A Massachusetts mother charged with murdering her three children has appeared in court in person for the first time since her arrest. Lindsay Clancy, 35, is accused of strangling her children with fitness bands before throwing herself from a window, leaving her paralysed from the neck down.
Clancy appeared in a wheelchair at Plymouth Superior Court last week, having previously attended hearings via video link from hospital. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murders of Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan in January 2023.
Prosecutors allege that Clancy sent her husband Patrick to collect a takeaway and medication on the evening of 24 January. When he returned around 6pm, he found the house in silence, the bedroom door locked, and his wife lying injured outside the open window. The children's bodies were discovered in the basement.
Clancy's defence team has requested a split trial, with the first part examining her role in the deaths and the second, if she is found guilty, determining whether she was suffering from post-natal psychosis at the time. Her mother, Paula, has described her as 'a lovely mother, always has been'.
Patrick Clancy has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his wife's former nurse practitioner and psychiatrist, alleging they overprescribed medication 'to the point where she heard voices'. At the time, Clancy was reportedly taking 12 different drugs, including antidepressants and mood stabilisers, and had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital just three weeks earlier.
The court will hear further arguments on the trial structure in the coming weeks. Clancy remains in hospital under guard.
