The final witness in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy testified Tuesday that her accounts of hearing a voice telling her to kill her three children were "markedly inconsistent." Dr. Gregory Saathoff, a prosecution expert and forensic psychiatrist, told the jury that Clancy presented different versions of the Jan. 24, 2023, events to him and to a defense expert.
Clancy, 36, told Saathoff during interviews in May and June that after she ended a call with her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, at 5:34 p.m., she began hearing a male voice repeatedly say, "This is your last chance. You have to kill your kids and kill yourself." Saathoff stated that Clancy then used exercise bands to strangle her children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan—and attempted to take her own life, acting on the hallucinatory command.
However, Saathoff testified that Clancy had previously told defense expert Dr. Margaret Spinelli that the voice began around 5:15 p.m., shortly after her husband left the house to pick up medication and takeout food. "It’s markedly inconsistent," Saathoff said, noting that Clancy was precise with him about when the voice started and that it ceased after the children were killed. "We are talking about a significant difference in time and those two [accounts] they don’t match so it’s hard to know which version is the one that I should consider."
Saathoff, who has extensive experience with hospitals, prisons, and the FBI, also pointed out discrepancies between Clancy's and her husband's accounts of the hours preceding the killings. The psychiatrist is expected to conclude his testimony Wednesday, following approximately 90 witnesses called since the trial began on June 27. Judge William Sullivan indicated to the jury that deliberations could begin as early as Thursday.
Earlier in the trial, psychologist Dr. Kirk Heilbrun testified that Clancy told him she felt detached during the murders, as if "it wasn’t her" committing the acts but rather that she was merely responding to the voice. Both Heilbrun and Saathoff found it unusual that Clancy reported hearing this auditory hallucination only once, before the murders, and not again afterward.
Heilbrun suggested that the voice may have served as a mechanism to lessen Clancy's perceived responsibility, asserting that she remained criminally responsible for her actions. He added that Clancy was aware of the illegality and wrongfulness of killing, though her awareness was influenced by a strong desire to die. Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, is arguing that she should not be held criminally responsible, citing severe postpartum psychosis exacerbated by numerous prescription medications taken in the four months leading up to the incident.
Supporters of Clancy, many of whom are women, have attended court sessions, wearing pink shirts and sharing their own postpartum experiences, advocating for her not to be found criminally liable. Some attendees expressed empathy, believing Clancy needs help and that the children are in a better place. They hope she will remain in a hospital setting rather than face imprisonment.
Jurors have heard that Clancy sought help for insomnia, anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts about harming herself and her children in the months before their deaths. She had contacted a suicide hotline twice, voluntarily checked into a mental health facility, and sought treatment from two perinatal clinics. During this period, she was prescribed 30 medications across 13 different drugs, with six found in her system after the events.
Prosecutors contend that Clancy was not experiencing psychosis and planned the killings deliberately because she was tired of caring for her children.