Lindsay Clancy’s chilling confession about a male voice telling her to kill her children emerges in court
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide and child loss which some readers may find distressing.
Lindsay Clancy made a harrowing confession to her husband over the phone following the deaths of their three children, the court heard.
Clancy is currently on trial for the murder of her daughter, Cora, five, and sons, Dawson and three-year-old Callan.
While Clancy's legal team have not denied that the mother killed her own children, she has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. Her defence says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the heartbreaking ordeal and is therefore not criminally liable for what took place on January 24, 2023.
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Clancy's trial began last month and could go on for weeks. Yesterday (August 18) marked the 15th day of testimony, where Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist, took to the stand.
Dr. Ziezel met Clancy after she was hospitalized following an apparent suicide attempt after she killed her children. She suffered a thoracic spine injury and is now paralyzed.
During yesterday's testimony, Dr. Ziezel recalled Clancy asking to use his phone to try and call her then-husband Patrick Clancy, whom she had shared her three young children with.
Dr. Ziezel testified that the first time she tried to call, it went to voicemail, but when she tried again two days later, he picked up. Discussing the call, he shared (per CBS News): "She told Patrick that she loved him very much. She was able to express a lot of emotion, but expressed love for him.
"She said she heard a male voice ordering her, telling her that she didn't have any choice but she had to kill her children and then kill herself."
When prosecutors asked why he allowed Clancy to call her husband, the psychologist said it was 'out of human compassion'.
He also denied that he made any suggestions to Clancy about hearing voices.
Elsewhere, Dr. Ziezel was asked if he thought that Clancy was faking her mental illness symptoms at any point, and he said no.
"My opinion in the testing of Ms. Clancy... she was not faking," he said, adding: "She presented as an honest citizen."
While Dr. Ziezel doesn't believe Clancy faked her symptoms, other medical professionals who have given testimony said they saw no signs of psychosis in the lead-up to her killing her kids.
Psychiatrist Alia Goodheart treated Clancy during a brief inpatient admission in January 2023. When asked about her assessment of Clancy at the time, Goodheart told the court she had not been concerned that Clancy presented a danger to herself or anyone else.
A full 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. 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.”
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.
Topics: Lindsay Clancy, True crime, Mental Health, US News
Niamh Shackleton