Lindsay Clancy's sister reveals chilling comments she made one month before killing her three children
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Lindsay Clancy’s sister has testified about the mom-of-three's mental state before she killed her children.
Allison Ozga spoke to the court on Monday (August 17) and testified she saw her sister experience a mental health decline in the months leading up to the tragic deaths of Clancy’s children.
She told the court that at the end of December 2022, Clancy told her she had experienced suicidal thoughts every day for a month.
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Ozga gave evidence as the defense opened its case in the fourth week of the murder trial.
She said when she saw her sister during Thanksgiving 2022, her 'mood did not look good' and she 'didn’t seem very energized', Boston.com reports.
She said Clancy's mental state seemed to deteriorate the following month.
She testified: "I had this gut feeling that something was off and that she was really struggling, and I asked her if she was safe. She said ‘yes’ at that point."
Ozga also had concerns when she saw her sister at her eldest child Cora's birthday party weeks before Clancy's children's deaths.
She said: "I think she looked like she was going through the motions of putting together a birthday party for her daughter. But she looked tired. She looked like she was still struggling."
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 attempting to take her own life, leaving her paralyzed from the waist 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 to kill her children with calculated precision, arguing that she sent her husband out to collect dinner and a prescription so he was out of the house.
Clancy’s mother also took to the witness stand on Monday, describing the months of severe anxiety, paranoia and suicidal ideation her daughter experienced in the months leading to the killing of the children.
Paula Musgrove testified her daughter’s mental health declined in October 2022. Jurors at Plymouth Superior Court were shown emotional text messages sent by Clancy to her mother, who lives in Connecticut, pleading with her to come stay with her in Massachusetts during her mental health decline.
"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."
Musgrove travelled to stay with the family between October and December 2022 and told the court about a deeply concerning conversation in December.
She testified that her daughter appeared visibly nervous before stating: "She told us she had thoughts of harming the children."
Musgrove told the court that Clancy grew increasingly fearful of sleeping alone, suffered insomnia, and became convinced that the numerous psychiatric medications she was being prescribed were ‘destroying her mind.’
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.
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.
Greg Harris