Prosecutors submitted diary entries written by Lindsay Clancy as evidence on Monday, the second week of her murder trial at Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts. Clancy is charged with killing her three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan, by strangling them with exercise bands at the family's home in Duxbury in January 2023.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty, citing postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors maintain the killings were premeditated and deliberate. She had been prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications in the months before the deaths, and her ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, has since filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the clinicians who treated her.
Diary entries describe feeling overwhelmed
Massachusetts State Police Officer Cory Melo, who worked for the state attorney's office at the time and was involved in the investigation, took the stand Monday afternoon. He was asked about several diaries and journals found inside the Clancy home.
As the prosecution read the entries aloud, jurors heard Clancy describe becoming "obsessed" with sleep. She wrote that hearing one of her children cry for more than an hour "just about killed me," and that she told her husband, Pat, she wanted to die while he was crying. She also wrote that she felt "completely overwhelmed taking care of three kids" and like she was "drowning."
During cross-examination, defense attorney Kevin Reddington read further entries. Clancy had written that she felt "completely disconnected" with her baby, that she felt like she was "going through the motions every day," and that she felt "horribly guilty" about her marriage and about spending her family's money. She also wrote that she was desperate for a mental break because her mind never shut off and she was always thinking about the next thing somebody needed.
Notebooks and pill bottles found in the search
Massachusetts State Police officer John Santos, part of the search warrant team that responded to the Clancy household on the evening of January 24, 2023, testified that he found several notebooks in a cabinet above the stove, including discharge paperwork from McLean Hospital, where Clancy had voluntarily admitted herself in November 2022. Santos also found prescription medications, a patient information sheet for postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety, and a book titled "Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts." Prosecutors submitted a notebook labeled "Callan Patrick Clancy," a yellow book containing notes Clancy had written to the family's nanny.
Reddington swung in his chair and shook his head as Santos testified. Under cross-examination, Santos said he did not know why a clear bag of pill bottles found in Clancy's bedside drawer, along with sleep aids and her Apple Watch, were not seized during the search.
Officer describes 'screaming and chaos' on police radio
Duxbury Police Sergeant Robert Flynn testified that he had already worked a shift on January 24, 2023, when he was called back in that evening. He said he heard "screaming and chaos" over the police radio before responding to the Clancy residence, where the children and Lindsay Clancy had already been removed from the scene.
Flynn conducted a security sweep of the house. In the kitchen, he saw children's drawings on the wall and a takeout order on the counter. In the living room he found children's bowls, as if the children had been eating snacks. He went through the basement before reaching the top floor and the master bedroom, which he said was colder because a window had been left open.
Psychiatrist recalls Clancy writing 'horrified' from hospital bed
Forensic psychiatrist Jhilam Biswas of Brigham and Women's Hospital testified that she met with Clancy on the afternoon of January 26, 2023, to evaluate her and provide psychiatric recommendations. Clancy was awake but intubated at the time, making it difficult for her to answer questions, so she gestured that she wanted to write and was given paper and a pen. When Biswas asked about her mood, Clancy wrote: "Horrified." She also wrote out questions for her doctors: "Do I have an attorney? Is my body broken? Are my legs straight?" Biswas testified that Clancy appeared anxious but seemed to understand the questions being asked of her.
Defense presses psychiatrist on limited contact with Clancy
Under cross-examination from Reddington, Biswas confirmed she saw Clancy only once, for about 20 to 30 minutes. Reddington has repeatedly emphasized in court that Biswas met with Clancy only that single time. Biswas testified she did not see signs of psychosis during that limited window, and when asked whether psychosis can stop and start, she said it depends on the patient, noting that "for some people there can be moments of clarity."
Biswas said she was aware Clancy had a history of postpartum anxiety and insomnia, and that Clancy had previously expressed suicidal thoughts. When pressed on whether she knew Clancy had also had homicidal thoughts, Biswas said, "I knew there was an event." Reddington responded, raising his voice, "Three children died. That's the event you're referring to."
Second psychiatrist assessed Clancy's request to change healthcare proxy
Psychiatrist Segal Shah, who began seeing Clancy on January 29, 2023, testified that she asked Clancy whether she was experiencing hallucinations, delusions, or suicidal and homicidal intent, and Clancy said she was not. Clancy had, however, reported hallucinations overnight to another nurse after undergoing spinal surgery and waking from anesthesia.
Shah was asked to assess whether Clancy was capable of deciding to change her healthcare proxy from her husband, Patrick Clancy, to her parents, Mike and Paula Musgrove. Clancy's parents were in the courtroom listening to the testimony, as they have been each day of the trial.
Under cross-examination, Reddington asked Shah whether Clancy was, in her experience, an "honest patient," and she confirmed that she was, saying Clancy did not claim to have hallucinations or exaggerate her condition. Shah said she was aware Clancy had postpartum issues, and testified that people in a state of psychosis can still plan and act on plans, and can continue to communicate with others. Prosecutors have argued that Clancy's planning of the killings shows she was not in a state of psychosis. Reddington then listed the medications Clancy had been prescribed by psychiatrists between September 2022 and January 2023.
Court adjourned Monday evening and is set to resume Tuesday morning, when prosecutors are expected to call further witnesses.
