Family Testimony Highlights Clancy's Desperation
In October 2022, Lindsay Clancy texted her mother: "Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I'm really sick. Something is wrong." That message, read in court this week, captures the distress that Alberta Clancy's attorney says culminated in the deaths of her three children.
Clancy, a former labour and delivery nurse, is on trial in Massachusetts for killing her daughters Cora (5), Dawson (3), and Callan (8 months) on January 24, 2023. The children were strangled in the family basement; Clancy then tried to take her own life by jumping from a second-floor window and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Kevin Reddington, her attorney, argues she was so overcome by postpartum psychosis that she should not be held criminally responsible. Prosecutors say she planned the killings and sent her husband away.
The defense called Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, as its first witness. Musgrove testified that Clancy had asked to sleep in her mother's bed and told her the medication for postpartum depression was "destroying" her mind. On one occasion, Clancy gathered her mother and her then-husband, Patrick, to say, "I want to tell you guys something," before revealing that she had "thoughts of harming the children." Patrick previously testified that Clancy told him those thoughts but no plans.
Musgrove's testimony echoed a text from October 20, just three months before the killings, in which Clancy wrote she was "really sick" and didn't know how she would get through each day, adding that medicine had not helped and "I don't want to be alone." Musgrove stayed with her daughter for a week and made repeated trips from Connecticut in the following months. By November and December, she said, Clancy was losing weight, becoming paranoid, and telling her mother "this wasn't her mind."
Clancy's former mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, testified that the young mother had been "begging for help" in the months leading up to the tragedy. The defense's narrative has focused on Clancy's repeated attempts to obtain mental-health care, her fears about benzodiazepine dependence, and a pattern of being discharged after one day or denied higher-level care.
Elsewhere, prosecutor's questioning questioned the seriousness of Clancy's suicide attempt, noting that she engaged in seemingly normal activities on the day of the killings—including taking Cora to a doctor's appointment and texting Patrick about a urine test and dinner plans.
Expert Testimony: Two Psychiatrists, Two Explanations
The trial has pivoted on the question of Clancy's mental state at the moment of the killings. On Monday, a forensic psychologist called by the prosecution, James Heilbrun, testified that Clancy suffered from bipolar II disorder but was unlikely experiencing acute psychosis when she strangled her children. Heilbrun, who has testified in over 300 cases, noted that Clancy never reported auditory hallucinations before or after the act, a pattern he described as "very, very unusual." Instead, Heilburun favored an explanation Clancy killed the children out of love so they wouldn't "suffer" after her suicide—a conclusion he reached after interviewing her for three days and reviewing mountains of records.
Heilbrun's testimony drew heated objections from Reddington, who accused the psychologist of having "pretty much had an idea this woman is a beast" before ever meeting her. Heilbrun denied that, saying he "did his best to have an open mind." Under cross-examination, Heilbrun conceded he had not read all the medical reports. He also acknowledged that he had no specific experience with postpartum mental health conditions—despite earning roughly $54,000 for 180 hours of work on the case.
At its end of Monday's session, the defense shot for a mistrial after Heilbrun mentioned Clancy's Catholic faith. Reddington argued that Heilbrun's references to Clancy saying "Go to God" to her children was deliberate misconduct—that it indicated her actions were tied to her beliefs. Judge William Sullivan denied the motion and instructed the jury to ignore those comments.
Dr. Avram Mack, another prosecution psychiatrist, testified that he found no evidence of mania, hypomania, or psychosis in the months before the murders. He concluded Clancy was severely depressed.
Conversely, defense experts painted a very different picture. Dr. Phillip Resnick, who testified for the defense, said Clancy was "clearly psychotic" on the day she killed her children and not in control of her actions. Paul Zeizel, a psychologist for the defense, said he found no indications that Clancy was feigning symptoms and that psychotic symptoms can come in and go—explaining why she might not have shown them consistently.
Heilbrun also testified that Clancy said she had heard a male voice in the hospital after the killings, telling her to "kill her children and kill herself," a description that, if true, supports the defense's claim of hallucination. But Heilbrun remained skeptical, noting that no voices were reported before or after—which he said further undercut the psychosis claim.
Prosecution Experts Detail"Decisions" and Intent
T he prosecution's case centers on the notion of premituary planning. They argued that Clancy deliberately sent her husband out of the house (according to one account, to pick up medicine and dinner) to leave herself alone with the kids. They submitted that Clancy's acts after the killings—throwing herself out and then trying to decide who went first—were deliberate decisions, not deranged impulses.
Digital forensics expert Ian Whiffin, a witness for the prosecution, told the court that five days before the killings, on January 19, 2023, Clancy searched online for "symptoms of postpartum psychosis" and "psychosis symptoms" (as well as "how quickly does Wellbutrin work for depression" and "ketamine for suicidal ideation").
On Tuesday, the prosecution rested its rebuttal after calling Heibrun and forensic psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff, who is affiliated with the FBI and University of Virginia. Saathoff, who was not paid for his testimony, said he treated women who had killed children and found it unusual that Clancy had not reported hearing voices before or after, and that those voices ceased afterwards.
Reddington represented that the prosecution was cherry-picking scientists and that his client had been failed by a fragmented and overmedicating psychiatric system.
Patrick Clancy: A Father's Bond and a New Beginning
Patrick Clancy has testified during the trial about his children's personalities—Cora loved princesses, Dawson firefighters, trucks, and Paw Patrol, and Callan was a happy baby. A few days after their deaths, Patrick published a GoFundMe post (January 28, 2023) in which he said he had forgiven Lindsay for the slaughter.
Participants also noted that Patrick has moved on from the tragedy. He started dating Rachel Danis, a reproductive endocrinologist, in 2024 and married her in April. The marriage was revealed publicly when Reddington mentioned it in court on July 23. While the trial was on a break, photographs obtained by TMZ showed Patrick pacing and stressed at a Manhattan apartment. He and his wife spent about 30 minutes on a rooftop, appearing visibly stressed while taking phone calls.
Why This Trial Matters
The case has drawn attention to postpartum psychosis, a rare but severe mental illness that, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, affects about 1 in 1,000 women after childbirth and can cause mania, depression, confusion, hallucinations, and delusions. It can occur in women with no previous history of mental illness.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Clancy face a life sentence without parole. If the jury finds her not guilty by reason of insanity, she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital. Hundreds of women donated in her support, wearing pink at the courthouse beyond.
A separate civil case brought by Clancy and her ex-husband against several mental health providers is also pending.
Closing arguments were expected Thursday, and delays Friday.