Lindsay Clancy's Massachusetts murder trial begins over 2023 killing of three children

Jury selection has begun in Plymouth Superior Court as the murder trial of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy proceeds. Clancy, 35, is charged with three counts of first‑degree murder for the deaths of her children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and infant Callan, 8 months—who were strangled with exercise bands in their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023. After the killings she attempted suicide by jumping from a second‑story window, resulting in paralysis and confinement to a wheelchair.

Clancy has pleaded not guilty and plans to raise an insanity defense, arguing that postpartum psychosis—exacerbated by multiple psychiatric medications—rendered her incapable of understanding her actions. Her husband, Patrick Clancy, is expected to testify in support of this claim. The defense cites a civil lawsuit alleging that doctors misdiagnosed and over‑medicated her, failing to recognize intrusive thoughts and auditory hallucinations that preceded the tragedy. Prosecutors contend the killings were pre‑planned and intentional, pointing to evidence that Clancy researched the timing of her husband’s outing before the murders.

The case has sparked national discussion about postpartum mental‑health disorders and the legal standards for criminal responsibility when severe psychiatric conditions are involved.