Lindsay Clancy’s 13 medications prescribed before killings as final texts and phone history revealed in court
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The trial of Lindsay Clancy for killing her three children is continuing, including details of the medications that she was prescribed.
Clancy, 36, has been accused of killing Callan, eight months, Dawson, three, and Cora, five, on January 24 2023, and has pleaded not guilty to murder on the basis of diminished responsibility.
The 36-year-old says that she was suffering from post-partum psychosis meaning that she can not be held criminally responsible for killing her children.
Advert
This is a very rare but very serious health condition which can affect people after giving birth in a small number of cases.
Now, the court case has heard about the 13 medications that Clancy was prescribed prior to the tragedy.
Before the birth of her youngest son Clancy had been described by her husband Patrick Clancy as 'sensible' and a person who 'rarely took a break'.
However, the court heard that Clancy had started behaving out of character after giving birth to her youngest child, including joining a multi-level marketing scheme, and one week after giving birth starting to get up at 4am to exercise.
Around 12 weeks after she gave birth Clancy's mental health had deteriorated, and she had reportedly become depressed and anxious, had stopped exercising, and was sleeping just three hours each day.
After scheduling an appointment with a psychiatrist she was prescribed SSRI medication Zoloft, and then Ativan and Benadryl to help her sleep after she had a bad reaction to that.
Later on she would go on to be prescribed further psychiatric medications including Prozac, Ambien, Remeron, and Klonopin.
Clancy reportedly told her doctors that she was struggling to distinguish between what was real and what wasn't, and was reporting hallucinations and panic attacks in December 2022.
Court documents have described how she was prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications by a variety of medical professionals including psychiatrists, emergency department doctors, and nurse practitioners.
In just five months Clancy had been issued over 30 prescriptions according to evidence which was presented at the trial.
On the day of the alleged offences, Patrick Clancy said he had taken Cora skiing while Clancy was at home with the children, telling the court that she 'seemed to be doing a lot better'.
When they returned the family had decided to get takeout, which Mr Clancy had gone to collect, exchanging messages while he was out.
But when he returned home from picking up the food, he had found the house in a strange silence.
“The first thing he noticed was the silence,” prosecutors said. “He did not see or hear the defendant or the children.”
When he found Clancy, she reportedly told him 'I tried to kill myself'.
The three kids would die from their injuries, while their mom was left paralyzed as a result of her suicide attempt.
Prosecutors are claiming that she was aware of what she was doing and that she is criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children.
The case continues.
Timeline of 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.
Kit Roberts