Lindsay Clancy’s defense rests at trial over whether postpartum psychosis drove her to kill her kids

In the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the defense has concluded its case, arguing that her postpartum psychosis should exonerate her from criminal responsibility for the deaths of her three young children. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder in the January 2023 killings of her children Callan, Dawson and Cora, aged between 8 months and 5 years at the time.

Found in the basement of the family's coastal Duxbury, Massachusetts home, Clancy subsequently jumped from a second-story window and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Prosecutors maintain that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, planned the killings. The defense called several witnesses, including family members, a forensic psychiatrist, and a hospital chaplain, to support their claim that Clancy suffered from postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick testified that Clancy was clearly psychotic on the day of the killings and not in control of her actions, suggesting she was a puppet being pulled by an unseen force. Resnick also testified that Clancy suffered from severe depression, evidence of bipolar disorder, and heard a voice commanding her to kill her children, pointing to multiple categories of filicide, including those involving altruistic motives.

However, prosecutors argue that Clancy orchestrated her husband's departure from the house on the day of the killings, aiming to get him out of the way as she was receiving treatment for anxiety, insomnia, and depression.