US3 min(s) read
Lindsay Clancy's psychiatrist has revealed what she said in their final meeting, just a day before she allegedly killed her three children.
Clancy's high-profile trial is currently underway over the murder of her three children; five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and 18-month infant Callan.
She has plead not guilty to the murder of the children, due to diminished responsibility by reason of insanity.
Now, a psychiatrist who treated Clancy just one day before her children were killed, has revealed what happened in that final meeting.
Jennifer Tufts told jurors on Friday that while they were treating Clancy, they saw no signs of psychosis.
Having treated Clancy since September 2022, their final session together came in January 2023.
In that last session, Clancy claimed to Tufts that she was doing "alright," but was suffering from more anxiety and a racing heart.
She also told the court that Clancy relayed to her that she wasn't experiencing suicidal or homicidal thoughts, and didn't indicate that she was a risk to herself or others during their final session.
Tufts had treated Clancy for approximately 14 appointments, part of their work together was trying to find medications that could help with her anxiety and depression whilst not disrupting her sleep any further.
On their last meeting on January 23, Tufts told the court that Clancy didn't display any signs of harm.
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The information given by Clancy's therapist is imperative to the case, because her defense rests on the argument she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and substantial mental illness at the time that the crimes were allegedly committed.
Clancy's trial has become highly-publicized in the news and especially social media, where people are able to view live videos from the trial on TikTok and other video-sharing apps.
During recent questioning, where Clancy was made to view the autopsy photos of her children after their deaths, a prosecutor for the case was caught in a hot mic moment where the judge had to step in.
A close friend of Clancy's has also come forward to reveal the text messages she received from her before her three children were killed.
Clancy sent her husband, Patrick, out to collect takeout food and medications from CVS on the fateful night in January 2023.
When her husband returned home, he found Clancy's bedroom covered in blood and the window open. Clancy had jumped 20ft in a suicide attempt. She survived, but remains paralyzed as a result of her injuries.
Patrick Clancy then discovered the bodies of his three children in their house's basement rooms. All three had been strangled with exercise resistance bands and died in hospital.
us3 min(s) read
The husband of a Massachusetts mom who is facing trial for the murder of their three children has revealed the chilling words the voice in her head said before their tragic deaths.
Lindsay Clancy is accused of killing her three young children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan, on January 24, 2023.
Her husband, Patrick Clancy, is expected to testify as part of the defense's case, as her trial begins this week.
According to investigators, Lindsay had allegedly asked Patrick to go and pick up takeout on the evening of the murders, and he returned to a tragic scene.
When he arrived back at the home around 25 minutes later, he found that Lindsay had jumped from the second-story bedroom window and immediately called 911.
While on the phone to the emergency services, Patrick entered the home and discovered their three children inside, with exercise bands around their necks. Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead after arriving at hospital, and Callan died from his injuries several days later.
Lindsay survived the fall but has been left paralyzed and needing a wheelchair as a result of her injuries.
Despite the heartbreak of losing his three children in such horrific circumstances, Patrick has publicly stated that he forgives his wife and asked for others to do the same.
Prosecutors have also dropped three lesser strangulation charges by filing a notice of nolle prosequi, allowing those counts to be merged into the three murder charges Lindsay already faces.
The trial is expected to last around six to eight weeks, with Lindsay's legal team announcing earlier in the year that they plan to pursue an insanity defense, arguing that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time of the alleged killings.
Earlier this year, Patrick also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against several of Lindsay's healthcare providers, on behalf of the estates of their three children, after Lindsay was allegedly prescribed at least nine medications in the months before the tragedy.
Eight of the prescriptions were reportedly issued within just three weeks between November 16 and December 5, 2022, with medications including Valium, Prozac, Ambien, Remeron, Klonopin, Seroquel, and Lamictal.
In the suit, Patrick alleged that Lindsay had "started hearing a compelling and unrecognizable singular male voice that told her 'this is your last chance' and that she had to 'take them' with [her]."
It added that the voice "indicated to [Lindsay] that she should die... and that her children would suffer if she was gone."
Though Lindsay does not deny killing her children, she has pleaded not guilty and claimed she is not responsible for her actions because she was suffering postpartum psychosis.
Prosecutors are planning to argue that the killings were intentional and premeditated, after Lindsay ensured her husband would be out of the house when they were committed.
The trial began on July 20 and is ongoing.
us3 min(s) read
A friend of Lindsay Clancy has told jurors about a concerning text message she received from the Massachusetts mother just days before prosecutors say her three young children were killed.
Clancy's murder trial is now in its second week. The 35-year-old is charged over the deaths of her children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan, who died in January 2023 before Clancy allegedly attempted to take her own life.
Now using a wheelchair as a result of her injuries, Clancy does not dispute that she killed her children. However, her defence team argues she was suffering from severe mental illness at the time and should not be held criminally responsible for strangling them.
After allegedly killing her children, Clancy had jumped from the window of their home, a fall she survived with life-changing injuries.
As proceedings continue, jurors have been shown extracts from Clancy's personal journals, while several friends have taken to the stand to describe her mental state in the months leading up to the tragedy.
According to PEOPLE, one of those witnesses was Amy Bevins, who has known Clancy since childhood.
Bevins recalled meeting Clancy for breakfast with a group of friends around three months before the children's deaths, and said nothing about her behavior struck her as unusual.
However, she told the court that in January 2023, shortly before the killings, Clancy sent her a text explaining that one of her medications had caused "dark thoughts." Bevins said Clancy also told her she was in the process of switching to a different medication.
She further testified that she visited Clancy while she was in custody after the deaths, although the pair did not discuss either the children or what had happened.
The court has also heard from Clancy's personal diary, with several entries detailing her deteriorating mental health.
One journal entry read: "I want help. I want to be well."
Another described her battle with "crazy brain fog," while a further passage revealed how overwhelmed she felt caring for her youngest child.
"I live moment to moment waiting for the next nap time. I'm terrified of Cal getting overtired now because I feel can't help him," the diary stated.
Other entries referenced suicidal thoughts and documented the various medications prescribed by doctors as they attempted to treat her symptoms.
The trial is ongoing.
us5 min(s) read
Experts have issued a warning over a critical medication mistake as a mom accused of killing her three children before jumping 20 feet from a window goes on trial.
Lindsay Clancy, 36, has been accused of strangling her children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan, with exercise bands inside the family home on January 24, 2023, after sending her husband, Patrick Clancy, out to pick up takeout food.
When Patrick returned about an hour later, authorities say he found that she had attempted to take her own life by cutting her wrists and jumping from a second-story window.
She survived the fall but was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Clancy's legal team does not dispute that she killed the children but argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis that left her incapable of understanding her actions.
They said she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have argued the killings were planned, pointing to alleged internet searches including "ways to kill" and "can you treat a sociopath," as well as a handwritten note Clancy allegedly wrote before her youngest child was born.
Central to a lawsuit filed by Clancy and her husband is the allegation that the mom was prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications over several months as her mental health rapidly deteriorated after giving birth.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington has described the treatment as "a horrific overmedication of drugs that caused homicidal ideation [and] suicidal ideation," Daily Mail reported.
The lawsuit alleges the mom was prescribed a combination of antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, sedatives, and mood stabilizers, including Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Zoloft, Prozac, trazodone, Lamictal, Seroquel, and Ambien.
The healthcare providers named in the lawsuit have filed motions to dismiss.
Mental health experts not involved in the case stress that medication remains essential in treating postpartum psychosis but warn that prescribing multiple psychiatric drugs at once, known as polypharmacy, can increase the risk of side effects and make treatment more complicated.
"The multiple medications that Lindsay Clancy was taking is called polypharmacy, or a medication 'cocktail,'" forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman told the Daily Mail.
She said the approach is generally discouraged "because it causes too many side effects that multiply with the addition of each medication, and some medications cancel out the effect of others".
Experts say combining psychiatric medications can increase the risk of excessive sedation, confusion, agitation and, in rare cases, dangerous reactions such as serotonin syndrome.
Dr. Allen Masry, psychiatrist and medical director of All Solutions treatment centers, said: "The most challenging part of managing patients with severe postpartum psychiatric illness is determining if deteriorating symptoms are primarily due to medication side effects or a rapid progression of the underlying illness.
"Medication should be simplified when appropriate, and close follow-up should be provided," he added.
He also warned that suddenly stopping psychiatric medication can trigger withdrawal symptoms or even a rebound of psychotic symptoms.
Clancy's lawyers say she developed postpartum psychosis after the birth of her youngest child and began hearing voices instructing her to kill both herself and her children.
According to the lawsuit, she repeatedly sought medical help, went to emergency rooms, called crisis hotlines and admitted herself to the hospital, while telling doctors her medications were making her feel worse.
"Lindsay Clancy did everything a mother in her situation could do," her attorneys said in the lawsuit. "She recognized something was wrong with her. She sought medical treatment."
Experts say postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe psychiatric emergency affecting around one to two women in every 1,000 births.
Unlike postpartum depression, it can cause hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and a complete loss of touch with reality.
Dr. Rod Hoevert, a clinical and forensic psychologist, said the illness "carries the most risk of the mother harming the baby due to having psychotic experiences."
Around half of women diagnosed with postpartum psychosis have no previous history of mental illness.
Despite losing all three of his children, Patrick has continued to publicly support his wife while mourning the family's loss.
Days after the killings, he wrote in a GoFundMe post that the family's "shock and pain is excruciating and relentless."
He also urged people to remember the woman he knew before her illness, writing: "The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring toward everyone - me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients.
"The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace."
us4 min(s) read
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.
us news3 min(s) read
Warning: This article contains content some readers may find distressing.
The grieving husband of the woman who allegedly murdered their three children has disclosed the three chilling questions he asked her each morning to check her mental health.
Tragedy struck on January 24, 2023, when Patrick Clancy, the father of Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, went out to the CVS store and left his children alone with his wife, Lindsey.
When the father returned home after less than an hour, he found his seriously injured wife lying in their backyard, as reported by The New Yorker.
Patrick soon discovered that his wife hurled herself out of their home’s second-story window after she allegedly killed Cora, Dawson, and Callan.
The grieving father recalled the conversation he had with Lindsey, asking her: "What did you do?” to which she allegedly responded: “I tried to kill myself.” He then asked where their children were, and she said: “In the basement," per the outlet.
He 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.
Despite his best efforts to save them, Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead while Callan tragically passed away a few days later.
According to NBC News, Lindsey's defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued that his client suffered from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis - which is a condition that affects "a person’s sense of reality, causing hallucinations, delusions, paranoia or other behavior changes," per Cleveland Clinic.
However, prosecutors contended that the suspect was told she didn’t have any symptoms of postpartum depression when she was evaluated. She was instead diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder when she sought help in the weeks leading up to the children's deaths.
The father of the three deceased children opened up about his heartbreak in an exclusive interview with The New Yorker, telling the outlet that his wife's mental health seemed to be improving in mid-January.
He recalled the questions he asked her each morning, which were: "How are you feeling? How did you sleep?" the outlet reported. On the tragic day the children died, Lindsay told Patrick that she was feeling "good" and that she'd slept "pretty well".
The father, who had had a busy day of work, left his wife in charge of their kids and even allowed her to take Cora to the doctor with a stomach ache. He hoped the visit would help her come “back to reality” after weeks of improving.
Lindsey, who was a labor nurse, has been charged with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Despite admitting to killing her children, she has pleaded not guilty to the charges she's facing.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington has said the mom is paralyzed below the waist because of a spinal cord injury and a broken back and ribs she sustained during the attempted suicide.
He said that she remains under 24/7 suicide watch. “She’s extremely emotional. However, she’s unable, and has been unable, to express any happiness or sadness or cry,” Reddington added.
A date for Lindsey's trial has not yet been set.
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