Lindsay Clancy asked for help before her children were murdered, her mother-in-law testifies

Warning: This story contains distressing details and discussion of attempted suicide.

Lindsay Clancy was “begging for help” before killing her three children, her former mother-in-law testified Tuesday, echoing others who have said in court that Clancy’s mental health deteriorated after the birth of her youngest son.

“He had insomnia. He was losing his appetite,” the mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, said at the murder trial. “I was very anxious and sad.”

Lawyers for Clancy, who does not deny carrying out the murders but has pleaded not guilty to murder charges, argue that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time.

Meanwhile, prosecutors alleged she made a calculated decision to intentionally kill her children: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, eight months.

When asked by a defense attorney if Lindsay Clancy had been “interested at all times in trying to get better and seeing doctors,” Susan Clancy responded, “Very much so.”

“I was begging for help,” he said of a woman he described as a “very loving, very caring” mother.

After three weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses, prosecutors ended their case Monday. The defense then began to present its arguments with personal anecdotes from family members.

Clancy has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

“She always wanted to be a mother, to have many children, and I felt like it was the best thing that ever happened to her,” Paula Musgrove, Clancy’s mother, testified Monday.

Then, Clancy allegedly started having trouble sleeping and sent a text saying she was “really sick.”

A month before the murders, Musgrove said, her daughter came to her and Clancy’s then-husband, Patrick Clancy.

“She told us she had thought about harming the children,” Musgrove said.

Musgrove also testified that Lindsay Clancy, a nurse, “would tell me, ‘This isn’t me, it’s never been like this before.’ And I would agree, because it wasn’t.”

Prosecutors have said that in January 2023, Clancy intentionally strangled the three children with exercise bands in his Massachusetts home before jumping out of a second-story window. Clancy, now 36, was paralyzed by the jump and attended the test in a wheelchair.

The defense has said that Clancy experienced hallucinations and delusions after giving birth to Callan and that she was receiving medical treatment for psychiatric problems. She herself was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a few days just before the deaths.

Clancy also told his sister that he was experiencing suicidal thoughts every day for the month before the murders, the sister, Allison Ozga, testified.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) defines postpartum psychosis as a rare, serious mental illness that can affect a person soon after having a baby.

“Postpartum psychosis is very different from the ‘baby blues’,” adds the NHS. “It is a serious mental illness and should be treated as a medical emergency.”

If you are experiencing distress or despair and need support, you can speak to a healthcare professional or an organization that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found on Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org.

In the UK, a list of organizations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.