Psychiatrist who treated Lindsay Clancy 14 times admits she never met her in person before she killed her three children
A psychiatrist who was treating Lindsay Clancy in the lead-up to her children's deaths has been grilled by lawyers about the fact that she never met her patient in person.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder of her children, who were aged five and under, in January 2023.
Her trial is currently ongoing, and her defense team is trying to support her not guilty plea by proving that she was suffering with postpartum psychosis at the time.
The harrowing court case resumed today (August 10), and her psychiatrist Dr Jennifer Tufts return to the stand.
Advert
According to the Daily Mail, Tufts had 14 appointments with Clancy over the course of September 2022 to January 2023 – the month her children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, died.
Today she admitted that all their appointments were video calls and that she'd never met Clancy, 35, in person.
Clancy's lawyer Kevin Reddington asked her: "Until you came in this courtroom Friday, you never saw this woman, did you?"
Tufts replied that this was 'correct', arguing that telehealth is a common and accepted practice,
The American Psychological Association writes: "Teletherapy, including services delivered via telephone or videoconferencing, has been shown to have similar outcomes to traditional, in-person therapy.
"Teletherapy has been shown to be an efficacious treatment modality for a variety of mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and adjustment disorder, among others."
Reddington asked if she could see Clancy's arms or legs during their appointments, implying that this could have detected other symptoms that his client had been experiencing.
"I couldn’t see her legs, but I knew she was under stress," Tufts said, per Court TV.
Clancy was 'clearly invested in her children'
On Friday, Tufts and Clancy's other psychiatrist Dr Alia Goodheart testified that they did not observe signs of psychosis while treating her.
Tufts diagnosed Clancy with generalized anxiety disorder and an adjustment disorder with depressed mood and recommended therapy and an antidepressant, WSFB reports.
Meanwhile, Clancy was under Dr Goodheart's care after she checked herself into McLean Hospital, a prominent psychiatric facility in Belmont, Massachusetts, on New Year's Day 2023. She was discharged on January 5.
Tufts then had an appointment with Clancy on January 23 (the day before she killed her children) and she said that the mom-of-three wasn't displaying any signs she would harm her children.
Goodheart echoed similar sentiments and said that she did not see signs of psychosis and didn't have concerns about Clancy’s safety or that of anyone around her either.
She did note, however, that she'd never treated a patient with postpartum psychosis before.
Goodheart added that she saw her patient as 'future-oriented' and said Clancy was 'clearly invested in her children'.
If Clancy is convicted of murder, she will face life in prison without parole. However, if she is found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.
Her trial is expected to last anywhere between four to eight weeks.
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 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.
Topics: Lindsay Clancy, True crime, Mental Health, US News
Niamh Shackleton