In a Massachusetts courtroom on Wednesday, the mother accused of killing her three young children broke down in tears as prosecutors displayed the tiny pajamas the kids were wearing and the exercise bands allegedly used to strangle them.
The emotional second day of Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial also featured the heart-wrenching 911 call made by her husband, Patrick Clancy, after he came home to find the family’s house eerily silent. On the recording, he can be heard pleading, “Where are the kids, Lindsay?”
Patrick Clancy had been out running errands on January 24, 2023, picking up a prescription and takeout. When he returned, the home was quiet. After searching upstairs and finding their bedroom door locked, he used a key to get in and saw “blood everywhere,” according to his testimony.
He found his wife on her back in the backyard, having jumped from a second-floor window in an alleged suicide attempt. Her wrists and neck were cut. When Patrick asked what happened, she reportedly replied, “I tried to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 myself.”
He then asked about the children, and she said they were in the basement.
What followed was a father’s worst nightmare. Patrick testified that he found 5-year-old Cora face down with a band around her neck. Nearby was 8-month-old Callan, also with a band.
He then discovered 3-year-old Dawson in his basement office.
“I knew that he was gone,” Patrick told the jury about finding his middle child.
In court, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague held up the children’s pajamas and the three exercise bands prosecutors allege Clancy used to strangle them. Clancy reportedly turned away from the evidence, dabbing her eyes.
The defense argues that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a condition they say was worsened by a cocktail of prescription medications. Court documents show she had been prescribed at least 15 different psychiatric drugs by five doctors in the months before the deaths.
During cross-examination, Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington highlighted that Patrick described his then-wife as a “very dedicated” mother. The jury also saw photos of cheerful family moments posted on Facebook, as well as a book found in the kitchen cabinet titled “Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts.”
Patrick testified that Clancy had struggled with severe insomnia and suicidal thoughts, and had been hospitalized twice in December 2022. He also said she admitted to having thoughts of harming the children.
As the 911 call played in court, Clancy was reportedly sobbing audibly. Even a veteran journalist covering the trial called it “truly one of the worst things I’ve heard in my 43 year career.”
The trial is expected to continue Thursday, with the jury weighing whether Clancy was legally insane at the time of the killings—or a calculated killer.
What will the jury decide when they hear all the evidence?
