Disturbing autopsy photos of three young children were hidden from television viewers as Lindsay Clancy's murder trial got underway.
The 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder over the deaths of her children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan, who were found strangled inside the family's Duxbury home on January 24, 2023.
As prosecutors delivered their opening statements, several broadcasters were forced to blur their courtroom feeds after graphic images were shown to jurors.
Cameras were also ordered to stop filming entirely whenever the autopsy photographs were displayed.
Lindsay Clancy, 36, has been charged over the deaths of her children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan. Credit: Facebook
Judge blocks release of 911 call and autopsy photos
Before testimony began, Judge William Sullivan granted a request from Lindsay's ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, to keep the family's 911 call and autopsy photographs out of the public domain.
"The media shall not, record, display, reproduce, distribute or otherwise disseminate" the 911 call or the autopsy photos of the children, Judge Sullivan wrote in his ruling, per The Mirror.
Whenever that evidence is presented to jurors, courtroom cameras will be switched off.
Patrick previously made clear he supports his former wife's mental illness defense.
"I wasn’t married to a monster - I was married to someone who got sick," he said in a 2024 interview.
Trial expected to centre on postpartum psychosis
The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, will focus heavily on whether Clancy can be held criminally responsible for the killings or whether postpartum psychosis and severe mental illness left her incapable of controlling her actions.
Her legal team does not dispute that she killed the children, arguing instead that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have contended that the crimes were deliberate and premeditated.
According to prosecutors, Clancy asked Patrick to collect a prescription and takeout food because she was too tired to cook dinner after caring for the children all day.
Investigators allege she searched online to find out how long he would be gone before carrying out the killings.
"She looked up on her phone, or on her computer search, how long he was going to be gone for when he goes on that trip the day that she killed her children," Boston criminal defence attorney Elyse Hershon said.
"They’re going to focus on that and how that’s an example of premeditation, and she was planning to kill her children while he was gone."
Prosecutors have also alleged Clancy searched online for the phrase "ways to kill" before the deaths and, four days earlier, Googled "can you treat a sociopath".
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague has additionally highlighted a handwritten note Clancy allegedly wrote five months before Callan was born.
In it, she wrote: "I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby... I want to feel love and connection with all of my kids."
Sprague has previously described Clancy as "selfish," referencing the note during an earlier court hearing.
Patrick Clancy, the husband of Lindsay Clancy, is pictured with the couple’s three children. Credit: GoFundMe
Patrick describes changes in his wife's mental health
Patrick's testimony began with details of the months leading up to the tragedy.
He told jurors that after Callan's birth in 2022, his then-wife began showing signs of anxiety as the end of her maternity leave approached.
He explained that she had experienced similar anxiety after previous maternity leaves and found caring for all three children alone "really stressful", though he said there was nothing at the time that made him believe she needed emergency medical intervention.
Patrick testified that Lindsay wanted to begin taking Zoloft to treat her anxiety.
"Usually, you just ask the doctor, and they’ll give it to you," he recalled her saying when he asked how she planned to obtain the medication.
He later found out that she had already secured the prescription before mentioning it to him.
"I don’t think she had started taking it yet, but she already had it," he told the court.
By late October, Patrick noticed little improvement: "She wasn’t really improving (at that time). She just kind of seemed to be gradually becoming more in like a depressed state."
He said she eventually stopped taking the medication because it affected her sleep.
The couple even slept in separate rooms for several weeks in an effort to help her rest, although she continued struggling with insomnia.
When asked by prosecutors whether Lindsay later told him she had been instructed to "double the dose," Patrick replied that she had.
Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy. Credit: Facebook
Healthcare providers also face lawsuit
Earlier this year, Lindsay and Patrick filed a lawsuit against her healthcare providers, alleging they failed to properly diagnose, monitor, and treat what they describe as a "severe postpartum psychiatric condition."
According to the complaint, Clancy tried to get medical help before the killings, including inpatient psychiatric treatment, after suffering depression, insomnia and hearing voices telling her to harm both herself and her children.
"Lindsay Clancy did everything a mother in her situation could do," the lawsuit states. "She recognized something was wrong with her."
The filing further alleges that on the day of the killings, Clancy heard voices telling her: "This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself."
According to medical records cited in the lawsuit, another voice warned her "that her children would suffer if she was gone."
After Patrick returned home that evening, prosecutors say he found his wife outside the house after she allegedly slashed her wrists and throat before jumping from a second-storey window.
She reportedly told him she had tried to take her own life and that their children were downstairs.
First responders found all three children strangled with exercise resistance bands. Cora and Dawson died that evening, while baby Callan died several days later in hospital.
Clancy remains paralyzed following the fall and is being held at a state hospital as the trial continues.
If convicted, she faces a life sentence.
Featured image credit: Facebook