US4 min(s) read
Published 10:26 05 Aug 2026 GMT
Warning: This article contains content some readers may find distressing.
Lindsay Clancy has spoken out for the first time in her murder trial, after being accused of strangling her three young children.
The Boston native faced a number of questions from Judge Williams Sullivan before the jury was brought in on Tuesday (August 4).
Clancy's murder trial began over a week ago, following the deaths of Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan on January 24, 2023.
The former labor and delivery nurse slit her wrists and neck after allegedly strangling her kids, and threw herself out of a second-story window of her home in an attempt to take her own life.
As a result, she ruptured her spine and has been left partially paralyzed.
She was charged with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Clancy admitted to killing her children, but she has pleaded not guilty to the charges made against her.
The defendant agreed not to contest certain pieces of evidence to speed up the trial.
Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said she "stipulated" with prosecutors about facts linked with DNA, blood, the exercise bands she used to kill the kids and the chain of custody of that evidence.
Judge Sullivan asked: “You agree that the Commonwealth doesn’t have to prove the facts that are in the stipulation?”
“Yes, your honor,” she replied, nodding.
“You are basically relieving the Commonwealth of its burden to prove certain facts. Is that what you want to do?” Sullivan asked, to which Clancy again replied: “Yes, your honor.”
She also answered several other questions from the judge, while sporting a pink short-sleeve blouse and a headband.
Clancy could be seen speaking to Reddington throughout the case, but her answers to the judge were the first time she spoke on the record since the start of the trial.
Patrick Clancy, the defendant's husband, previously recalled asking her what she had done after finding the horrific scene, to which she reportedly said: “I tried to kill myself.”
He then asked where their children were, and she said: “In the basement."
The dad then called emergency services and then went into the basement, where he found his kids with exercise bands still around their necks, and attempted to resuscitate them.
Reddington stated that “we have not contested the government’s case” to avoid “having to bring in dozens of witnesses to prove chain of custody of bloods, fluids and all of that.”
He previously claimed that Clancy wouldn't contest at trial after killing her children, instead asking the jury to find her not guilty by reason of insanity on the grounds she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis.
As per Cleveland Clinic, this is a condition that affects a person’s sense of reality, causing hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, or other behavior changes.
But prosecutors hit back, revealing that an evaluation of Clancy didn't show any symptoms of the condition, instead being diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in the weeks leading up to the murders.
If she were to be found not guilty on grounds of insanity, the trial would have been significantly shortened as witnesses would no longer be needed to testify to confirm details about evidence.
Reddington grew frustrated in court on Tuesday after prosecutors called for witnesses to testify about facts he said Clancy agreed to.
He also said that Clancy has remained under 24/7 suicide watch, adding: “She’s extremely emotional. However, she’s unable, and has been unable, to express any happiness or sadness or cry.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
