Family members of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three young children, testified in court that they were highly concerned about her mental state in the months preceding the tragedy. Clancy's defense team asserts she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the deaths and has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
During the ongoing trial in Massachusetts, Clancy's mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, told jurors that she observed a decline in Lindsay's mental health starting in November 2022. Susan Clancy stated that her daughter-in-law expressed feeling unwell, experiencing insomnia, loss of appetite, anxiety, and sadness. "She was begging for help," Susan Clancy testified, adding that she never witnessed Lindsay Clancy treat the children poorly. "She was very nurturing, very loving. She was a wonderful mother. Wonderful."
Lindsay Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, also provided testimony about her daughter's mental health struggles. In an October 20, 2022, text message presented in court, Lindsay Clancy asked her mother for help, writing, "Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I'm really sick. Something is wrong. I had horrible insomnia all night, and I just don’t know how I am going to get through the day... It’s just really scary, and I don’t want to be alone."
Musgrove stated that she was not concerned about the children's safety at the time. Prosecutors allege that Lindsay Clancy deliberately and meticulously strangled her children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, who were all under six years old, before attempting suicide. The children were found in their Duxbury home in 2023. The defense does not dispute that Clancy killed the children but maintains her actions were a result of ongoing postpartum psychosis.
The jury in the case consists of 12 women and six men, including alternates. Prosecutors concluded their case on Monday morning.