A prosecution psychologist testified that Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children, as the murder trial neared its conclusion.
Clancy, 36, is accused of strangling Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan at their Duxbury, Massachusetts home in January 2023. The jury, having heard from 85 witnesses, is expected to hear closing arguments on Thursday before deliberations begin Friday.
Forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun took the stand this week after examining Clancy over three days in April 2026. He told the court: “She retained an awareness of the illegality of killing others, including killing her children.
“Her moral awareness of the wrongfulness of this killing was influenced by her strong desire to die.”
Heilbrun added that his “clinical opinion” is she was “criminally responsible.”
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington challenged Heilbrun’s credentials during cross-examination, questioning his lack of published work on postpartum mental illness. Reddington also called for a mistrial after Heilbrun referenced Clancy’s religion, specifically noting her alleged comments to her children to “go with God” despite church teachings on suicide. The judge denied the motion but instructed the jury to disregard the religious comments.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Gregory Saathoff followed Heilbrun for the prosecution, pointing out alleged inconsistencies in Clancy’s timeline. Saathoff testified that Clancy told doctors she heard a “voice” telling her to kill the children, but found the circumstances highly unusual.
He testified that it was not typical for command hallucinations to suddenly stop the moment she completed the acts, which Clancy claimed happened.
Saathoff also questioned Clancy’s decision to allegedly take each child down to the basement to strangle them one by one. While Clancy said the voice told her to kill them, Saathoff claimed she did not mention that the voice instructed her on how to do it.
“You know, just like adults, children have a will to survive – a strong, strong will to survive,” Dr. Saathoff told the courtroom.
“I think it’s just part of being human,” he continued. “I mean, they… Are active. They can walk. They can run.”
Saathoff also pointed out discrepancies involving her suicide attempt, stating Clancy claimed to have taken crushed pills mixed with lemonade. However, her ex-husband Patrick Clancy told Saathoff he didn’t think they had any lemonade in the house.
Prosecutors believe sourcing the soda shows the killings were premeditated, as Clancy attempted to mask the bitter taste of the drugs.
In the viral moment that launched national attention on the case, Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick was the first witness after opening statements on July 27. Patrick testified that Clancy struggled after Callan’s birth, and that in the months before the January 2023 killings, she told him she was having thoughts of suicide and of harming their children. He claimed that December 2022 “was really where her big spiral started.”
“She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed, and she was having a really hard time,” Patrick testified.
After Clancy spent time in a locked-ward facility, Patrick said he was “hopeful” as “she seemed much better.” He later recalled the day of the killings, testifying that Clancy initially “seemed in a good mood” and “was having one of her best days.” But on returning home, he said he “saw blood everywhere.” Around a week later, Clancy called from hospital. “She didn’t talk about our kids, she talked about what she went through,” he testified. “She said she heard a man’s voice telling her that if she didn’t do it now, she would lose her chance – or something like that.”
The family’s nanny Elaine Rossi, who worked from September to December 2022, testified that Clancy was a “wonderful mom who loved her kids.”
“She was concerned about their safety, and Callan eating and sleeping. She was a wonderful mother,” Rossi told the court.
Rossi recalled seeing prescription medicine bottles, and that Clancy “shared with me she had postpartum and couldn’t sleep.” She never feared for the children’s safety.
Former detective Timothy Chiappini testified that Clancy searched “can you treat a sociopath” days before the killings. He also read notes app entries, including one from October 25, 2022: “I’m sad and depressed because I am not able to parent my third child like my first.”
Clancy’s mother Paula Musgrove described her daughter as a loving mom whose mental health declined in October 2022. The jury saw a text from Clancy reading: “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 am going to get through the day… I started taking the medicine 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 testified that in December 2022, Clancy told her and Patrick “she had thoughts of harming the children.” Clancy grew increasingly fearful of sleeping alone and became convinced psychiatric medications were “destroying her mind.”
Clancy’s sister Karen Ozga testified that during Thanksgiving 2022, her “mood did not look good” and she “didn’t seem very energised,” Ozga said Clancy told her she experienced suicidal thoughts every day for a month before the killings.
“I had this gut feeling that something was off and that she was really struggling, and I asked her if she was safe. She said ‘yes’ at that point,” Ozga told the court.
At Cora’s birthday in January 2023, Ozga said Clancy “looked like she was going through the motions” and “looked tired.”
Clancy’s former father-in-law Christopher Clancy testified she was “very mothering” and in December 2022 “was very, very good. She fed them great. She did a lot of things with them …like the all-American family.” He recalled receiving Patrick’s call on the night of the killings: “It was terrible.”
Susan Clancy, her former mother-in-law, testified that Clancy was “begging for help.”
“She had insomnia. She was losing her appetite,” Susan said. “She was very anxious and sad.” When asked if Clancy was interested in getting better, Susan responded: “Very much so.”
Colleague Margaret Hamp recalled asking Clancy about the Andrea Yates case. “I asked [Clancy] if she had ever heard of the Andrea Yates case and she hadn’t.
“I explained that to her and she cried, and she said: ‘How could a mother hurt her children?'” Hamp testified that Clancy “loved being a nurse” and was “compassionate” and “kind.”
Friend Amy Bevins communicated with Clancy days before the killings. “She had shared that she had been taking a medication that caused her to have some dark thoughts, but that she was going to, or had been weaning, like tapering off that medication,” Bevins testified, later adding: “I remember it being something where there was conveying of hope, and that it was going to be a, you know – we were moving in a positive direction.”
Another friend, Bethany DeCollibus, described Clancy at a January 2023 birthday party responding that “things haven’t gotten any better, and that she feels like a zombie.”
Andrea Hennigan testified Clancy told her she wouldn’t return to work because she “was not in a mental state to take care of patients” after Callan was born. “She talked about insomnia and not feeling herself,” Hennigan said. “I believe she might have used the words brain fog or something like that.”
Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday.