Courtroom hears harrowing 911 call in Lindsay Clancy case, as ex-husband recalls the day of children’s killings
The second full day of testimony in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy was marked by the harrowing 911 call Patrick Clancy made when he found his three lifeless children in the basement of their Duxbury home in 2023.
During the seven-minute call, Patrick Clancy can be heard telling his now ex-wife Lindsay to “wake up” when he found her on the ground outside their home. She can be heard moaning and struggling to speak.
Once paramedics arrived to tend to Lindsay Clancy, Patrick Clancy stayed on the line and went to look for his children. He was soon heard repeatedly screaming when he discovered the children in the basement.
“She killed the kids,” Patrick Clancy yelled.
“She killed the kids?” the dispatcher asked in response.
Lindsay Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, is being tried on three counts of first-degree murder in Plymouth Superior Court for strangling her children three years ago.
Her defense is not denying that she killed her children, but says she should not be held criminally liable. They argue Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time and did not receive proper medical treatment. The prosecution is arguing Clancy acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible for the deaths.
After strangling her children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — authorities say she attempted to kill herself. She jumped out of a second-floor window, which left her paralyzed. She has been held at Tewksbury Hospital since.
On Wednesday when the recording of the 911 call was played for the jurors, Patrick Clancy, 38, was not in the room.
But Lindsay Clancy, now 35, sat in court. She put her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Many jurors were visibly emotional and Judge William Sullivan called a recess.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington and Lindsay Clancy listen to the 911 recording from Jan. 24, 2023. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
Last week, Sullivan had ruled that prosecutors could present the 911 call to the jury, but it could not be released to the public.
Before the call was played, Patrick Clancy took the witness stand in Plymouth Superior Court, to recount what happened on the day in 2023 that he left the house to pick up dinner.
When he arrived home, he said the house was quiet. When he got upstairs to their bedroom, he discovered an open window and a lot of blood. He found his then-wife on the ground outside.
Patrick Clancy also appeared overcome by emotion before he left the witness stand. He is expected to testify for the defense as well.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington doesn’t dispute that Lindsay Clancy killed her children. Reddington is seeking what’s known as the insanity defense, arguing that she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis and repeatedly tried to get help, but received improper mental health treatment.
But prosecutors allege she deliberately planned to kill her children and did not follow the recommendations from her treatment providers. They claim she was functioning normally before January 2023, when the children were killed.
The prosecution called two other witnesses Wednesday who testified about the night the children were killed. The assistant district attorney, Jennifer Sprague, questioned the manager of a CVS pharmacy where Patrick Clancy bought medicine for his daughter and the hostess from a restaurant where he picked up dinner. Both witnesses had spoken by phone with Lindsay Clancy that night and said there was nothing unusual about their conversations.
Patrick Clancy on the stand on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
The picture of the Clancys that has emerged from the court testimony so far is one of a young couple who were devoted parents, often texting each other photos of the children in various activities. In an apparent attempt to show that Lindsay Clancy was in touch with reality, prosecutors have shown photos and videos of birthday parties, museum trips and a visit to an indoor water park.
But there were also signs that Lindsay Clancy was struggling. Patrick Clancy said his then-wife had been seeking help for her mental health for months after the birth of their third child and tried different health care providers. Her medical records contain prescriptions for dozens of medications. She had extended her maternity leave from her job as a labor and delivery nurse, and her parents stayed with the couple at times.
Lindsay Clancy had checked in to McLean Hospital for inpatient treatment in early January 2023, just weeks before the killings. Patrick Clancy said she left the program a day early to be home for her daughter’s birthday party. At one point, Patrick Clancy said she talked about taking her life or “something bad” happening to the kids. But he said he didn’t think she would ever harm the children.
The day of the killings, Patrick Clancy said his former wife seemed to be improving. She had taken their daughter to a doctor’s appointment and built a snowman with the kids in the backyard while he was working in his basement office.
“Did anyone ask you not to leave the children alone with Lindsay?” Sprague asked him Wednesday.
“No,” he answered.
The defense also filed a motion on Wednesday asking that prosecutors refrain from saying that Lindsay Clancy searched the internet for “ways to kill.” Reddington, her attorney, characterized her internet history as searches for suicide methods.
During the proceedings jurors are expected to hear from several medical experts about postpartum mental health. Also listed among the more than 180 potential witnesses for this trial are members of the Clancy family, state police investigators, forensic experts and first responders.
Jurors are scheduled to visit the former Clancy family home in Duxbury. Patrick Clancy has remarried and now lives in New York.
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).
The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline can be reached at 1-833-TLC-MAMA.
