The Biggest Revelations From the Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial
Originally appeared on E! Online
Content warning: This story discusses violence against children and suicidal ideation.
On Jan. 24, 2023, Lindsay Clancy killed her three children and then jumped out of a second-story window, a fall that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
She pleaded not guilty to murder and strangulation charges in the deaths of her daughter Cora, 5, and sons Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, the defense maintaining that she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis and therefore wasn't criminally responsible for her actions.
And the jury tasked with deciding her fate ultimately couldn't agree on whether that was the case or not.
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Sept. 4 , hours after the jury sent a note for the third time in seven days that they remained deadlocked. Earlier in the day, defense attorney Kevin Reddingtonhad argued that one juror was refusing to follow the judge's instructions and should be replaced.
In denying the request, Sullivan replied, "I don't feel it's appropriate for me to say, 'I agree with one juror or the 11.' I have asked if they are able to follow my instructions. They swore earlier that they could."
Lindsay was facing life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of murder.
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Meanwhile, the Clancy case had divided the court of public opinion long before the trial began July 27, and the discourse only grew more heated as the proceedings went on.
Lindsay's now ex-husband Patrick Clancy, the first witness for the prosecution, testified that, on the night in question, he left their home in Duxbury, Mass., to pick up dinner and medicine for Cora. Less than an hour later, he returned to "blood everywhere" in their bedroom and Lindsay lying in the backyard.
She had "deep cuts on her wrists," he recalled, "and a red line across her neck."
Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Patrick called 911. When he asked Lindsay what she had done, she said, "I tried to kill myself," according to Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, who recounted the recorded call during Lindsay's Feb. 7 arraignment .
He asked where their kids——were, Sprague continued. Lindsay told him they were in the basement.
And then, the prosecutor said, Patrick could "be heard screaming in agony and shock as he found his children."
Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead at a Plymouth hospital, according to a D.A.'s Office news release , while Callan was airlifted to Boston Children's Hospital, where he died three days later.
Lindsay has been a patient at Tewksbury Hospital, a state-run psychiatric facility, since she was remanded for care in 2023.
During his July 28 opening statement , Reddington chronicled some of Lindsay's attempts to seek mental health care, starting with a psychiatrist appointment on Sept. 12, 2022, four months after Callan was born.
She went to a hospital emergency room on Nov. 16, Reddington continued, because she was "so depressed and messed up from lack of sleep, and so unable to emote, she couldn't laugh, she couldn't cry, she couldn't have any feelings. She was a robot."
Her legal team has also filed a civil lawsuit alleging negligence and medical malpractice against doctors and hospitals involved in her care. Testifying during the trial, the named providers defended their treatment decisions.
"We plan on holding each and every doctor and each and every hospital responsible for how they failed Lindsay time and time and time again," her attorney Rosemary Scapicchio told reporters outside court after Judge Sullivan declared the mistrial. The thought of another trial is "devastating to her, it's devastating to her family. This is a nightmare that's never going to end."
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Patrick, who has since remarried, said after the D.A.'s Office announced its intent to file murder charges that he had forgiven Lindsay.
"I took as much pride in being her husband as I did in being a father," he said in a Jan. 30, 2023, statement , "and felt persistently lucky to have her in my life."
He continued, "I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have. The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards 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."
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
He reiterated the sentiment months later, telling the New Yorker , "I wasn't married to a monster—I was married to someone who got sick."
Here are the major moments from the Lindsay Clancy murder trial:
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( Originally published Aug. 8, 2026, at 5 a.m. PT )
Patrick Clancy Says Lindsay Clancy Told Him She Thought About Suicide and Harming Their Kids
Lindsay Clancy's now-ex-husband was the first witness called to testify during her murder trial, which began July 27 in Plymouth Superior Court.
The 35-year-old former nurse has not denied killing daughter Cora, 5, and sons Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, but has pleaded not guilty of murder, the defense attributing her actions to postpartum psychosis.
Patrick Clancytestified that Lindsay struggled with her mental health after giving birth to Callan in May 2023, according to CNN .
She also sought treatment after Dawson was born in 2019, he said, "but it didn't last very long."
Lindsay's "big spiral," as he referred to it, occurred in December 2023 after she started taking a new medication, one of several she'd been prescribed since September, Patrick said. He testified that Lindsay told him she had "intrusive thoughts" about harming their children and herself.
He didn't worry about the kids' safety, he said, because she didn't seem to have "any intention" of actually hurting them.
On Dec. 31, Patrick said, Lindsay went to the E.R. at Massachusetts General Hospital "because she was still talking about thoughts of suicide . She was admitted to an affiliated psychiatric facility, and when she was discharged Jan. 5 she seemed "much better."
Patrick Clancy Describes Last Time He Saw Their Children Alive
On Jan. 24, 2023, Lindsay "was having one of her best days," Patrick testified, per CNN , recalling that his then-wife built a snowman in the yard.
"She was playing with the kids," he said, "and she seemed in a good mood."
That morning she had taken Cora to a doctor's appointment and he had texted her a picture of Dawson after he "dressed himself completely for the first time."
Patrick told the court he had felt "hopeful" since his wife's release from the hospital. "Her mood seemed better," he said. "She was more active, and she was able...to partake in more things."
Before he left to pick up dinner and medication for Cora, he said he kissed one of the kids on the head and told them he'd "be right back."
Prosecutors allege Lindsay sent Patrick on errands to get him out of the house on purpose. Then, Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckinghamsaid in her opening statement, she strangled the children with exercise bands "deliberately and meticulously."
Patrick testified July 29 that no one told him he shouldn't leave Linday alone with their kids, telling the court, "I didn't know what psychosis was until after this happened."
What Patrick Clancy Told 911, Cops After Finding His Children Unresponsive
In the audio recording of Patrick's seven-minute 911 call that was played in court July 29, according to the Associated Press , he's heard telling the dispatcher, who repeatedly asks what happened, "She killed the kids!"
Lindsay Clancy Wrote in Her Diary That She Wanted Help
Lindsay wrote about her struggles, including that she felt "incredibly sad and guilty" about not breastfeeding Callan, according to journal excerpts read to jurors Aug. 5.
"I want help," she wrote in an entry read by her attorney. "I want to be well."
In another, she said, "I have crazy brain fog. I feel like I can't make a plan. 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."
Toxicologist Details Medication Found in Lindsay Clancy's System
When Lindsay was hospitalized after killing her children and allegedly tried to take her own life, she tested positive for the antidepressant mirtazapine, the mood stabilizer lamotrigine, the antidepressant trazodone and quetiapine, a drug used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression, forensic toxicologist Justin Browertestified Aug. 5.
He said, per The Guardian , that his lab found that only the level of quetiapine in her blood was slightly elevated, but it wasn't at a "toxic" or "suicidal concentration." He further described the levels in her blood as "not consistent" with someone who takes a bunch of pills before trying to end her life.
Under defense cross-examination, Brower also said that toxicology results "don't tell the entire story."
Lindsay's attorney Kevin Reddingtonsaid in his July 28 opening statement that she has bipolar disorder and medication worsened her condition.
On the day she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan, Reddington said, she heard a voice telling her, "'This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself.'"
Family Nanny Calls Lindsay Clancy a "Wonderful Mom"
The Clancy family's nanny Elaine Rossi testified Aug. 5 that she had no concerns about Lindsay's fitness as a mother.
"I observed a wonderful mom who loved her kids," Rossi said. "She was concerned about their safety, and Callan eating and sleeping. She was a wonderful mother."
Lindsay Clancy Wasn't Planning to Return to Work, According to Former Colleague
Andrea Hennigan, who previously worked with the defendant at Massachusetts General, testified Aug. 6 that Lindsay told her at lunch after Callan was born that she didn't plan to go back to work as a labor-and-delivery nurse because she "was not in a mental state to take care of patients."
"She talked about insomnia and not feeling herself," Hennigan said, per the AP . "I believe she might have used the words brain fog or something like that."
Lindsay texted her in January 2023, Hennigan said, that she was experiencing "bad or negative side effects" from medication.
Lindsay Clancy Sobs as Prosecution Shows Autopsy Photos, Defense Accuses Prosecutors of "Hot Mic" Moment
The judge called for a brief morning recess Aug. 6 after Lindsay broke down in court while jurors viewed autopsy photos from the examination of 8-month-old Callan's body, according to the Patriot Ledger .
When they returned from their morning break the next day, Reddington told Judge Williams Sullivanhe had an issue to raise.
Asked what he had to share, per the Ledger , the lawyer replied, "I want to tell you that [a prosecutor] got picked up on a hot mic saying 'shut her up' during the playing of their autopsy."
"This is not like Handmaid's Tale ," Reddington added. "You can't tape her mouth shut."
Prosecution lawyers said in response that they reviewed footage of the moment in question and what appeared to have been said was, 'Shut it off,' indicating they should remove the autopsy photos from the screen.
Lindsay Clancy's Final Texts to Husband Patrick Revealed
Lindsay's final text exchange with Patrick before, as he testified, he came home and found her lying in the yard and their children in the basement, appeared to be about dinner plans.
"Any chance you want to do take out from ThreeV," she sent him at 4:53 p.m. on the evening of January 24, 2023, according to messages read in court Aug. 14 by prosecution witness State Trooper Timothy Chiappini, who analyzed Lindsay's cell phone. "I didn't cook anything. It's been a long day."
Patrick replied, "Yeah," and she wrote back, "Okie dokie, check the menu when you can."
Patrick then asked if Callan was up from his nap yet, and she replied, "It was just a short nap."
Also per the texts read in court, Lindsay said at 5:07 p.m. that she'd have a Mediterranean Power Bowl, while Patrick went with "scallops and pork belly risotto" a minute later.
Lindsay Clancy's Search History and Apple Watch Readings Are Shared
Called to the stand on Aug. 17 by the prosecution, digital forensics expert Ian Whiffin testified that Lindsay made several online searches about various medications, including "how quickly does wellbutrin work for depression" and "ketamine for suicidal ideation" in the final days before her children were killed.
She also made searches related to postpartum psychosis five days before their Jan. 24 deaths. And on that day, she looked up "kids miralax" and "CVS pharmacy".
Whiffin also spoke on the data recorded by Lindsay's iPhone Apple Health app and her Apple Watch, that showed she had climbed two flights of stairs at 5:03 and 5:33 p.m.
The Jury Was Suddenly Excused Due to "Unforeseen Circumstance"
Court was decidedly not in session in the later hours of Aug. 19 when Judge William Sullivan suddenly dismissed the 18 jurors due to what he called an "unforeseen circumstance."
Though he did not provide further details, Sullivan told the jury, per ABC News , "This is not something we saw coming, but you're not to speculate about what it is. You're not to hold it against either side. It's just something that we have to deal with."
E! News has reached out to Plymouth Superior Court for comment but has not heard back.
Lindsay Clancy's Lawyer Alleges One Juror Is Holding Up Verdict and Should Be Replaced
Reddington argued in court Sept. 4 that one juror should be replaced, as they appeared to have a personal issue that was preventing them from following the law and was therefore preventing the jury from coming back with a not guilty verdict.
Judge Sullivan refused, saying, per NBC News , "the discharge of a deliberating juror is a sensitive undertaking, fraught with potential error."
If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
