Lindsay Clancy's smart watch sheds fresh light on her three children's final moments
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Data retrieved from a smart watch belonging to Lindsay Clancy has been discussed in her trial over the killings of her three children.
Clancy is not disputing that she killed her children, but has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder.
Her lawyers claim that she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare but very serious mental health condition which affects some people after giving birth, as well as bipolar disorder.
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The defence is arguing that the seriousness of these health conditions and their impact on Clancy's mental state is sufficient that she should not be held criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children.
Meanwhile, the prosecution is arguing that Clancy should be held criminally responsible, and that there is also evidence that the killings were pre-meditated.
On January 24 2023 at around 5:15pm Clancy's husband Patrick Clancy had gone to collect a takeout meal for the family, exchanging messages with his wife while he was out.
But when Patrick returned to the house at 6:09pm he found Clancy upstairs, who told him that she had attempted to kill herself, an attempt which left with injuries so severe she will now have to use a wheelchair.
Two of the couple's children, Cora and Callan, were found in the basement, while their third child Dawson was found in Patrick's home office.
Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead at 7:28pm that day, and Callan in the morning of January 27.
Part of the court proceedings examined data retrieved from Clancy's smart watch, which may indicate how the events unfolded while Patrick was out of the house.
Digital forensics expert Ian Whiffin gave a testimony in the trial.
The court heard that the watch did not record any health data after 5:38pm on January 24, 23 minutes after Patrick left and approximately 20 minutes before he returned home.
If Clancy had climbed two flights of stairs to reach the second-floor bedroom and started to self-harm by 5:38pm, then this could indicate that she had already attacked her children by this point.
This is important evidence in the case because it could indicate that Clancy had started to attack her children very soon after her husband left the house, which prosecutors claim could be indication of premeditation.
However, the defence has highlighted some potential problems with the evidence from the smart watch and the phone it was paired with.
Defence attorney Kevin Reddington highlighted that there are no data available after 5:38pm, meaning that we don't know what happened then, and it is not known why the device stopped recording.
This could have been because the watch was removed or the battery had run down, or that Clancy had put down her phone or watch while she was going up and down stairs in the house, a possibility which Mr Whiffin acknowledged.
Mr Reddington also cast doubt on the accuracy of the data, as Clancy's devices had also recorded 47 meters of movement between 7am and 8am on January 25, when Clancy was in bed in hospital.
The smart watch would not be found until days later when it was recovered from a bedside drawer.
Mr Whiffin theorized that these data could have been produced either by the smart watch or the phone, with the movement recorded being produced when investigators were handling the phone.
The trial 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.
Topics: Lindsay Clancy, US News, Court, Crime
Kit Roberts