The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy will continue Monday in Plymouth Superior Court as prosecutors call rebuttal witnesses following the defense's decision to rest its case Friday.
Clancy, 36, faces three counts of murder in the January 2023 strangling deaths of her children Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and eight-month-old Callan in the basement of their Duxbury, Massachusetts home. The former labor and delivery nurse has pleaded not guilty while claiming she suffered from postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes following childbirth.
The defense rested Friday after calling forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick, who has provided expert testimony in high-profile cases including Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in 2001. Resnick testified that Clancy was "clearly psychotic" on the day of the killings and was not in control of her actions.
"It was almost like she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings," Resnick said during his testimony. He described Clancy as suffering from severe depression with evidence consistent with bipolar disorder, and said she reported hearing a male voice commanding her to kill her children.
Resnick explained that Clancy held a delusional belief that if social services took her children or if she died by suicide, the children would suffer without her. "She believed that she was doing what was right for her children," he testified.
According to CNN, Resnick said Clancy believed killing her children was morally right based on her psychotic beliefs. "In her mind she believed that she would be doing her children a favor by having them float to heaven with her rather than remain on earth without her doing the mothering," he said.
However, prosecutors challenged that testimony during cross-examination. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague questioned why Clancy never disclosed thoughts of harming her children to medical providers. Resnick acknowledged this but said it was "very common because people fear their children will be taken away."
Following the defense's rest, prosecutors began calling rebuttal witnesses. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack testified Friday that while Clancy suffered from a major depressive episode, he found no evidence of mania or hypomania to support a bipolar diagnosis—or of psychosis—leading up to the killings.
Mack told jurors that Clancy recounted hearing a loud male voice telling her to kill the children so she could kill herself, and she said "go to God" as she strangled them. But he maintained that Clancy was experiencing severe mental illness that was a continuation of depression in which she was able to control impulses and distinguish right from wrong.
Earlier in the week, Sheila Cavanaugh, a chaplain at Brigham and Women's Hospital who has met with Clancy more than 200 times since the killings, testified that Clancy told her she heard a voice commanding her to kill her children. "And the voice, according to Lindsay, told her that if she didn't follow the command, neither she nor her children would be safe," Cavanaugh said.
Prosecutors challenged that testimony, noting Cavanaugh never documented those claims in her notes from meetings with Clancy.
The prosecution argues that Clancy, who remains paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window following the killings, planned the murders deliberately and meticulously. They contend she manipulated her medical providers and constantly changed treatment plans seeking a quick fix.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington does not dispute that his client killed the children but argues she should not be held criminally responsible due to her mental state.
Closing arguments are expected to begin early next week. If convicted, Clancy could face life in prison. If jurors find she cannot be held criminally responsible, the court will likely begin proceedings to have her committed to a psychiatric hospital.
The trial has ignited a national conversation about maternal and postpartum mental health.
Anyone struggling with thoughts of suicide can call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline no matter the time of day.