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Defense experts cite psychosis in Clancy triple-murder trial
A psychologist testified Lindsay Clancy heard voices demanding she kill her children. Her former mother-in-law described a once-nurturing mother undone by postpartum depression.
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Medical experts and a family member testified Tuesday that Lindsay Clancy's mental state was so compromised that she cannot be held criminally responsible for strangling her three children to death in their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023.
A clinical psychologist, a former medical examiner and Clancy's former mother-in-law each took the stand for the defense, which is arguing the 36-year-old was suffering from bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings. The defense does not deny Clancy killed her children – 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan – but contends she is not guilty by reason of mental illness.
Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist, testified that Clancy told him she heard a man's voice demanding she kill the children and then herself. Zeizel said Clancy described having "fuzzy" memories of the killings. He forcefully rejected suggestions that he had "planted" that account with her.
Former medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Laposata testified about the injuries Clancy suffered in her suicide attempt, pushing back against prosecutors' claims that she had not jumped from a window. Clancy survived the fall but is permanently paralyzed from the waist down.