Lindsay Clancy's Lawyers Argue She Isn't Criminally Responsible for Deaths of Her Three Children
Jury selection began this week in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with killing her three young children in January 2023, in a case where her defense team does not dispute that she caused their deaths but argues she should not be held criminally responsible.
Clancy, 35, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and strangulation in the deaths of her children: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan. The children died on Jan. 24, 2023, at the family's home in Duxbury. Clancy has pleaded not guilty and remains held at Tewksbury State Hospital.
Prosecutors allege the killings occurred after Clancy sent her husband, Patrick, out on an errand that evening. Patrick Clancy is expected to testify for both the prosecution and the defense during the trial.
A Defense Built Around Mental State, Not Denial
Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, has said in court proceedings that his client is not disputing that she killed the children, but instead plans to argue she was not criminally responsible due to severe postpartum mental illness at the time. Ahead of trial, Reddington had asked the judge to split the proceedings into two separate trials, one to determine guilt and a second to determine criminal responsibility, an approach the judge ultimately rejected in favor of a single combined trial.
"A single trial of all issues will be the most efficient and least confusing way to present this case to a jury," Judge William Sullivan wrote in his ruling.
Reddington has argued that Clancy had been prescribed as many as 12 different medications for postpartum psychosis in the months leading up to the deaths and was significantly overmedicated. "This family was on the road to hell and unfortunately is not coming back," Reddington said, adding that Patrick Clancy had gone to a doctor the week before the deaths seeking help for his wife's condition.
Prosecutors Push a Different Narrative
Prosecutors have countered that the killings were intentional and planned, not the result of someone who had lost control. Ahead of trial, prosecutors filed a motion to admit audio of Patrick Clancy's 911 call after he returned home and discovered his children, arguing that details from the call reflect premeditation and the defendant's state of mind at the time. Judge Sullivan has ruled the trial will proceed with 18 jurors, and denied a separate defense motion to call witnesses who could speak generally about experiences with postpartum psychosis.
Both sides have indicated they may call their own expert witnesses on the question of Clancy's mental state and criminal responsibility at the time of the deaths.
The Case So Far
Clancy was hospitalized following the incident with injuries to her wrists and neck. Her arraignment took place via video call from her hospital bed in February 2023. The case has drawn sustained national attention, both for the scale of the tragedy and for the broader legal and medical questions it has raised about postpartum psychosis and the standard for criminal responsibility.
The trial is expected to continue over the coming weeks in Plymouth Superior Court.
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