Jury selection has started in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of strangling her three children while undergoing psychiatric treatment. This trial will examine the rare and complex phenomenon of postpartum psychosis, which affects a small percentage of women who experience delusions and occasionally hallucinations after childbirth. Clancy’s legal team and her husband argue that she was not responsible for her actions at the time.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington acknowledges that Clancy killed her children but intends to pursue an insanity defense. “This whole case is an extreme tragedy,” Reddington stated. Prosecutors, however, argue that the murders were deliberate and calculated.

Lindsay Clancy, formerly a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, on January 24, 2023.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

On the day of the incident, Clancy, aged 36, sent her husband, Patrick Clancy, out of the home to get food and medication. During his absence, she strangled the children with exercise bands and attempted multiple methods to end her own life. She subsequently fell from the second story of the home, resulting in paralysis, and is now held at a state hospital.

Patrick Clancy, who is expected to testify as a witness for both the defense and prosecution, has expressed forgiveness for his wife in interviews. Jury selection for the trial in Plymouth, located near the family’s residence in Duxbury, Massachusetts, is anticipated to involve selecting 18 jurors, including six alternates.

Earlier this year, Lindsay and Patrick Clancy initiated lawsuits against her healthcare providers. They allege negligence in diagnosing, treating, and monitoring her severe postpartum psychiatric condition. Lindsay Clancy’s lawsuit outlines her struggle with depression, insomnia, and auditory hallucinations urging her to harm herself and her children. Before the incident, she had spent time in a psychiatric facility and reported her issues to her healthcare providers, claiming that prescribed medications were exacerbating her mental state.

The lawsuit describes how on the day of the killings, Clancy was tormented by voices stating, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself.” She also reportedly heard that “her children would suffer if she was gone.” This information is cited from medical records in a lawsuit filed by Patrick Clancy.

In a GoFundMe post following the tragedy, Patrick Clancy wrote about the devastating impact of the events but asked the public to remember his wife as a caring and loving individual before the incident. “The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring toward everyone — me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients. The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace,” he expressed.