Lindsay Clancy suffering 'command hallucination' when she killed children, court hears

Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her three children, was suffering from a command hallucination during the killings, a forensic psychiatrist testified during her trial. Clancy pleaded not guilty due to postpartum psychosis. The defence did not deny that Clancy carried out the killings, but argued she was experiencing mental illness at the time.

Forensic psychiatrist Phillip Resnick, the final witness for the defence, explained that postpartum psychosis is a rare and serious mental health illness that can affect someone shortly after giving birth. Resnick observed that Clancy was unable to differentiate between right and wrong on the day of the killings, believing she was helping her children go to heaven rather than leaving them on earth without her care.

Clancy's trial has brought postpartum psychosis into the spotlight, with prosecutors alleging she intentionally strangled her children with fitness bands in their Massachusetts home before jumping from a second-story window. The defence claims Clancy experienced hallucinations and delusions following the birth of her youngest son and had been receiving medical treatment for psychiatric issues.