October 13, 2022, described a harrowing experience during sleep training for her then-8-month-old son, Callan. Clancy wrote that she felt "horrible PTSD from sleep training Callan" and was tormented by his prolonged crying. "Hearing [Callan] cry for one plus hours and not intervening just about killed me," she wrote. The distress was so intense that she told her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, "I want to die."
Clancy also detailed her concerns about Callan's development, noting in her diary that she was "terrified of Callan getting sick" and describing him as a "sick baby" who was not meeting his milestones. Her decision to stop breastfeeding was attributed to her mental health, writing that it was for "my mental health."
The diary entries were presented during the testimony of Massachusetts State Trooper Cory Melo, who collected the journals from Clancy's home. Clancy made entries up until January 18, 2023, just five days before she strangled her children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months—with exercise bands. She then attempted suicide by slitting her wrists and neck and jumping from an upstairs window. She is currently partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair in court.
Prosecutors argue that Clancy was of sound mind and planned the murders due to exhaustion from childcare. Her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, is seeking a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting that Clancy suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and heard voices commanding her to commit the acts.
Testimony has indicated that Clancy consulted five different doctors in the four months preceding the killings and was prescribed 15 psychiatric medications, with six found in her system at the time of the murders. The jury has heard that she had two hospitalizations for suicidal thoughts and had expressed thoughts of harming her children to her husband and mother prior to the events.
Another journal meticulously tracked her daily medication intake, mood, and side effects. On December 9, 2022, after taking Valium and Seroquel, she wrote about experiencing "Horrible intrusive thoughts." Toxicologists have confirmed that Clancy had two antidepressants, two antipsychotics, and two anti-anxiety medications in her system after the killings.
The trial, now in its second week, has featured testimony from 45 witnesses, including first responders and medical professionals. Patrick Clancy also testified, and the jury heard a recording of his anguished 911 call. Clancy and Patrick, who has since remarried, have filed lawsuits against the doctors who treated her, alleging misdiagnosis and overmedication.