Lindsay Clancy 'had thoughts of harming the children,' her mother testifies

PLYMOUTH, Mass. —

Lindsay Clancy's defense began presenting its case on Monday with witnesses including her mother and sister. The Duxbury, Massachusetts, mother is accused of murdering her three children in 2023.

Lindsay Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, fought through tears as she told the jury she loved her grandchildren "with all her heart." She described her daughter as a "loving mother" who "would do anything for her children."

Musgrove said Lindsay Clancy sent her a text message on Oct. 20, 2022, in which she wrote, "Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit. I'm really sick. Something is wrong. I had horrible insomnia all night and I just don't know how I'm going to get through the day. I started taking the medication my doctor prescribed for anxiety and I think it's made things worse. It's just really scary and I don't want to be alone."

Musgrove said she immediately traveled to Duxbury, where she stayed for about a week. She said her daughter's condition did not improve as the holidays approached. By January 2023, Musgrove said her daughter lost a lot of weight and was becoming paranoid.

"She was attempting to go through the motions of her day, take care of the kids the best she could," Musgrove said. "She said the school knows something is going on because I am not driving my car to pick the kids up."

Lindsay Clancy told her mother the medication was "destroying her mind," Musgrove testified. Musgrove recalled a time in December 2022 when she was in the Clancys' kitchen that Lindsay Clancy made a statement to her and Patrick Clancy.

"I remember her being very nervous. I remember her saying, 'I just have to tell you guys something.' And then she told us. She told us that she had thoughts of harming the children," Musgrove said.

Allison Ozga, Lindsay Clancy's sister, testified that the defendant confided in her that she was struggling with mental health issues in December 2022 and said she "was in a really tough spot."

"Based on communication with Lindsay – and I started communicating with Pat directly at that time – she was reporting her mood was worsening, as she described it as depression. She was having more suicidal thoughts, insomnia continued to be an issue, and she was really not feeling like herself," Ozga said.

Clancy is on trial for murder in the 2023 strangulation deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She also jumped from a second-floor window of the family's Duxbury home, leaving her partially paralyzed.

She has pleaded not guilty, and the case hinges on Clancy's mental health. Her defense acknowledges that she killed the children but plans to argue she was not criminally responsible because she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis.

Margaret Hamp, a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, worked with Lindsay Clancy for about seven years and testified that the defendant would frequently check in on her children during her shifts.

She recalled an incident when one of her children was seen crying on a baby monitor, and Lindsay Clancy called for a wellness check when her husband didn't answer the phone.

Before the prosecution rested

The final witness for the prosecution was Ian Whiffin, who works for Cellebrite. He testified about the Apple health data and other information extracted from Lindsay Clancy's phone. Whiffin also testified in the murder trial of Karen Read.

He received heart rate data and search history, including a search for symptoms of postpartum psychosis.

Video below: Retired judge's analysis

Whiffin said he used the data to create a timeline of the events that happened on Jan. 24, 2023.

Nearly 70 witnesses testified for the prosecution, which sought to prove the strangulation of the three children was premeditated and committed with extreme atrocity and cruelty.

"One of the very unusual aspects of this case is that much of the evidence actually breaks both ways, much of it favors the prosecution and the very same evidence favors the defense," retired Judge James Barretto said.

Jurors are expected to hear from mental health experts who will testify about psychosis. One week after the killings, Patrick Clancy testified that Lindsay told him about a man's voice telling her this was her last chance.

Before breaking for the weekend on Thursday afternoon, Judge William Sullivan told jurors the case was "well on track."

Original estimates indicated the trial could span six to eight weeks.

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What we’ve learned so far in the Lindsay Clancy trial](/article/lindsay-clancy-trial-key-takeaways/73276054)

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Background of the Clancy case:

• Lindsay Clancy, 36, faces three murder charges in the 2023 deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan.

• She also jumped from a second-floor window, leaving her partially paralyzed.
• In a civil case, Lindsay Clancy alleges a "catastrophic failure" of multiple medical providers in diagnosing and treating her psychiatric condition.
• Her trial began on July 20. Although her legal team offered to stipulate to the deaths of the children, she has pleaded not guilty.
• She is being held at Tewksbury State Hospital.
• The jury is made up of 12 women and six men. They will not know until the presentation of the case is concluded who will deliberate and who will be an alternate.

This case involves issues of mental health. If you or someone you know needs help, you can talk with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or sending a text message to 988, or you can chat online here.

Key moments from week 3

• Dr. Barbara Olson, of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, testified about the autopsies of Cora and Dawson Clancy. Lindsay Clancy was crying loudly with her head on the table throughout the testimony, and reporters noted at least one juror was also crying. Olson described the injuries to Cora's neck, identifying signs of ligature strangulation, and describing the pain that it would cause. Olson also described hemorrhaging suffered by Dawson, which she said could be caused by him struggling or by changes in the pressure of the ligature.

• South Shore Hospital Nurse Practitioner Rebecca Jollotta testified about working with Clancy starting in November 2022. Jollotta said the defendant feared she might be addicted to Ativan — an anti-anxiety medication — and was relying on it to sleep. Jollotta testified that Clancy suffered serious depression, anxiety and sleep problems but repeatedly showed clear thinking and no signs of psychosis or mania.

• Sgt. Dan Lawlor testified that while he was at the hospital, a doctor came to meet with Clancy and entered her room. He said he did not hear their conversation, but defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked whether investigators discussed a theory alleging that a doctor was the reason Clancy told her husband about hearing voices. Patrick Clancy previously testified that Lindsay had told him about hearing voices during a phone call a week after the killings, saying she had never mentioned hearing voices before.

• Timothy Chiappini, an investigator with Massachusetts State Police who examined Lindsay Clancy's phone, testified it was used to search for ThreeV restaurant in Plymouth, including a map search that would show a route length. Prosecutors allege Lindsay Clancy sent her husband to the restaurant because it would give her enough time to kill the three children. Chiappini also read notes from her phone, including affirmations and passages in which she described feeling sad and depressed.

• Testimony from MSP investigator Kyle Pavao focused on internet activity from August 2022, including a visit to a page about suicide methods. Pavao said the Wikipedia page of Tom Hall, a singer who died by suicide, was visited. But on cross-examination, Pavao acknowledged that the forensic data could not establish who was sitting at the computer. He also testified he found searches about bipolar disorder and “what to do when a psychiatrist overprescribes.”

• Dr. Jennifer Tufts, who was first questioned by the prosecution during the previous week, was cross-examined by the defense throughout Monday morning. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington pressed Tufts over months of telehealth treatment, medication decisions and responses to Clancy's worsening mental health.

• Judge William Sullivan is weighing whether Lindsay Clancy's defense can call a former McLean Hospital employee as an additional witness. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued Tuesday morning that jurors had been left with an overly favorable impression of McLean Hospital and that the former employee could counter it. Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham argued the proposed witness is not an expert, lacked knowledge of McLean during Clancy's stay and has followed the trial on TikTok.

More key takeaways from the trial are here.

Key moments from week 2

• Christopher Clancy, father of Patrick Clancy and grandfather of the children, described the call he received from his son after the children were killed. "It was terrible," he said.

• Clancy cried Thursday during the testimony of Dr. Kimberley Springer, a medical examiner, who described images from the autopsy of Callan Clancy in January 2023.

• Former nanny Elaine Rossi, who cared for infant Callan Clancy beginning in September 2022, testified she communicated with Clancy daily through text messages and a notebook containing detailed instructions about Callan's feeding, sleep schedule and daily routine. Rossi described Clancy as a "wonderful mom" and testified she never believed the children were unsafe. She also said Clancy spoke about struggling with postpartum issues, difficulty sleeping and seeing doctors for treatment.

• Prosecutors read entries from the notebooks describing Clancy feeling overwhelmed by her son Callan's sleep schedule. On cross-examination, the defense highlighted other entries in which Clancy wrote about wanting to get well, brain fog, guilt, anxiety and concerns about returning to work.

• Clancy's attorneys have asked a Plymouth Superior Court judge to allow three defense witnesses to testify after prosecutors objected to their inclusion, arguing the testimony is central to her defense. Her motion asks the court to permit testimony from Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, Dr. Michael Vulfovich and Dr. Donald Condie.

• Physicians and nurses testified about Clancy's injuries when she arrived at the ICU at Brigham and Women's Hospital early in the morning on Jan. 25. One of the nurses described that Clancy, who was intubated, was able to use a whiteboard to communicate her confusion and inability to feel her legs.

• Judge William Sullivan paused before Friday's lunch break during the emotional trial of Lindsay Clancy to admonish everyone in the courtroom to beware of making inappropriate remarks.

• Jurors heard that Clancy voluntarily checked herself into McLean Hospital early on New Year's Day with suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and an inability to sleep. Dr. Alia Goodheart said she met with Clancy for an evaluation several days later and assessed that Clancy had no plan for suicide. Goodheart said Clancy expressed that her children and her family were reasons she would not commit suicide.

• Jurors also heard the start of the testimony from Dr. Jennifer Tufts, one of the defendants named in civil lawsuits filed in January by both Lindsay Clancy and her ex-husband, Patrick Clancy. Tufts testified that her initial diagnosis was adjustment disorder with depressed mood and generalized anxiety disorder. She said that she recommended medication to Clancy, but that Clancy was reluctant.

Key moments from week 1

• The first week of testimony in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial ended after the judge, jury and attorneys visited locations connected to the case, including the Clancy family's former home in Duxbury. The jury also retraced the route prosecutors say Lindsay Clancy sent her husband, Patrick Clancy, on the day of the killings, including stops at a CVS and a restaurant in Plymouth.

• Jurors heard the gut-wrenching 911 call Patrick Clancy made after he found his young sons and daughter with exercise bands around their necks. He testified about returning home from a trip to pick up dinner and medication, finding blood in the bedroom and his wife out in the yard. While on the phone with a 911 operator, he asked her what happened and went inside, where he found the children in the basement.

• Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham used her opening statement to tell the jurors that the children were strangled "meticulously." She warned the jurors they would hear graphic testimony as she urged the group to use their common sense and life experiences as they listen to the case.

• Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said his client knows she killed her children but questioned what was going on in Lindsay Clancy's mind. He is arguing that she suffered from postpartum psychosis and was overmedicated at the time of the alleged crimes.

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