The trial of Lindsay Clancy, accused of killing her three young children in Massachusetts, has brought to light parallels with a disturbing case from the 1950s involving Constance Fisher, a Maine mother who drowned her children and later, after being released from psychiatric care, killed three more.

In January 2023, Patrick Clancy discovered his children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan, deceased in their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home. Clancy had reportedly strangled Cora and Dawson with exercise bands, and Callan died days later in the hospital. Lindsay Clancy, who had attempted suicide by jumping from a window and was left paralyzed, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, citing postpartum psychosis. She claims to have heard a voice instructing her actions.

This echoes the case of Constance Fisher, who in March 1954 drowned her three children—Richard, 6, Daniel, 4, and 11-month-old Deborah—in a bathtub in Waterville, Maine. Like Clancy, Fisher claimed to have heard a divine voice telling her to commit the act to save her children from evil. She survived an attempt to end her own life shortly after the killings.

IMAGE3

Fisher was diagnosed with psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia and was deemed unfit to stand trial. She was admitted to Augusta State Hospital, where she remained until her husband petitioned for her release. In 1959, after years of treatment and showing no signs of psychosis, she was released.

Within a year of her release, Constance and Carl Fisher began a new family and had three more children. However, in June 1966, history tragically repeated itself when Constance drowned her other three children—Kathleen, 6, Michael, 4, and Nathalie, 9 months—in a bathtub. She again attempted suicide. Officials found her with a gun and knife, but she reportedly fell asleep before she could use them. Constance Fisher died at age 44, found in the Kennebec River after escaping the hospital.

IMAGE1

Experts note significant differences between the two cases. Dr. Blair Steel, a clinical psychologist, highlighted that Constance Fisher had a long-standing mental illness, diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, with a history of hallucinations and delusional thinking. In contrast, Lindsay Clancy was reportedly suffering from postpartum depression, a condition that can be episodic and may resolve with treatment.

IMAGE2

"Constance had a long-standing psych illness of paranoid schizophrenia, so she had historical accounts of auditory hallucinations, delusional thinking, all of that," Dr. Steel told the Daily Mail. "Which is very different than, Lindsay's postpartum depression."

Forensic psychiatrist Omotola Ajibade pointed out that the availability of treatment also differed. Antipsychotic medications, such as Thorazine, were not widely available when Fisher committed her first murders in the 1950s. "Constance was likely depressed at the time, and she also had psoriasis. In some extreme cases, psoriasis can lead to psychiatric symptoms," Ajibade noted.

IMAGE6

Both experts suggest that with appropriate treatment, including medication and psychosocial support, the likelihood of Clancy relapsing into similar behavior if she were to have more children in the future is low, unlike Fisher, whose schizophrenia was a lifelong condition.

IMAGE8

IMAGE7

IMAGE4

IMAGE9

IMAGE10

IMAGE5