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Lindsay Clancy's Final Texts to Husband Before Kids' Deaths Revealed in Murder Trial
Content warning: This story contains discussion of suicidal ideations.
More details about Lindsay Clancy's digital activities before the 2023 killings of her three kids have come to light.
The 36-year-old's internet searches, phone calls and Apple Watch readings were brought forth to court on Aug. 17 amid her ongoing trial for the murder of her and now ex-husband Patrick Clancy's children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months.
Digital forensics expert Ian Whiffin was called the stand by the prosecution, testifying that Lindsay made multiple online inquiries about drugs and medication—including "how quickly does wellbutrin work for depression" and "ketamine for suicidal ideation"—in the days leading up to her kids' deaths, per NBC Boston.
Lindsay—whose legal team argues was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her children—made searches about the condition five days before the incident, Whiffin testified.
Whiffin said Lindsay also made online inquiries about "Kids miralax" and "CVS pharmacy" on Jan. 24, 2023, the day of the killings.
As for Lindsay's call history, Whiffin testified that the former nurse's phone was last unlocked at 5:13 p.m. on Jan. 24.
Whiffin said Lindsay's device received an unanswered call from Patrick at 5:33 p.m., before a 14-second outgoing call—which was likely returned using the phone's locked screen—was made to his phone minutes later. According to Whiffin, Lindsay's phone received another unanswered call from Patrick at 6:09 p.m.
During his testimony, Whiffin also detailed data recorded by her iPhone Apple Health app and her Apple Watch. He said Lindsay's last recorded heart rate was 57 beats per minute—which is considered low—while app data showed that she climbed two flights of stairs at 5:03 and 5:33 p.m.
Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
However, Lindsay's attorney Kevin Reddington challenged the reliability of the data during cross-examination, noting that Lindsay's watch stopped recording at 5:23 p.m. and her phone stopped recording at 5:38 p.m.
While Reddington does not deny that Lindsay killed her children in their Massachusetts home that day, he argues that she cannot be held criminally responsible because she was struggling with postpartum psychosis at the time.
Meanwhile, the prosecution alleges that Lindsay planned and executed the murders of her three children, before jumping out of a second-story window in a fall that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
If convicted, Lindsay could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
For more details about her case, read on.
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Patrick Clancy Says Lindsay Clancy Told Him She Thought About Suicide and Harming Their Kids
Lindsay Clancy's now-ex-husband was the first witness called to testify during her murder trial, which began July 27 in Plymouth Superior Court.
The 35-year-old former nurse has not denied killing daughter Cora, 5, and sons Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, but has pleaded not guilty of murder, the defense attributing her actions to postpartum psychosis.
Patrick Clancy testified that Lindsay struggled with her mental health after giving birth to Callan in May 2023, according to CNN.
She also sought treatment after Dawson was born in 2019, he said, "but it didn’t last very long.”
Lindsay's "big spiral," as he referred to it, occurred in December 2023 after she started taking a new medication, one of several she'd been prescribed since September, Patrick said. He testified that Lindsay told him she had "intrusive thoughts" about harming their children and herself.
He didn't worry about the kids' safety, he said, because she didn't seem to have "any intention” of actually hurting them.
On Dec. 31, Patrick said, Lindsay went to the E.R. at Massachusetts General Hospital "because she was still talking about thoughts of suicide. She was admitted to an affiliated psychiatric facility, and when she was discharged Jan. 5 she seemed "much better."
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Patrick Clancy Describes Last Time He Saw Their Children Alive
On Jan. 24, 2023, Lindsay "was having one of her best days," Patrick testified, per CNN, recalling that his then-wife built a snowman in the yard.
"She was playing with the kids," he said, "and she seemed in a good mood."
That morning she had taken Cora to a doctor's appointment and he had texted her a picture of Dawson after he "dressed himself completely for the first time."
Patrick told the court he had felt "hopeful" since his wife's release from the hospital. “Her mood seemed better,” he said. "She was more active, and she was able...to partake in more things.”
Before he left to pick up dinner and medication for Cora, he said he kissed one of the kids on the head and told them he'd "be right back."
Prosecutors allege Lindsay sent Patrick on errands to get him out of the house on purpose. Then, Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham said in her opening statement, she strangled the children with exercise bands "deliberately and meticulously."
Patrick testified July 29 that no one told him he shouldn't leave Linday alone with their kids, telling the court, "I didn't know what psychosis was until after this happened."
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What Patrick Clancy Told 911, Cops After Finding His Children Unresponsive
In the audio recording of Patrick's seven-minute 911 call that was played in court July 29, according to the Associated Press, he's heard telling the dispatcher, who repeatedly asks what happened, "She killed the kids!"
Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool
Lindsay Clancy Wrote in Her Diary That She Wanted Help
Lindsay wrote about her struggles, including that she felt "incredibly sad and guilty" about not breastfeeding Callan, according to journal excerpts read to jurors Aug. 5.
"I want help," she wrote in an entry read by her attorney. "I want to be well."
In another, she said, "I have crazy brain fog. I feel like I can't make a plan. I live moment to moment waiting for the next nap time. I'm terrified of Cal getting overtired now because I feel can't help him."
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Toxicologist Details Medication Found in Lindsay Clancy's System
When Lindsay was hospitalized after killing her children and allegedly tried to take her own life, she tested positive for the antidepressant mirtazapine, the mood stabilizer lamotrigine, the antidepressant trazodone and quetiapine, a drug used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression, forensic toxicologist Justin Brower testified Aug. 5.
He said, per The Guardian, that his lab found that only the level of quetiapine in her blood was slightly elevated, but it wasn't at a "toxic" or "suicidal concentration." He further described the levels in her blood as "not consistent" with someone who takes a bunch of pills before trying to end her life.
Under defense cross-examination, Brower also said that toxicology results "don’t tell the entire story."
Lindsay's attorney Kevin Reddington said in his July 28 opening statement that she has bipolar disorder and medication worsened her condition.
On the day she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan, Reddington said, she heard a voice telling her, "'This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself.'"
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Family Nanny Calls Lindsay Clancy a "Wonderful Mom"
The Clancy family's nanny Elaine Rossi testified Aug. 5 that she had no concerns about Lindsay's fitness as a mother.
“I observed a wonderful mom who loved her kids," Rossi said. "She was concerned about their safety, and Callan eating and sleeping. She was a wonderful mother.”
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Lindsay Clancy Wasn't Planning to Return to Work, According to Former Colleague
Andrea Hennigan, who previously worked with the defendant at Massachusetts General, testified Aug. 6 that Lindsay told her at lunch after Callan was born that she didn't plan to go back to work as a labor-and-delivery nurse because she "was not in a mental state to take care of patients.”
“She talked about insomnia and not feeling herself,” Hennigan said, per the AP. “I believe she might have used the words brain fog or something like that.”
Lindsay texted her in January 2023, Hennigan said, that she was experiencing "bad or negative side effects" from medication.
Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
Lindsay Clancy Sobs as Prosecution Shows Autopsy Photos, Defense Accuses Prosecutors of "Hot Mic" Moment
The judge called for a brief morning recess Aug. 6 after Lindsay broke down in court while jurors viewed autopsy photos from the examination of 8-month-old Callan's body, according to the Patriot Ledger.
When they returned from their morning break the next day, Reddington told Judge Williams Sullivan he had an issue to raise.
Asked what he had to share, per the Ledger, the lawyer replied, "I want to tell you that [a prosecutor] got picked up on a hot mic saying 'shut her up' during the playing of their autopsy."
“This is not like Handmaid’s Tale," Reddington added. "You can’t tape her mouth shut."
Prosecution lawyers said in response that they reviewed footage of the moment in question and what appeared to have been said was, 'Shut it off,' indicating they should remove the autopsy photos from the screen.
If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
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