Lindsay Clancy's Arraignment Revealed New Details About Her Children's Deaths And The Hours Leading Up To The Tragedy

There have been several famous murder cases in recent history that involve a mother who was charged with killing her own children, as Casey Anthony and Andrea Yates. The story of Lindsay Clancy has been compared with past cases, but there are many details about the Clancy tragedy that make it stand out above the rest. On Tuesday, Lindsay Clancy was arraigned at Plymouth District Court via Zoom from her hospital, where she is recovering from her suicide attempt. The prosecution went through a detailed account of what happened on the day of the murders while the defense presented a perspective that suggested Lindsay was overmedicated.

Lindsay Clancy Allegedly Killed Her 3 Young Children and Attempted Suicide

On January 24, Patrick Clancy called 911 after arriving home to find his wife on the ground outside. She had jumped from the second-floor window in an attempt to commit suicide. First responders reportedly found all 3 of the young Clancy children unconscious with obvious signs of trauma. They were rushed to the hospital, where Cora, 5, and Dawson, 3, were immediately pronounced dead. 8-month-old Callan fought for his life but died 3 days later. Reportedly, Patrick was only gone from the home for roughly 20 minutes to pick up dinner and stop by CVS.

Lindsay is being charged with murder, strangulation, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Since the day of the tragedy, Lindsay's attorney Kevin Reddington has spoken to the press and revealed that she was prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications in the span of a couple months. Lindsay is a 32-year-old labor and delivery nurse who was reportedly struggling with mental health issues after the birth of her third child.

Lindsay is being charged with murder, strangulation, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Lindsay has been held at a Boston hospital, where she is in serious condition and wasn't granted the opportunity to speak with anyone until the court allowed a forensic psychologist to evaluate her. The court also granted her the chance to speak with her parents for the first time. On Tuesday, Lindsay was arraigned at Plymouth District Court via Zoom and there were many more details shared about the case that are quite difficult to hear.

Lindsay Clancy's Arraignment Revealed New Details About Her Children's Deaths and the Hours Leading up to the Tragedy

On the morning of January 24, Lindsay took her 5-year-old daughter Cora to the pediatrician for an appointment. The people she interacted with indicated that she seemed to be in a normal state of mind. After they got home, she took Cora and 3-year-old Dawson outside to play in the snow. She sent pictures of the children to her mother and her husband. That afternoon, she searched on her phone the takeout menu for a restaurant in Plymouth called Three V and she also searched on Apple Maps how long it would take for someone to drive there and back. She then texted her husband (who was working in his home office in their finished basement) and asked if he wanted to pick up takeout because it had been a busy day and she didn't feel like cooking dinner. He agreed and they decided what they wanted to eat. She called in takeout at Three V and also asked Patrick to stop by CVS to pick up a stool softener for the children.

Lindsay was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.

When he came back from picking up the food and stopping by CVS, Patrick was surprised by the silence when he walked back into the home. He even called Lindsay's cell phone to see where she and the kids were. When she didn't answer, he walked upstairs to their bedroom. The door was locked, but he made his way in and saw some blood on the floor in front of their full-length mirror, as well as a window open. He ran downstairs and outside into the backyard, where he found Lindsay on the ground. She was still conscious. He called 911 immediately and he asked Lindsay while on the phone, "What did you do?" She told him she tried to kill herself and jump out the window. She had cuts on her wrists and neck. That's when Patrick asked her where the children were. She told him clearly that they were in the basement.

When the EMS responder arrived to the scene, Patrick asked them to stay with Lindsay while he went to look for the children. He was still on the phone with 911 and he is heard walking down into the basement and calling out, "Guys?" He started screaming out of agony and shock as he found Cora, Dawson, and Callan on the ground—all 3 of them still had an exercise resistance band around their necks that was used to strangle them. Prosecution stated that Cora and Dawson died of ligament strangulation that night, meaning it could have taken anywhere from 10 seconds to 1 minute for the child to fall unconscious, followed by 4-5 minutes of the band remaining tightly around their necks in order for them to die. Callan's heart rate was resuscitated when he was taken to the hospital, but his brain function never returned. He was on life support for a few days before he passed away.

The prosecution said Lindsay kept a very detailed journal every single day of how she felt, how the medication affected her, and how she felt about her family. In one entry from October 2022, Lindsay admitted that she resented Cora and Dawson for preventing her from treating Callan like her first baby, but she wrote that she knew that wasn't fair. She even wrote that she wanted to have more children.

In December 2022, Lindsay was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and a psychiatrist told her, in the presence of her husband, that she didn't have postpartum depression. However, she later admitted to her husband privately that she was having suicidal ideations and she even told him once that she thought about harming their children. That's when she voluntarily admitted herself into a psychiatric hospital. She was discharged on January 5. For the next couple of weeks, Lindsay's life seemed fairly normal. They spent time with family and nothing out of the ordinary happened. In mid-January, Patrick asked her if she was still having suicidal thoughts. She told him she wasn't.

However, a few days ago, Lindsay was given the opportunity to call Patrick for the first time. When he picked up, she told him that she had "a moment of psychosis" and as soon as he left the house on January 24, a male voice told her to kill the children and kill herself because it was her last chance.

Lindsay's attorney claims that the medical system failed her.

Lindsay's attorney claims that the medical system failed Lindsay and that this case is a significant issue of postpartum depression or even psychosis. He listed off all the psychiatric medications that she was put on, including Ativan, Seroquel, and Trazadone, and she kept telling her doctors that she was struggling to adjust to them. The defense says that Lindsay expressed about a month ago, "I just wish that I could feel something." Additionally, the defense said both Cora and Dawson's births were uneventful and she didn't struggle at all with postpartum anxiety or depression. However, Callan's birth was different and she was not treated properly, resulting in a psychosis that the defense claims was not planned. The defense attorney also described how the Clancy house was full of memorabilia, pictures, and drawings of the children, indicating that Lindsay loved them very much and her whole life revolved around them.

The judge agreed to allow Lindsay to continue recovering in the hospital, as she is a paraplegic now who cannot walk and needs 24/7 care and treatment, rather than being sent to prison and being held on bail.