Lindsay Clancy wept in a Plymouth, Massachusetts courtroom Wednesday as a former nanny testified that her 8-month-old son, Callan, was the “happiest, sweetest, easiest baby” and that she never worried about the safety of the three children in Clancy’s care. The nanny, Elaine Rossi, cared for Callan for a few hours a day, three days a week, from September to December 2022, while Clancy’s older children were at school.
Rossi described Callan as “just a love,” and testified that Clancy’s daughter Cora, 5, was a “girly girl” and her son Dawson, 3, was “full of energy, rambunctious, silly, funny.” Rossi, whom the children called “Lainey,” said she observed Clancy as a mother who loved her children and was concerned for their safety, including Callan’s eating and sleeping habits.
While Rossi was aware that Clancy struggled with postpartum depression, had trouble sleeping, and was taking prescription medications, she stated she never had concerns about the children’s well-being. Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, provided Rossi with detailed instructions and information about Callan, which Rossi kept in a notebook.
Rossi was initially hired to care for Callan as Clancy prepared to return to work on Thanksgiving 2022. However, the family ended Rossi’s employment shortly after Thanksgiving, informing her that Clancy would not be returning to work. In early December 2022, Clancy told Rossi she was suffering from postpartum depression and was stopping breastfeeding Callan because she was starting a new medication. Clancy also mentioned she was having trouble sleeping and was spending nights in the basement for that reason.
Evidence presented earlier in the trial included excerpts from Clancy’s diary, detailing her distress over stopping breastfeeding Callan and sleep training him. She expressed guilt over Callan pulling her attention from her older children and wrote about having “horrible PTSD from sleep training Callan.” In one diary entry from November 18, 2022, Clancy wrote, “It’s like I’m so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me.”
Prosecutors allege that Clancy strangled her three children, Callan, Dawson, and Cora, with exercise bands on January 24, 2023. She is also accused of then cutting her own wrists and neck before jumping from a second-story window, an act that resulted in paralysis and left her wheelchair-bound. The jury is tasked with determining Clancy’s mental state during the events, with prosecutors arguing she was of sound mind and acted deliberately. Clancy's defense attorney is seeking a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, contending she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis, potentially exacerbated by misdiagnosis and overmedication.