The story of Lindsay Clancy is one that seems to exist in two completely different worlds. In one version, she is a cold-blooded killer who planned the deaths of her three children. In the other, she is a loving mother whose mind betrayed her, a system failure that left a family shattered.
It all started innocently enough. During the pandemic, Chelsea DeFina created a Zoom fitness group for moms. Lindsay Clancy, a former middle school cheermate, joined while pregnant with her third child.
She worked out relentlessly, even at seven or eight months, sometimes with her older kids popping into frame. “She was an inspiration,” DeFina recalled.
Then, in January 2023, the unthinkable happened. According to court documents, Lindsay asked her husband, Patrick, to run an errand. While he was gone, she allegedly strangled Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan with exercise bands, then tried to take her own life.
Patrick’s 911 call captured his agonized screams, per court records. The children were pronounced dead or died days later.
Three years on, two narratives clash. To prosecutors, it was premeditated murder. But to those who knew Lindsay, she was a kind, nurturing soul who fought a desperate battle with postpartum mental illness.
Friends describe her as a devoted mom who had planned a big family since high school. “The system failed her,” one said anonymously, fearing online backlash.
Court documents show Lindsay sought help from psychiatrists 19 times in the months before the killings. She was hospitalized, tried multiple medications, and even wrote about suicidal thoughts. Yet, according to records, one clinic said she showed no symptoms of postpartum depression.
Her defense attorney argues our society fails women with postpartum psychosis.
Chelsea DeFina, who once saw Lindsay as an inspiration, now struggles to reconcile the woman she knew with the tragedy. “That was not her,” she said. “She was not in her right mind.”
As the trial unfolds, one question lingers in the air: could any of this have been prevented?
