The Lindsay Clancy murder trial
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Who was Lindsay Clancy before the tragedy and what was her early life like?
Before she killed her three young children, Lindsay Clancy was, by all accounts, an ordinary person. She met her husband Patrick in her 20s. They got married and moved to the suburbs. Lindsay was a labor and delivery nurse at Mass General. Was she a good mother? Yes, says everyone. Her now ex-husband, who has refused to condemn her. What kind of a mother was she?
She was very dedicated. She did everything. She started reading them books at three months and she made up songs for them. I remember she used to make green eggs and ham for Cora.
A former nanny?
I observed a wonderful mom who loved her kids. Do I love Lindsay?
Yeah. I did love Lindsay, yes. Lindsay Clancy admits that she killed her kids, but she says she was experiencing postpartum psychosis. Now her future is in a jury's hands. That's coming up on Today Explained from Vox.
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I'm Noelle King. You should know before we get into it that today's show includes details of a very gruesome crime. If that is not for you, how about this? I'll see you back here tomorrow. Christina Rex has been covering this story literally from the day the crime occurred. She's a reporter with WBZ. That's the CBS affiliate in Boston. I asked Christina what she'd learned at the trial about when it became clear that something was wrong with Lindsay Clancy.
Yeah, so it really seems like the spiral, as it's been referred to in court, starts in September of 2022. Right. So at this point, the youngest, Callan, is around four months old, and the family has just had what was described as a very pleasant summer, you know, going to Cape Cod, going to the beach. Lindsay is supposed to be heading back to work in October, but starts to experience that same anxiety, and then it seems to become something deeper.
How did Lindsay’s mental‑health symptoms develop in the months before the murders?
She reports having feelings of depression, and she actually ends up seeking out a psychiatrist at that point and getting a Zoloft prescription. And she doesn't like the way it's making her feel. She also starts experiencing some insomnia, so much so that she separates and goes and sleeps down in the family basement to try and get better sleep. At this point, she starts seeking out new care. So she switches from a psychiatrist to a perinatal psychiatrist instead, and then a different psychiatrist after that. Over the course of November and December, there are multiple emergency room visits as Lindsay starts reporting some suicidal ideation. And she goes to the ER at one point because she hasn't slept in 48 hours.
She starts reporting to her husband, Patrick, not only those suicidal ideations, but one time she reported to him a fear that she was going to harm their children and also a fear that the children were, like, going to become very ill. And she reported having intrusive thoughts. So she ends up trying to do an outpatient program for mothers. But when she gets there, she reports that she's told that she's actually not a good fit for the program. So she leaves after a day. Then it kind of all comes to a head on New Year's Eve into 2023, which is when Patrick takes Lindsay to the emergency room at Mass General. And at this point, she's recommended to do an inpatient stay at McLean Hospital, which is like the primary inpatient mental health facility in Massachusetts.
So she goes there for five days.
January 24th, 2023 was the day that these murders happened. Can you walk us through what happened on that day, what you've learned in court?
Yeah, so it was a weekday. So her husband, Patrick, was working in the basement, working from home at the time.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who was Lindsay Clancy before the tragedy and what was her early life like?
0:00–2:37
2
How did Lindsay’s mental‑health symptoms develop in the months before the murders?
2:37–5:37
3
What exactly happened on January 24 2023, the day the children died?
5:37–8:13
4
What are the prosecution’s main arguments that Lindsay acted with intent?
8:13–12:20
5
How does the defense explain the killings as a result of postpartum psychosis?
12:20–16:47
6
What is postpartum psychosis, how common is it, and why is it so hard to diagnose?
16:47–20:29
7
What warning signs should families watch for and when should they seek help?
20:29–24:28
8
Could this trial lead to better research, policy, or support for maternal mental health?
24:28–28:50