Testimony in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy revealed disturbing Google searches the Massachusetts mother made in the days and weeks leading up to the deaths of her three young children. A Massachusetts State Police trooper presented evidence showing searches on Clancy's phone, including "how to slit throat to die," "Where is the carotid artery?" and "How to turn airbags off on Kia Sorento."
Trooper Timothy Chiappini testified that these searches were recovered from Clancy's cellphone, which was analyzed after her children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan—were found strangled in their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023. While the trooper initially stated he did not recall the specific searches, he confirmed that the phone's identifier matched forensic records of Clancy's device.
Further revealed during the 13th day of the trial were searches related to mental health conditions. On January 20, 2023, just four days before the killings, Clancy reportedly searched "Can you treat a sociopath." Additional queries from January 19 and 20, 2023, included terms like "psychosis," "schizophrenia," "hallucinations," and "intrusive."
In the weeks prior to the children's deaths, Clancy also repeatedly searched for information on "postpartum depression" and "bipolar disorder." Her searches also included medications she was prescribed, such as trazodone and Zoloft, and "benzo withdrawals."
Prosecutors allege Clancy is a calculated killer who was tired of caring for her children. Her defense attorneys are pursuing a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that Clancy was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis, exacerbated by her prescription medications.
Earlier testimony from Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Kyle Pavao indicated that a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet belonging to Clancy contained a visit to a website titled "suicide methods" in August 2022. This occurred approximately three months after the birth of her youngest child, Callan. Sgt. Pavao could not confirm Clancy herself visited the page, only that it was accessed via a Wikipedia page about singer Tom Hall, who died by suicide in 2021. Clancy's then-husband, Patrick Clancy, had previously told the jury that he had conducted the search for Tom Hall.
Jurors were also shown text messages exchanged between Clancy and her then-husband in the moments before he returned home to discover the tragedy. Additionally, a note written by Clancy on November 3, 2022, expressed a desire for a fourth child, stating, "I really want a fourth child but I need a good therapist before then."
Clancy is accused of strangling her three children with exercise bands before attempting to end her own life by slitting her wrists and neck and jumping from a second-story window. The children were found fatally strangled with exercise bands in the family's Duxbury home.