Lindsay Clancy’s mother reveals the chilling warning she gave before killing her three kids

The mother of Lindsay Clancy took the witness stand in tears on Monday, recounting the harrowing months of severe anxiety, paranoia, and suicidal ideation that preceded the deaths of her three grandchildren.

Giving evidence as the defense opened its case in the fourth week of the murder trial, Paula Musgrove described her 36-year-old daughter as a loving and devoted mother whose mental health began spiraling out of control in October 2022—just three months before the tragedy.

Jurors at Plymouth Superior Court were shown emotional text messages sent by Clancy to her mother during that period, pleading with her to come stay with her in Massachusetts.

"Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I'm really sick. Something is wrong," Clancy wrote in one message displayed to the jury. “I had horrible insomnia all night, and I just don't know how I am going to get through the day... I started taking the medicine my doctor prescribed for anxiety and I think it's made things worse. It's just really scary and I don't want to be alone."

Clancy's trial begun last month and is expected to go on for some weeks (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

A Haunting Kitchen Confession

Musgrove, who traveled from Connecticut to stay with the family between October and December 2022, detailed a deeply alarming conversation in December while standing in the kitchen with Lindsay and her then-husband, Patrick Clancy.

Holding back tears, Musgrove testified that Lindsay appeared visibly nervous before making a devastating admission: "She told us she had thoughts of harming the children."

Musgrove told the court that Clancy grew increasingly fearful of sleeping alone, suffered debilitating insomnia, and became convinced that the numerous psychiatric medications she was being prescribed were ‘destroying her mind.’

Clancy's sister, Allison Ozga, also took the stand, corroborating the testimony and revealing that Clancy had confessed to having daily suicidal thoughts throughout December 2022.

Cora, Dawson, and baby Callan, pictured here with their father, were killed by Clancy in January 2023 (CBS News/Clancy Family)

The Battle Over Criminal Responsibility

Clancy faces murder charges for the January 24, 2023, strangulation deaths of her children—five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan—before cutting her own throat and jumping from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington does not dispute that Clancy caused the children's deaths, but argues she is not criminally responsible due to severe postpartum psychosis, postpartum depression, and disjointed psychiatric treatment.

Prosecutors maintain that Clancy planned the killings with calculated precision, arguing that she sent her husband out to collect dinner and a prescription to ensure she was left alone in the house.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Clancy faces the prospect of life imprisonment without parole. However, if her defense is accepted and she is found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would avoid prison and instead be committed to a state psychiatric hospital for indefinite evaluation and treatment, subject to periodic judicial review.

The trial continues.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, depression, or distress, support is available 24/7. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In the UK, call 111 or contact Samaritans on 116 123.