As Lindsay Clancy trial begins, her ex-husband describes growing concern for his children’s safety
The Duxbury father of three children killed in 2023 offered anguished testimony during the first full day of his ex-wife’s trial, describing growing concerns in days and weeks before she killed her kids and jumped out a second-floor window.
Lindsay Clancy watched as her ex-husband Patrick Clancy sat in a Plymouth Superior Court witness box and spoke about his concerns for her health — and for the safety of his kids — before their deaths. He said Lindsay had been struggling with postpartum depression for months.
Defendant Lindsay Clancy watches as her ex-husband Patrick Clancy takes the witness stand. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington does not dispute that Lindsay Clancy strangled all three children before her suicide attempt, which left her paralyzed. She faces three murder charges.
Instead, he’s said she’s not criminally liable for their deaths — attempting what’s often referred to as an insanity defense — saying she was overmedicated and in the depths of postpartum psychosis when she killed the children and tried to end her own life.
Under questioning by prosecutor Jennifer Sprague, Patrick Clancy said about a month before the killings, Lindsay had expressed thoughts about harming herself or the children.
“I think I asked her at some point, ‘Do you think you need to be kept away from them?’ She said no. It was very confusing because a minute later she was making them lunch or playing with them or getting them ready for bed or whatever it was,” Patrick Clancy said. “So it was confusing in that she wasn’t physically harming them at the time but she was having these thoughts, right? I never saw Lindsay harm the kids.”
Patrick divorced Lindsay following the killings. He has since remarried and moved to New York City.
He maintained his composure for most of his testimony, but took a deep breath and answered with a cracking voice when prosecutors asked him to describe his three children, starting with 5-year-old Cora.
“Cora was into princesses,” Clancy said. “And she had a lot of friends. She just liked taking care of people.”
He described 3-year-old Dawson a toddler who enjoyed trucks and Paw Patrol and 8-month-old Callan as “just a happy baby.”
Patrick Clancy testified that Lindsay was anxious about returning to her job as a labor and delivery nurse, but he thought she was improving.
Prosecutors have a different narrative.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague enters a bag of prescription pills as evidence in Lindsay Clancy’s trial. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)Defense attorney Kevin Reddington presents his opening arguments in Lindsay Clancy’s trial. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
In opening statements, Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham showed photos and videos suggesting that Lindsay Clancy was functioning normally. Buckingham said the defendant did not stick with mental health treatment and never took all her prescribed medications.
“After only four months in treatment, she made a deliberate choice,” Buckingham said. “An intentional decision that she did not want to try anymore. And because no one could take care of her kids the way she wanted them to, she had to take them with her.”
Lindsay Clancy is now paralyzed after attempting to take her own life immediately after the killings. Her attorney Kevin Reddington said Clancy went to various postpartum specialists and was overmedicated for postpartum depression that quickly developed into psychosis.
“She knows that she killed those children,” he said. “We’ll sit here listen to their evidence. But I suggest to you that the issue for consideration is what was going on in that woman’s mind?”
If convicted of murder, Lindsay Clancy faces a potential life sentence. But she’ll remain in state custody even if the jury decides she’s not criminally responsible for killing her children. She would be confined to a state-run medical facility to continue receiving treatment and there would be periodic evaluations to determine when, if ever, she could safely be released.
Resources: You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and the Samaritans Statewide Hotline (call or text) at 1-877-870-HOPE (4673). Call2Talk can be accessed by calling Massachusetts 211 or 508-532-2255 (or text c2t to 741741).
