Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband recalls hours leading up to their children's deaths
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide and child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her three young children, took the stand Monday as the prosecution's first witness in her triple-murder trial.
According to CNN, Patrick Clancy, the children's father, testified that his former wife struggled significantly after the birth of their third child, and that in the months before the January 2023 killings, she told him she was having thoughts of suicide and of harming their children.
He replayed the events of the day before the killings, telling the court that Lindsay had built a snowman and played with their three children.
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Patrick Clancy was clearly emotional when he took the stand, breathing deeply as he described each of his three young children: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan.
"She was playing with the kids, and she seemed in a good mood," he said, adding: "She was having one of her best days."
Earlier that morning, Lindsay brought the couple’s daughter to a doctor’s appointment, he said. Patrick texted his wife a photo of their middle child, Dawson, while she was away.
“He dressed himself completely for the first time,” her former husband texted Lindsay.
After Lindsay returned home, she played and did art projects with the kids while Patrick worked in the basement, he said.
Before he left the house to pick up dinner, he said he kissed one of his children on the head and told his family he would 'be right back'.
When he returned, he said he found all three of his children dead with exercise bands wrapped around their necks.
Her legal team are not denying she killed her children, but argue she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
His wife didn’t tell him she was having any thoughts about suicide or harming the children that day, Patrick testified.
Patrick testified that between September 2022 and January 2023, Lindsay was prescribed several medications by at least three different providers.
Prosecutors noted Lindsay only seemed to have taken some of the pills she was prescribed, but Patrick said he didn't keep track of if she was taking her medication.
He said Lindsay's mental health declined after she started taking a new medication in December 2022.
He says she told him she was having 'intrusive thoughts' about hurting herself and her children, but Patrick wasn't concerned at this point that she would act on them.
The New York Times reports he said on the stand: "I asked her if she needed to be kept away from [the children], and she said no.
“It was very confusing. The next minute, she was making them lunch or playing with them."
Due to her suicidal thoughts, Lindsay was in and out of psychiatric hospital between December 2022 and January 2023, after which period she said she was no longer having suicidal thoughts.
What did the prosecution and defense say in the opening statements?
Both the prosecution and defense delivered opening statements Monday morning, with each side warning jurors that some of the testimony in the case could be difficult to hear.
Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham told jurors that Lindsay Clancy 'deliberately and meticulously' killed her children, adding that 'she knew exactly what she was doing'.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington told the court that Lindsay Clancy was 'suffering from psychosis' when she killed her children. He emphasised that she attempted suicide afterwards and has been left partially paralyzed as a result.
"This is a young woman who, with her husband, tried very hard to get the help she needed," Reddington said.
Lindsay Clancy has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and faces life in prison if convicted
UNILAD has approached attorney Kevin Reddington for additional comment.
Timeline of the Lindsay Clancy case
May 2022
Lindsay gives birth to her third child, Callan.
She’s open about her postpartum struggles with her other two kids on social media. Six weeks after Callan’s birth, she posts that she’s feeling ‘dialed in’ while focusing on exercise, nutrition, and mindset, and ‘it has made all the difference’.
September 2022
As the end of her maternity leave nears, Lindsay, who works as a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, starts to experience anxiety about returning to work.
She visits two different psychiatrists and receives a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Lindsay is prescribed several different psychiatric medications.
October 2022
According to court docs, she writes in a note on her phone: “I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby. And I know that’s not fair to them. I know that. I was feeling so depressed last evening when Cora and Dawson came home from school, I know it runs off on them, so we had a pretty rough evening, I want to feel love and connection with all my kids.”
December 2022
Lindsay undergoes an evaluation at the Women and Infants Hospital Center for Women’s Behavioral Health. She is not diagnosed with postpartum depression, prosecutors say.
Lindsay’s husband Patrick tells police she is having suicidal thoughts and thoughts of harming their children, according to his testimony in court.
1-5 January, 2023
Lindsay admits herself to McLean Hospital for psychiatric treatment. She is discharged after five days as clinicians do not believe she poses an imminent danger to herself or others, prosecutors say.
22 January, 2023
Lindsay, Patrick, Cora and Dawson have dinner at family friend Kyle Carney’s home. Kyle later tells police that Lindsay ‘seemed fairly normal’.
23 January, 2023
According to prosecutors, Lindsay pens a note on her phone which says she has ‘a touch of postpartum anxiety’ about going back to work.
24 January, 2023
Prosecutors allege the following took place this day:
Morning: Lindsay takes Cora to a scheduled pediatrician appointment. After returning home, they play in the snow with Dawson. She sends photos of the kids to Patrick and her mom.
4:02pm: Lindsay searches for ‘kids Miralax’ (a laxative) on her phone, and 11 minutes later looks up ‘take out 3v’, referring to restaurant ThreeV in Plymouth. She uses Apple Maps to calculate how long it would take to drive from the family’s home to ThreeV.
4:47pm: Lindsay rings a CVS in Kingston to ask if they have any Miralax in stock. A manager tells her they don’t, but they do have similar medications.
The manager later tells authorities that she did not slur her words or sound impaired during the call.
4:35pm: Lindsay texts Patrick, who is working from home: “Any chance you want to do takeout from 3V … I didn’t cook anything … It’s been a long day.”
Patrick says yes, and Lindsay asks him to ‘check the menu when you can’.
5:10pm: Lindsay calls ThreeV to place the order.
5:15pm: Lindsay allegedly texts Patrick: “Pedialax liquid stool softener.” He then leaves to pick up the medication.
5:33pm: When Patrick arrives at CVS, he rings Lindsay, but she doesn’t pick up. She rings back one minute later and confirms the medication.
5:54pm: Patrick gets to ThreeV, pays for the food and leaves.
6:09pm: Patrick returns home. “The first thing he noticed was the silence,” prosecutors say. “He did not see or hear the defendant or the children.”
Patrick calls for his wife but gets no response. He discovers their second-floor bedroom is locked. Patrick eventually manages to get in the room but sees blood on the floor and an open window. He runs outside and finds Lindsay lying on the ground, according to prosecutors.
6:11pm: Prosecutors say that Patrick rings 911 and Lindsay is saying: “I tried to kill myself and jumped out the window.”
He is then said to ask Lindsay: “Where are the kids?” She responds: “In the basement.”
While on the call, Patrick goes down to the basement and is heard ‘screaming in agony’,
Cora and Callan are discovered on the floor of the den. Dawson is found in his dad’s home office.
When officers arrive at the scene, Patrick alleges: “She killed the kids.”
Lindsay is taken to hospital, where she is treated for injuries that leave her paralysed below the waist. The three children are also rushed to hospital.
7:28pm: Cora and Dawson are pronounced dead. Callan is medically flown to another children’s hospital.
25 January, 2023
Police issue Lindsay an arrest warrant, charging her with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation or suffocation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
27 January, 2023
Callan is pronounced dead at 11.18am.
According to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, Lindsay later wakes up and uses a whiteboard to ask: “Do I need an attorney?”
6 February, 2023
While in the presence of a psychologist hired by her lawyer, Lindsay calls Patrick and tells him she had a ‘moment of psychosis’ and heard ‘a man’s voice telling her to kill the kids and kill herself’ after he left on January 24.
7 February, 2023
On the day of her arraignment, Lindsay’s attorney says that she’s still suicidal. She pleads not guilty to three counts of murder.
October 2024
Patrick asks the public to forgive Lindsay, telling The New Yorker: “I wasn’t married to a monster - I was married to someone who got sick.”
January 2026
Lindsay and Patrick file a civil lawsuit, accusing medical providers of not properly diagnosing, treating and monitoring her for a ‘severe postpartum psychiatric condition’.
9 July, 2026
The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says the three counts of strangulation would be subsumed into the murder charges.
27 July, 2026
Lindsay’s murder trial begins.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Topics: True crime, Mental Health, US News
Thomas Bamford