The Lindsay Clancy case centers on a Duxbury, Massachusetts mother and Massachusetts General Hospital nurse charged with strangling her three young children on January 24, 2023, then attempting suicide by jumping from a second-story window. Clancy, 32 at the time of the killings, has pleaded not guilty and intends to argue at trial that she was not criminally responsible because of severe postpartum mental illness. Her murder trial is scheduled to begin July 20, 2026, in Plymouth Superior Court.
What Happened on January 24, 2023
On the evening of January 24, 2023, Lindsay Clancy sent her husband, Patrick Clancy, to a CVS pharmacy and a restaurant to pick up medications and dinner. He was gone about 20 minutes. When he returned to the family’s home around 6:10 p.m., he found Lindsay outside, semiconscious and bleeding. Prosecutors allege she had cut her wrists and neck and jumped from a second-story window.1NBC Boston. Lindsay Clancy Murder Case: Judge Issues Key Ruling
Patrick called 911. While still on the phone, he went into the basement and found all three children with exercise bands wrapped around their necks. On the recording he can be heard screaming, “She killed the kids!” and trying to resuscitate his daughter Cora.2The New Yorker. A Husband in the Aftermath of His Wife’s Unfathomable Act
Five-year-old Cora Clancy and three-year-old Dawson Clancy were pronounced dead that night. Their eight-month-old brother, Callan Clancy, was placed on life support and died on January 27 after the family decided to remove it. The cause of death for all three was ligature strangulation.3Biography. Who Is Lindsay Clancy
The Charges
Clancy was arraigned on February 7, 2023, appearing by Zoom from a Boston hospital before Judge John Canavan. She pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, three counts of strangulation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and was ordered held in a medical facility.4Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. Duxbury Arraignment Record
On September 15, 2023, a Plymouth County grand jury indicted her on three counts of murder and three counts of strangulation. Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Sprague and Amanda Fowle are prosecuting the case.5Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. Duxbury Woman Indicted on Charges That She Murdered Her Three Children
The Defense: Postpartum Psychosis and Overmedication
In December 2025, Clancy’s defense team filed formal notice of intent to pursue what Massachusetts calls a lack of criminal responsibility defense, the state’s version of the insanity defense.6NBC Boston. Over 200 People Included on Prosecution, Defense Witness Lists for Lindsay Clancy Trial The theory has two connected parts: that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis, and that a cascade of psychiatric medications made her worse rather than better.
Court filings and civil complaints describe symptoms that began roughly 12 weeks after the birth of her youngest child, Callan, in May 2022: mania, anxiety, depression, severe insomnia, suicidal thoughts, and auditory hallucinations.7Court TV. Lindsay Clancy Details Moments of Kids’ Murders in New Lawsuit8Harvard Street. Experts, Advocates Worry Lindsay Clancy’s Case May Further Stigmatize Postpartum Mood Disorders9Boston.com. Lindsay Clancy’s Husband Sues Mental Health Providers
A post-arrest forensic evaluation by Dr. Margaret Spinelli diagnosed Clancy with bipolar disorder and concluded that prescribing antidepressants to an undiagnosed bipolar patient can trigger mania and mood instability.7Court TV. Lindsay Clancy Details Moments of Kids’ Murders in New Lawsuit Clancy admitted herself to McLean Hospital on January 1, 2023, and was discharged four days later. The children were killed less than three weeks after that discharge.10MassLive. Lindsay Clancy Case: Prosecutors Seek Husband’s Statements to New Yorker
Massachusetts applies the M’Naghten standard: a defendant is not criminally responsible if, at the time of the act, she did not know what she was doing or did not know that it was wrong.11Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. The Public Opinion Gloss on Postpartum Psychosis Insanity Defenses In her civil lawsuit, Clancy has described being in a dissociative “dream-like state” and said her actions were “compelled by a hallucinatory voice, not a conscious decision.” She has described the voice as commanding, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself.”12Boston.com. Lindsay Clancy Malpractice Lawsuit
Reddington had asked to split the trial into two phases so that Clancy could formally admit she killed the children and the jury could focus only on her mental state. Prosecutors opposed, arguing the evidence in each phase would be nearly identical. Judge William F. Sullivan denied the motion on April 3, 2026, and denied reconsideration on April 26.13Mass Lawyers Weekly. Judge Denies Motion to Bifurcate Lindsay Clancy Trial
Patrick Clancy’s Position
Patrick Clancy is both the widowed father of the victims and the husband of the accused, and he has publicly aligned himself with Lindsay. Four days after the killings, while Callan was being taken off life support, he posted a statement asking the public to forgive her. “The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring,” he wrote. “I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have.”14CBS News. Patrick Clancy, Husband of Lindsay Clancy, Releases Statement
In an October 2024 interview with The New Yorker, he elaborated: “I wasn’t married to a monster — I was married to someone who got sick.” He said he hoped to testify at the trial. He also told the magazine that during an early phone call after the killings, Lindsay said she had heard a voice commanding her to kill the children; they then went six months without speaking.2The New Yorker. A Husband in the Aftermath of His Wife’s Unfathomable Act Prosecutors have since sought the magazine’s underlying notes and recordings; Judge Sullivan ordered publisher Condé Nast to produce them in February 2025, and Condé Nast moved to quash. Patrick is expected to testify at trial.
Civil Lawsuits Against the Medical Providers
In January 2026, Patrick and Lindsay filed separate lawsuits in Norfolk Superior Court against the mental health providers who treated her before the killings.
Patrick’s wrongful death suit, filed on approximately January 20, 2026, names Dr. Tufts, nurse practitioner Rebecca H. Jollotta, Aster Mental Health, and South Shore Health. It alleges the defendants misprescribed medications, failed to monitor adverse reactions, and failed to recognize the “radical erosion” of Lindsay’s mental health, and it seeks more than $1 million in damages. It also accuses South Shore Health of a HIPAA violation involving an employee’s access to family medical records.9Boston.com. Lindsay Clancy’s Husband Sues Mental Health Providers
Lindsay’s malpractice suit, filed January 22, 2026, names those same defendants plus McLean Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. It alleges a “catastrophic failure” to diagnose her bipolar disorder and describes a “disorganized, uncoordinated course of polypharmacy” that it says precipitated a severe psychotic break. It seeks damages for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, permanent disability, and the “devastation of her marriage.”15WCVB. Lindsay Clancy Lawsuit Against Medical Providers for Malpractice South Shore Health has said it cannot comment on specific allegations while litigation is pending.16NBC Boston. Lindsay Clancy Husband Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Doctors
Where the Case Stands Now
Trial was originally set for February 2026 and was pushed to July 20, 2026, after the defense requested more time for expert evaluations.17Boston.com. Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial Pushed Back to July 2026 Judge Sullivan has issued several significant pretrial rulings:
- He denied the defense request to move the trial out of Plymouth, finding the jury pool had not been compromised by media coverage.18Court TV. Judge Refuses to Move Lindsay Clancy’s Murder Trial to Boston
- He ruled Patrick Clancy’s 911 recording admissible, calling it significant evidence of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, with a limiting instruction to the jury.19WCVB. Lindsay Clancy 911 Call Allowed as Evidence
- He allowed the prosecution to show jurors autopsy photographs and photos of the children while alive, over defense objection.20WCVB. Lindsay Clancy Pretrial Hearing
- He approved a jury visit to the former Clancy home, overruling objections from the current homeowner. Prosecutors also asked that jurors visit the CVS and restaurant where Lindsay allegedly sent Patrick.21Patriot Ledger. Lindsay Clancy Court Autopsy Photos 911 Call Patrick Clancy
- He allowed prosecutors to use a three-dimensional model of the Duxbury home.20WCVB. Lindsay Clancy Pretrial Hearing
The combined witness lists include more than 200 people: 168 identified by the prosecution and about 50 by the defense, many expected to be character witnesses. As of late May 2026, only one of the three required psychiatric evaluations had been completed.6NBC Boston. Over 200 People Included on Prosecution, Defense Witness Lists for Lindsay Clancy Trial
Clancy has been held at Tewksbury State Hospital under the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health since 2023, on 24-hour suicide watch the entire time. Her attorney has described her as suicidal and extremely emotional.22WCVB. Lindsay Clancy Moved to Tewksbury State Hospital The extent of her paralysis is contested. Reddington has said she is quadriplegic with no sensation or motor control below the sternum and requires two nurses and a stretcher-equipped vehicle for transport. Prosecutors maintain that only her lower body is paralyzed, and reports from Tewksbury have been conflicting.23South Shore Times. Duxbury’s Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial Set for July: What We Know Jury selection is set to begin July 20, 2026.