More than 50 witnesses have testified so far in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children.
An 18-person jury is expected to hear from dozens more witnesses called by both the prosecution and defense in the trial, which is wrapping up the second week of testimony on Aug. 7. It is expected to last up to six weeks.
Clancy, 35, is facing murder charges in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her three children – Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months. She has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
Prosecutors allege that Clancy methodically planned the murders by sending her husband to pick up medication and takeout, and then strangling the children with exercise bands at their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home while he was gone. After the alleged killings, Clancy cut her wrists and neck and jumped out of a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed.
The defense argues that she lacks criminal responsibility – also known as an insanity defense – because she was suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis at the time of the killings.
After nearly nine days of testimony, here’s a look at highlights of what’s happened in the trial so far.
Patrick Clancy details timeline of months before kids’ deaths
Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy and father of Cora, Dawson and Callan, testified over the course of several hours on the first and second days of testimony.
He said Lindsay’s mental health began worsening in September 2022, four months after giving birth to Callan and about one month before she was set to return to her job as a labor and delivery nurse. She decided to see a psychiatrist, who prescribed her an antidepressant.
After Lindsay’s symptoms did not improve and she struggled to sleep, she went to additional medical providers for specialized perinatal care, Patrick testified. They also prescribed additional anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications as well as benzodiazepines.
According to medical records presented at the trial, Lindsay was prescribed more than a dozen different medications by various providers from September 2022 to January 2023.
Throughout that period, Lindsay was also hospitalized several times. On Nov. 16, 2022, Lindsay visited an emergency room after not sleeping for 48 hours, Patrick said.
In December 2022, Lindsay was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital for suicidal thoughts. From there, she went to a facility in Rhode Island for specialized postpartum treatment, where she stayed for one day after doctors recommended that the program “wasn’t right for her,” Patrick testified.
Also in December, Lindsay told her then-husband that she had “intrusive thoughts” about harming the children or something bad happening to them, but she said she did not plan to hurt them, Patrick said.
On New Year’s Eve 2022, he and Lindsay decided she should be admitted to McLean Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.
“I was exhausted,” said Patrick, who has since remarried and moved to New York City. “We didn’t have a diagnosis. We just didn’t know what was wrong. I was hoping that McClean could evaluate her and try to figure out the best path forward.”
Lindsay, who was admitted voluntarily, asked doctors to discharge her on Jan. 5 just prior to her daughter Cora’s upcoming birthday party, prosecutors said.
Patrick Clancy recounts finding his children dead
Patrick also testified about the events of Jan. 24, 2023 – the day of the killings.
In the morning, Lindsay brought their daughter, Cora, to the pediatrician for her 5-year checkup. At home, 3-year-old Dawson was excited because he fully dressed himself for the first time that morning, Patrick said.
Watch Patrick Clancy’s testimony describing finding his children
Patrick Clancy recounted returning home to find his wife, Lindsay Clancy, had killed their three children.
During the day, Patrick worked from his basement office while Lindsay played outside with the kids, building a snowman in their yard.
In the evening, Lindsay texted Patrick suggesting takeout for dinner. He texted her his order, which she called in. Patrick then left the home to pick up the food as well as medicine from CVS.
When asked about his wife’s mood that day, Patrick said, “She seemed happy.”
“She was having one of her best days,” he added.
When Patrick returned, he recalled the house being quiet, which was unusual. He began checking around the house and eventually found his and Lindsay’s bedroom door locked.
Once he unlocked the door and entered, he “saw blood everywhere,” Patrick said. He then made his way downstairs and outside, where he discovered his wife on the ground.
After calling 911 and first responders arriving, Patrick went back inside to continue searching for the children.
In the basement, Patrick found Cora and Callan with bands around their necks. After removing them, he looked for Dawson, who he found in another room in the basement.
When prosecutors asked what condition Dawson was in when he found him, Patrick said, “I knew he was gone.”
Lindsay Clancy’s former father-in-law takes the stand in her trial
Christopher Clancy, Patrick’s father, testified on Aug. 6. He described Lindsay as “very mothering.” When asked if she was protective, Lindsay’s ex-father-in-law said, “yes, like any mother would be.” He at one point called his son, former daughter-in-law and their kids the “all-American family.”
At the family’s Thanksgiving gathering in November 2022, Christopher Clancy said Lindsay “seemed quiet” and at times appeared to have a blank stare.
Asked by a prosecutor whether he saw Lindsay interact with son Dawson that day, Christopher Clancy recalled her “getting a little frustrated” with the 3-year-old.
“Dawson was being a little silly and she was trying to get him to sit down and she was just a little bit getting frustrated with him,” he said, adding that Lindsay took the boy by the arm to get him seated but it “wasn’t anything crazy.”
“He was a handful, but he was a good boy,” he later said of his grandson.
Christopher Clancy also recounted seeing his son’s family the week of Christmas, including for Mass on Christmas Day. Lindsay was quiet, but said she was glad she went to church, he said.
He was later asked about his son’s demeanor the night of the murders.
“It was terrible,” Christopher Clancy said.
Clancy family nanny remembers Lindsay as ‘wonderful mom’
Elaine Rossi, a woman who worked for the Clancy family as a part-time nanny from September to December 2022, testified on Aug. 5 about her close relationship with Lindsay.
Rossi, who the Clancys called “Lainey,” primarily took care of Callan and also helped with light housekeeping, laundry and food prep, she said. She helped with Cora and Dawson on a few occasions, but generally, they were heading to daycare when she was arriving to the family’s home in the morning, Rossi said.
She recalled often communicating with Lindsay via text or through written notes in notebooks left at the home. The prosecution has asserted that Lindsay’s controlling nature as a mother was a motive in the killings. When asked by the defense whether she found the written notes overbearing, Rossi said, “Not at all.”
Rossi also testified that Lindsay told her she was “suffering from postpartum” and had been seeing doctors and trying medication. She also discussed her difficulty sleeping, Rossi said. The Clancys eventually let Rossi go in December after Lindsay decided not to go back to work, she said.
Asked if she had concerns about Lindsay’s interactions with the kids, Rossi said: “None at all. She was a wonderful mom.”
Lindsay Clancy’s diary entries, Facebook post revealed in court
Several Massachusetts State Police troopers testified about evidence recovered in the investigation, including Lindsay’s diary and phone.
In addition to keeping notes about the medications she was on and the impact they had on her, Lindsay also wrote in a diary about how she was feeling, according to the testimony of trooper Cory Melo.
Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham read aloud a number of entries, including several about baby Callan’s sleep schedule.
“Hearing him cry for one plus hours and not intervening just about killed me. I even told Pat I wanted to die while he was crying,” one entry said.
Another entry read: “I’m completely overwhelmed trying to take care of the kids. I feel like I’m drowning every day.”
An entry dated Nov. 18, 2022 read: “It’s like I’m so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everybody that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me.”
Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington also read from the journals, highlighting passages expressing anxiety about brain fog, her newborn’s sleep schedule and marital problems.
“My mind never shuts off,” one entry said.
Later in the book, another entry read: “I feel disconnected from myself, time, reality.”
Another trooper, Andrew Chiachio, later testified about a Facebook post made by Lindsay about her then-18-month-old son Dawson in May 2021.
In a Facebook group called “Attachment Parenting for Littles,” Lindsay asked for advice on parenting Dawson, whom she described as “the most difficult human I’ve ever encountered.”
“I mean that with all of the love in my heart but I honestly cannot make it through a day without getting frustrated with him,” the post reads.
Witnesses describe Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy
Cora, who had just turned 5 at the time of her death, was named after the first baby her mother delivered as a nurse.
She liked princesses, her father Patrick and daycare teacher Stephanie Williams testified.
“She had a lot of friends. She just liked taking care of people,” Patrick said.
Williams described Cora as a “sweet little girl who loved her brother.” She especially loved Sofia, the princess from “Sofia the First,” Williams said.
Rossi recalled: “Cora was a girly girl who loved her babies very much. She was very sweet.”
Dawson, 3, loved firefighters, trucks and “Paw Patrol,” Patrick said.
Rossi described him as “full of energy, rambunctious, funny, silly.”
Callan, the newborn, was “just a happy baby,” Patrick said.
He was “the happiest, sweetest, easiest baby,” Rossi said.
“He was just a love,” she added.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.