Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial centered Friday on the days she spent in a psychiatric hospital shortly before she allegedly killed her children. This period is crucial to understanding her mental state, which is debated by both the prosecution and defense.
The prosecution highlighted Clancy’s denial to hospital staff of any intentions to harm others or commit suicide. However, Clancy’s lawyer argued she sought mental health treatment for months without a proper diagnosis, and medication worsened her condition.
Defendant Lindsay Clancy listens during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court on Thursday, July 30, 2026. (CJ Gunther/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
* Editor’s Note: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. *
Clancy pled not guilty to the murder charges related to the January 2023 deaths of her three children, aged 8 months to 5 years. They were found in the basement of their Duxbury home. Clancy, found injured in the yard, remains paralyzed. Prosecutors claim Clancy, who was a nurse, intentionally killed her children after sending her husband away on errands. The defense admits she killed the children but argues she is not criminally responsible due to her severe mental illness, claiming she heard voices instructing her to kill.
In both the criminal trial and a malpractice lawsuit, Clancy’s legal team claims she has bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, which were diagnosed after the killings. Before these events, one provider suggested bipolar disorder in 2022. Clancy reportedly dismissed this diagnosis when she entered McLean Hospital on January 1, 2023, as noted by Dr. Alia Goodheart, a psychiatrist who later treated her.
Dr. Goodheart testified that Clancy expressed concerns about an antipsychotic drug, feeling numb, a known side effect. She was diagnosed with insomnia linked to mental health issues, leading to a reduction in her medication. Following this, Clancy reported improved sleep, anticipation of her daughter’s birthday party, and arranged for outpatient care. She left the hospital with prescriptions for an anti-anxiety medication and a sleep aid. Clancy denied thoughts of harming others and cited her family as reasons against suicide, according to Dr. Goodheart.
During cross-examination by defense lawyer Kevin Reddington, it was pointed out that the hospital didn’t conduct specific tests or learn of her prior call to a suicide hotline. Moreover, they did not confer with her outpatient providers, although they communicated with her husband.
“She was very sick, wasn’t she?” Reddington asked. “I don’t know what you mean,” Goodheart responded.
If convicted, Clancy faces life imprisonment without parole. If found not guilty due to mental illness, she could be committed to a state mental health facility.