Murder In America - EP. 261 - MASSACHUSETTS: THE LINDSAY CLANCY CASE: PT. 3: THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY

Episode Date: September 26, 2026

In the final part of our three-part series, we take you inside the courtroom of the trial of the century: The case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Lindsay Clancy. It’s a case that began ...on a cold winter night more than three years ago, but has spiraled into something much, much more. In the wake of this trial, controversy, anger, and arguments have sprouted across the country and the world. And with them came misinformation, rumors, and outrage. Join us as we break the trial down, moment by moment, to bring you the full truth of this case, unfiltered, from the mouths of the people in that courtroom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 In part one of this story, we talked about the life of Lindsay Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse, who in 2022 was suffering from postpartum depression and anxiety. We covered the journey she took to get relief, visiting a number of different mental health professionals, and being prescribed over a dozen medications to help with her condition. Lindsay called suicide hotlines. She checked into a partial hospitalization program, and she even spent time in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, but it didn't help. If anything, things only got worse. In December of 2022, she revealed to her mother and husband that she was having thoughts of harming her children, and by the following month,
Starting point is 00:00:42 on January 24, 2023, her children would be dead. We talked about that tragic day in part two, but in this episode, the final episode of our series, we are going to discuss the question of why. It's a question that has had the whole world talking for over three years now. And in the summer of 26, it's a question that went to trial, which has rapidly become the most infamous and controversial in modern history. Today, we are going to walk through that trial. And as a disclaimer, we want to let everyone know that we are presenting both perspectives, the testimony of both the defense and the prosecution.
Starting point is 00:01:22 We have spent countless hours watching every second of the trial, reading the documents and laying it all out for you. So regardless of what side you're on, you're going to hear some things that you might not like, things that challenge your preconceived notions about this case. But that's the nature of a trial, isn't it? And lastly, one thing we think it's important to emphasize is that three children are no longer here.
Starting point is 00:01:47 Their last moments were spent in terror. They won't get to grow up. The deaths of Cora, Dawson, and Callan are absolutely horrific. And at the core of this, whether you believe this is a case about pure evil, a case of a mentally ill woman, or something else entirely, what happened here is a tragedy. And let's all keep Cora Dawson and Callan in mind when listening to this episode. But with that being said, this is part three of the Lindsay Clancy case. I'm Courtney Brown.
Starting point is 00:02:16 And I'm Colin Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. It's July 2026. And in coastal New England, that means it's the high. highlight of the year. Mid-summer. It's an escape from the darkness of winter and the mud of spring. But in a courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for five long weeks, everyone called to testify remained frozen in time as they discussed one cold winter night. January 24, 2023. The night that resulted in the deaths of Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy. Over three years after the children's
Starting point is 00:03:52 deaths. The courtroom is filled to the brim with reporters, all ready to catch a glimpse of the woman on trial. 36-year-old Lindsay Clancy. It's the first day of her murder trial, a trial that will determine the rest of Lindsay's life. A hush falls over the courtroom. A door opens, and there she is. The woman accused of murdering her children. Lindsay Clancy is sitting in her wheelchair, paralyzed from the sternum down. As she's wheeled to the defense table, she keeps her head lowered, She doesn't look at the cameras, at her family, at the media, all desperate to meet her eye and see what lies inside her. She continues staring into her lap, even as Judge William Sullivan addresses the jury, who just took an oath to try this case. Members of the jury, and really, this is the first time I can technically call you members of the jury because you don't become the jury in this case.
Starting point is 00:04:48 So you take that great oath that was just given. And that's an oath that has been given to jurors for hundreds of years here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where you've sworn to well and truly try this case. We have confidence that you're going to be able to do that. The jury the judge speaks to consists of nine women and three men, 12 people tasked with determining Lindsay Clancy's fate. But what exactly are they considering? While the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is the prosecution,
Starting point is 00:05:18 alleges that Lindsay Clancy committed first-degree murder against her three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan. First-degree murder means there was deliberate premeditation and or murder with extreme atrocity or cruelty. But Lindsay has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges against her. As the judge addresses the jury, he reminds them that it's the Commonwealth's responsibility to prove Lindsay's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Starting point is 00:05:44 They must also prove that Lindsay was criminally responsible at the time the crime was committed. Judge Sullivan goes on to explain what that means. Criminal responsibility is a legal term. A person is not criminally responsible for her conduct if she has a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect lacks the substantial capacity,
Starting point is 00:06:09 either to appreciate the criminality or the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law. At the end of this trial, you must find the defendant not guilty unless the commult has proved to you beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant has committed each or any of the offenses with which he's charged. And thus began the trial of the century. Over the next month, both the prosecution and the defense would present their arguments to the jury. But even then, no one realized just how big this case would become, or how loud the court of public opinion would become. To start the trial, we want to introduce the people presenting these arguments. Leading the prosecution in the case against Lindsay Clancy was Assistant DA Jennifer Sprague
Starting point is 00:06:57 and Assistant DA Shannon Buckingham. According to Jennifer Sprague's LinkedIn profile, she had worked for the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office since 2003, and during that time, she had tried more than 28 murder cases, but this one would definitely stand out amongst the rest. Now, the other person we have to introduce is Lindsay's defense attorney, a man named Kevin Reddington. Reddington is 75 years old and has more than 40 years of trial experience. He's considered one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the state of Massachusetts. At every trial, they began with opening statements. For the Commonwealth, Assistant DA Shannon
Starting point is 00:07:33 Buckingham stepped up and she started her opening statements talking about the victims, Cora, Dawson, and Callum. Cora, she had just turned five. She was sweet, silly, She loved sparkly dresses and wearing bows in her hair. She loved princesses and baby dolls. She even tried to convince her preschool teachers at the beginning that her name was Sophia because she loved the Disney character, Sophia, the first, so very much. Dawson, he was three, a boy's boy. He was a bit rambunctious, but funny, full of energy.
Starting point is 00:08:15 He loved trucks. trucks, fire trucks. And he spoke with a rasty little voice. Callan. Callan was just eight months old. Always smiling with chunky cheeks, a sweet little baby. We are here, ladies and gentlemen, because they are not. They were strangled, deliberately and meticulously,
Starting point is 00:08:41 killed by this defendant on January 24th of 2023. During the clip we just played for you, the camera in the courtroom pans over to Lindsay Clancy. As her children are being described, Lindsay's head is down. Her eyes are closed. Her chest heaves with sobs as she uses a tissue to wipe her tears. The prosecution goes on with their opening statement, saying that while they believed Lindsay Clancy was indeed struggling with her mental health, they don't believe she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Starting point is 00:09:12 She is criminally responsible for the murder. of her children. And in efforts to maintain control, she would help the information from her husband, from her doctors. She reported serious symptoms that were inconsistent with her daily activities, you'll hear.
Starting point is 00:09:30 And ultimately, on January 24th, 2023, the defendant made a calculated decision. This was a woman who no longer liked the life she thought she wanted. It was getting harder and harder to control. And when she saw the opportunity to escape, she made the selfish choice to take it and to take Cora, Dawson, and Callan first before attempting to take her own life. There's no dispute that Lindsay Clancy was suffering for mental illness and that she tried to kill herself. Even the experts that the Commonwealth put before you say that she was suffering for mental illness and she tried to kill herself.
Starting point is 00:10:15 That's not the issue in this trial. The issue is whether at the time she killed Cora, Dawson, and Callan. She knew the difference between right and wrong and whether she could conform her behavior to the requirements of the law. But Lindsay's defense believed otherwise. In Kevin Reddington's opening statement, he said that Lindsay was suffering in her postpartum journey. He argued that Lindsay suffered from bipolar disorder,
Starting point is 00:10:43 a condition that was misdiagnosed by her providers. As a result, those providers prescribed several medications that ultimately made her condition worse and eventually led to a psychotic break and therefore cannot be found criminally responsible for the deaths of her children. As a husband and a wife, the wife being pregnant, they had three kids.
Starting point is 00:11:06 After the second child, she had post-paradom. You're going to hear evidence that that's one of the issues that is important because that can lead to bipolar. One of the things that you don't do, which is taboo, is if you have somebody that's bipolar, you don't put them on an antidepressant, you don't put them on Zolot, you don't put them on what's called an SSRI.
Starting point is 00:11:26 Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, it messes with your brain. You don't do that, but it was done in this case. This is a woman that did not get the medication, did not get the medical treatment, that she so deserved. This is a woman that was suffering from psychosis at the time that she went down to that basement.
Starting point is 00:11:50 Following opening statements, it was time for the prosecution to bring forth their first witness, and in this trial, that began with creating a foundation of who Lindsay was in her daily life. Here are statements from her coworkers at Mass General Hospital laid out for the jury. Lindsay loved being a nurse. and was excellent at it.
Starting point is 00:12:13 It was a second degree for her to go to nursing school. And you could tell with Lindsay it was more of a calling that she really cared so deeply specifically about caring for pregnant women and women giving birth. She was very attentive to all of her patient's needs. She was very smart. And mostly she was incredibly nerky. and caring. Lindsay loved being a nurse. She was really good at being a nurse. She was compassionate. She was kind. She was a patient advocate. She was the type of nurse that you wanted taking care of you
Starting point is 00:12:56 or your loved one when you walked onto our unit. Lindsay was often emotional during birth of complete strangers. She would cry and she would just say that was so beautiful. You could just tell that she really loved being in that setting. So Lindsay and I worked the night shift together. And often on the night shift, you get to have an opportunity to really get to know your coworkers. Lindsay asked a lot of questions of her coworkers
Starting point is 00:13:27 about parenting. Simple things is she would pull the nursing staff about monogram lunch boxes, right down to sleeping habits. What questions do you? ask a daycare provider to make sure that you're in the right place. She was often asking her co-workers, child care parenting tips. This may sound like details about Lindsay's personality that in the grand scheme of the trial doesn't matter. But for the prosecution and the defense, how Lindsay
Starting point is 00:14:00 treated her kids, patients, co-workers, and employees was a cornerstone of their respective arguments. The defense argued that Lindsay had always demonstrated that she was a kind, caring person, and that psychosis was the only reasonable explanation for her murdering her children. On the other hand, the prosecution argued that prior to Lindsay's descent into mental illness, she was a hyper-controlling perfectionist. She was someone who liked to control every little detail of her life, of her family's life. In contrast, the pictures you'll see of the doting mother, the dedicated nurse, You'll also see a side of Lindsay Clancy that's different.
Starting point is 00:14:40 Somebody extremely controlling, meticulous, and manipulative. The days were laid out with specificity. Strict schedules were expected to be maintained. Food was planned carefully. Sleep was scheduled to the minute. To prove this point, they questioned the Clancy's nanny, Elaine Rossi, about Lindsay's controlling nature. And fair to say she left you pretty detailed instructions on his care. Yes, she did.
Starting point is 00:15:08 And you were aware that she was very particular about sleep and food and keeping on a schedule, right? Yes. And so that's the purpose of this notebook. Yes. However, when it was the defense's turn to question Elaine, she painted a different picture. She didn't find Lindsay to be controlling at all. Would she also leave notes for you to the effect of cutting up sweet potatoes? potatoes and cutting up celery and things in one-inch squares so that the kids to eat?
Starting point is 00:15:39 Yes, food prep, yes. Did you find that to be overbearing? Well, not at all. You didn't find that to be controlling that she was trying to observe control over you, did you? Not at all. Felt that was appropriate for her to tell you about cutting up with the vegetables and squares and things? Yes. What did you observe about her as a mother interacting with her kids?
Starting point is 00:16:00 I observed a wonderful mom who loved her kids who was, she was very concerned with their safety. She was very concerned with Callans eating and sleeping. She was a wonderful mother. But the jury got even more insight when Patrick Clancy was brought to the stand. He told the court about his relationship with Lindsay, how they met, fell in love, and how they got married and started having children. First, Cora, then Dawson, and finally Callan. After the births of both Cora and Dawson, Lindsay admitted that she struggled in her postpartum journey, but she was able to recover.
Starting point is 00:16:37 For the first months of Callan's life, everything seemed to be going well. But according to Patrick, things changed towards the end of summer of 2022. Lindsay's mental health started to deteriorate. Just increased stress and anxiety. One thing Lindsay was particularly stressed about was going back to work after giving birth to Callan. I don't know, she would say, you know, I'm not looking forward to going back to work. I remember once she said it's just so unnatural to be separated from your newborn, you know, stuff like that. Now, Patrick said that she struggled going back to work with all of her children when her maternity leave came to an end.
Starting point is 00:17:17 But this time, with Callen, it was different. In September of 2022, her anxiety increased, so much so that she scheduled an online appointment with Dr. Jennifer Tufts. While before we get into this, I do want to mention that Lindsay's healthcare providers get a lot of heat at times in the trial. And while we are including those portions, I want to emphasize that I have all the respect in the world for mental health clinicians. Before I became a podcaster, that was the route I wanted to pursue. And their work is so important. At the same time, their work is nuanced. Every patient is different, and it's definitely not an easy job.
Starting point is 00:17:56 Now, I know we already discussed Lindsay's health care in part one, but we do have to rehash a few things because these details are important in her trial. In September 22, when Dr. Tufts first saw Lindsay Clancy, she had only been working at Astor Mental Health for a month. This was actually her first job after completing her residency. But on Astor Health's website, Tuft's profile said she specialized in postpartum. Lindsay's attorney, Kevin Redington, later questioned her about this, arguing that the third. this was one piece of the puzzle, indicating that Lindsay had been failed by the medical system, and as a result, spiraled into a state of psychosis. Can you tell the jury what you put in your ad or in the Aster website that you indicated that
Starting point is 00:18:42 described you? I don't recall. One of the things you did is that you said that you basically were a specialist in the post-partum. Yes. It probably includes a special interest in women's health, in perineal psychiatry, in trauma-related disorders, anxiety, and, you know, there may be some other things that were mentioned. Yeah, like women that have babies and they're suffering from post-padham depression. Absolutely. You understand that if, in fact, it's determined that you advertised as an expert in post-prudence.
Starting point is 00:19:24 and in post-private psychiatry and you had a month experience plus a residency. Would you consider that to be negligent for misrepresentation? I do not believe that I have been negligent. At the time, Lindsay Clancy didn't know the Dr. Tuffs had only been practicing for a month. But based on her website, Lindsay felt Dr. Tuffs was a good fit, So she scheduled an appointment for September 15th, 2022. Now, prior to the appointment, Lindsay had to take several assessments. She completed a suicide assessment where she claimed she was not suicidal.
Starting point is 00:20:05 She also took a generalized anxiety assessment. And according to Dr. Tufts, her results were concerning. Ms. Clancy's answers to these questions, did they give you cause for concern based on your training and experience? They were highly suggestive of anxiety. and anxiety disorder. And for example, number one, feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge, she responded nearly every day, correct? Correct.
Starting point is 00:20:31 Not being able to stop or control worrying, she answered nearly every day, correct? Yes. Anxiety attacks, decreased appetite, depressed food, easily distracted, excessive worry, guilt, unable to feel pleasure, unable to fall asleep, and raising thoughts. And this is where the true argument between the prosecution and the defense begins. What were these symptoms a condition of? And how should they have been treated? Dr. Tufts believed that Lindsay had generalized anxiety disorder,
Starting point is 00:21:05 a catch-all diagnosis for people struggling with increased anxiety. But the defense found a problem with this. Kevin Redington brought up that, despite Lindsay being four months postpartum, Dr. Tufts didn't seem to explore postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety as a possible. diagnosis. Now, sometimes when postpartum women reach out for psychiatric help, they're given what's called an Edinburgh test, which measures their risk for postpartum depression. But Tufts didn't give Lindsay that test. What brought Lindsay Clancy to your office? Postpartum anxiety.
Starting point is 00:21:43 Now, as a psychiatrist, meeting with this young woman, after a month of so, working as a psychiatrist, there are tests that you administer to a woman who's in post-paround to find out what type of anxiety they have, right? Well, there are some screening tests, but the most important thing is what the patient tells you and what my assessment is in the session. I see. What, if you can tell me, is the Edenberg test? It is a scale that looks at symptoms of the test. postpartum depression. It's the only one that measures the postpartum depression, right? It's a common one.
Starting point is 00:22:29 Dr. Tufts went on to say that she doesn't use the Edinburgh scale and as a result wasn't incredibly familiar with it. For the defense, Reddington brought up the fact that when Lindsay later took the Edinburgh test, she scored a 23, six points above what is required for someone to be diagnosed with postpartum depression. But at the time, Lindsay was diagnosed with General generalized anxiety disorder for which Dr. Tuff suggested medication. So I recommended a medication searcherlene as well as individual therapy.
Starting point is 00:23:03 I recall that she was generally reluctant to take medications, but at this point she was considering it and was interested in learning about what medications might be helpful for her. She was worried about having side effects. Now, Kevin Redington would later point out that Lindsay had a history of postpartum issues, something she told Dr. Tufts about. In fact, Lindsay admitted to Dr. Tufts that she had tried Zoloft after Dawson's birth years earlier. It's important to know that a woman that's coming to you because of postpartum issues, shall we say, had prior problems in prior deliberates.
Starting point is 00:23:54 Yes. And you'd agree with me that you're on the front line of health care for pregnant women when someone comes to see you either pregnant or after having a baby, right? They're usually referred by a therapist or an OB, but yes. Okay. So being on the front line dealing with these people, and you advertise that you deal with pregnant people before they have babies, right? Yes.
Starting point is 00:24:21 And after, correct? Yes. Did she have any prior issues with her prior babies? I knew that she had had some anxiety symptoms with her prior child was, sorry, after her second child was born. And that would be Dawson? Yes. And when she saw you after having Callan, how old was Dawson? A few years old, maybe two or three.
Starting point is 00:24:57 Did she tell you what the side effects were after she had Gosson? She did. I did not list them because... Excuse me. That means you didn't write it down? Yes. But what is it, your memory that we'll go by then, right? Sorry? We'll go by your memory? I don't recall exactly which side effects she said, but I recall that they were some of the very common ones, the ones that are temporary.
Starting point is 00:25:29 Hold on, hold on. They're telling this jury that you don't recall what the side effects were that she told you, but you remember, is that they were general, common? That is saying? Yes, because if they were anything else, I would have to say. else I would have documented it. She took Zoloft? Did she take Zoloft? S-S-S-R-I after having Garson?
Starting point is 00:25:52 I think she took it for about a week. You think? Or she did? She did. So isn't that something that would be indicative of the fact that there was some psychiatric issues after she had her second child? Yes, but she did not describe them as being severe. You agree that Lindsay had. point a history of mental problems during postpartum?
Starting point is 00:26:19 She had a history of anxiety postpartum. So if someone comes to you as a person who is in postpartum and is all the symptomology that she had related to you, that if she told you that she was unzoloft after her second child and had side effects, you don't think it's important to document the side effects, number one. Right? It depends what the side effects are. Which we don't know because he didn't write them down and you don't remember it. I would have written them down.
Starting point is 00:26:51 No, not what you would have done. What did you do? No, overall. Go ahead. I wrote that she had side effects. What are they? I'm not sure. And then you described Zoloft again.
Starting point is 00:27:04 Didn't it? In 2022. Yes. Lindsay was prescribed Zoloft, but she didn't take it right away. She said she was fearful. of the side effects. So instead of starting the medication, she decided to see a counselor at Astor Health named Jennifer McAllister. McAllister didn't testify at trial, but here is what was said about that appointment. And she was followed up with Jennifer McAllister who worked with Dr. Tufts.
Starting point is 00:27:35 In Ms. McAllister's note, Ms. Clancy mentioned that she, had waning, waning confidence in being able to take care of her children as they were growing up. As the weeks passed, that lack of confidence became even more noticeable. Despite the therapy, Lindsay didn't get better, only worse. So much so, she had her maternity leave extended, which did relieve some stress. But Lindsay's mental illness was still there. So finally, four weeks after her first appointment with Tuft, she decided to start taking the Zoloft. However, after about a week, Lindsay discovered that the medication made her feel even worse than before. Here is what Dr. Tufts testified about Lindsay's symptoms on Zoloft.
Starting point is 00:28:25 She was having increased difficulty sleeping. She had loss of appetite, diarrhea. She was feeling her mood was down. She was tearful, feeling very foggy, and feeling very anxious. At this meeting with her, did you ask her if she had any suicidal thoughts? Yes. What was her response? No.
Starting point is 00:28:52 Did you ask her if she had any homicidal ideation or thoughts? Yes. What was her response? No. Did you ask her if she was hearing any voices or seeing any visual hallucinations? I'm not sure if I asked that in that appointment, but she was very clearly not psychotic. And why do you say that? Because of how I described some of the signs of psychosis that are on the mental status exam, none of those were present.
Starting point is 00:29:21 What types of things are you looking forward to see if someone's experiencing psychosis? So there are a number of things. They start with how the patient appears. So some signs of psychosis might be that they appear disheveled. I assess what their attitude is if they might be. agitated or very uncooperative. That's, you know, a red flag. I will assess what their speech is like. Is it very loud? Is it very fast? Or sometimes it could be the opposite where they're not really even speaking at all. I assess what their mood is like, what they're saying that
Starting point is 00:30:08 they're feeling and how they appear visually. I assess what their thoughts are like. So are their thoughts disorganized where it's really hard to understand? They're jumping around and you can't follow their line of thought. I assess what the thought content is. If it's particularly about anything very bizarre or very paranoid, that would be potentially indicative of psychosis. And did you note any signs or symptoms of psychosis with Ms. Clancy that day? No. However, it was at that appointment on October 20th where Lindsay admitted she was struggling with something else for the first time.
Starting point is 00:30:50 Did she also tell you that she was worried about getting suicidal thoughts? So it was one of the things that she was anxious about. It was a fear of one day having suicidal thoughts if she was. she were to continue to feel poorly. In the defense's opinion, this was a red flag that was missed. Here is Kevin Reddington addressing that with Dr. Tufts. I felt that she was getting close to it. So she was dwelling on thinking of that, right?
Starting point is 00:31:25 Is that there? She was fearful of eventually having those kinds of thoughts. Did you kill us all? Yes. And how frequently were the thoughts? I'm not sure exactly how frequent they were. Ask her. It's very likely that I did ask her the frequency.
Starting point is 00:31:48 Would that be in the medical records? Would you agree with me that many times patients, especially psychiatric patients, may minimize their symptomology? Patients sometimes do. And sometimes when a woman has just had a child and has other little kids at home, that they're worried about the government. taking kids away from them because you're a mandated reporter, aren't you?
Starting point is 00:32:10 I am. And if she told you, I'm having suicidal thoughts I'm close to it in the criminal thought, you'd report that, wouldn't you? Not necessarily. I think it really depends on the context, but having suicidal thoughts alone is not a reportable condition. All right. So basically, we know that she was close to having suicidal thoughts to kill herself,
Starting point is 00:32:36 whatever that means we don't know how frequently she was having them yeah um today i don't know how frequently but at that point i believe i did know how frequently they were clearly lindsay was not doing well on the zoloft so after taking just nine pills dr tufts advised her to stop the zoloft and try something else so the plan was um that she start a medication called adivan um to be taken as needed, which means not necessarily every day, but in the instance of severe anxiety. Now according to both Lindsay and Dr. Tufts, following the Ativan, Lindsay's anxiety decreased. However, she was still struggling with insomnia. So during their next appointment, Dr. Tufts decided to add other medications.
Starting point is 00:33:28 So at that point we discussed trying a new medication because she felt that whatever side effects were caused by the Zoloft had resolved, but she still had the same anxiety that she had beforehand. So we discussed starting the medication Busebar at 5 milligrams twice a day. In addition to the Busebar, Dr. Tufts also prescribed Lindsay in antihistamine called hydroxazine, which is often used to help with sleep. Now, Lindsay would later say she didn't take any of these new meds she was prescribed. She told Dr. Tufts that she was afraid to take them because of the possible side effects. For the prosecution, this was fuel that, in their opinion, proved that Lindsay was overly controlling and refused to follow doctors' orders. However, the defense disagreed.
Starting point is 00:34:16 Lindsay may not have been taking every medication that doctors prescribed at length, but Reddington pointed out that it's because she was scared. She had already been having bad side effects from the Zoloft, and she worried these new medications would do the same. Here is Reddington confronting Dr. Tufts about the amount of medication Lindsay was prescribed. So at this point, heading into November, your answer was to prescribe more medication, three more drugs, right? So how about this November 2nd? Was that the next time you saw her? I saw her on November 2nd. And she told you that she was hesitant to use the medications, the buzpire and the hydroxazine, right?
Starting point is 00:34:54 She said she was hesitant to try the buspar. She was scared of the drugs, right? She was afraid to take a medication. so afraid that around this time, Lindsay started reaching out to her mother about how much she was struggling. Here is Lindsay's mom, Paula, reading a text from her at trial. 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 medicine my doctor prescribed for anxiety, and I think it's made things worse.
Starting point is 00:35:32 It's just really scary and I don't want to be alone. Now, the prosecution and the defense both used this testimony differently. For the defense, it was a clear sign that Lindsay's mental health was crumbling from her postpartum anxiety and depression, that she was so afraid to be alone that she asked her mom to come stay with her. And in a way, the prosecution agreed. They believed that Lindsay was struggling. She was anxious and depressed. But they argued that Lindsay had much more support than many.
Starting point is 00:36:01 She had extended maternity leave. She had her parents, friends, and health insurance. She had the older kids in preschool. She had a nanny in those early months. This wasn't a woman suffering from a lack of care, a lack of resources. She had an abundance of help, an abundance of care. She had all of that and more. But despite that help, Lindsay wasn't getting better.
Starting point is 00:36:26 By November of 2022, her side effects were still very much present. And in her journals, she detailed them. In one entry, she wrote, quote, I'm completely overwhelmed trying to take care of three kids. I feel like I'm drowning every day. And another, she wrote, quote, it's like I'm so desperate for a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me.
Starting point is 00:36:50 And yet another entry, she said, quote, I have crazy brain fog. I feel like I can't make a plan. I can't carry it out. Like I just live moment to moment waiting for the next nap time. And finally, she wrote, quote, I feel completely disconnected with my baby. I feel like I'm going through the motions every day.
Starting point is 00:37:08 Soon enough, some of the struggles that she had previously only shared with her journal were noticeable to those around her. Here is what Patrick's own parents testified about Lindsay's behavior around this time. She seemed a little, she seemed quiet. She seemed quiet. She was getting a little frustrated. Dawson was being a little silly, and she was trying to get him to sit down.
Starting point is 00:37:31 and she was just a little bit getting frustrated with him and I noticed it so I got up to help her she reached out to me in November and told me that she felt unwell she felt um mostly she had insomnia she was losing her appetite she was very anxious and sad Lindsay was struggling we were all very concerned Lindsay was having such bad insomnia that she actually checked herself into the ER on November 16th after not sleeping for 48 hours. During this ER visit, doctors prescribed her another medication, trazidone, which is often used to help with insomnia and easing symptoms of anxiety. This was the fifth medication she had been prescribed. Now by this point, Lindsay had been experiencing debilitating mental health struggles for over a month. She'd been seeing Dr. Tufts
Starting point is 00:38:27 throughout that time, but she still felt no relief. So it's here. where Lindsay started reaching out to other professionals, hoping that they could help her. The first being Julie Paul at South Shore perinatal mental health clinic. During their first appointment, Lindsay was prescribed a different antidepressant. Prozac. However, after trying out the Prozac for a couple days, she reported feeling disconnected and foggy and that she still had trouble sleeping, so Julie Paul then switched her medication again. Instead of the Prozac, she prescribed Lindsay another antidepressant called R.
Starting point is 00:39:01 Remeron and the benzodiazepine colonipine. Now after this, Julie Paul switched jobs. So from here in her place, Lindsay started seeing nurse practitioner Rebecca Gelada. Jalada had been working as a psychiatric nurse practitioner for about three years by the time Lindsay scheduled her appointment. During that first appointment with Jolada, Lindsay told her about her experience with Zoloft and Prozac, disclosing that she felt neither medication helped with her symptoms. So, Jelada asked how the Remmeron made her feel.
Starting point is 00:39:32 Lindsay said it wasn't helping. She reported feeling disoriented and forgetful. She told Nurse Jalada that she felt disconnected with myself in reality, a scary feeling. She told you that she was not able to stop a control worrying, and that had been for several days at least, right? Correct. Couldn't relax nearly every day. This is a questionnaire form that you have, right? Yes.
Starting point is 00:39:56 And then feeling afraid as if something. Something awful might happen and she was asked, is she looking forward with enjoyment to things? And she responded hardly at all, right? Yes. Scared and panicky for no good reason. Yes, correct? Yes. Lindsay was frustrated that the medications didn't seem to be working.
Starting point is 00:40:14 But Nurse Gelada reminded her that it takes time for medications to work, sometimes several weeks. So Lindsay left the meeting agreeing that she would continue taking it. However, the very next morning, Nurse Gelada received a message from Lindsay. She asked me if it would be safe to stop taking Remmeron after five nights. Lindsay said that she felt like the Remeron was making her depression and insomnia worse. But once again, Nurse Gelada told Lindsay to stick with the medication for the full four to six weeks to get maximum benefit. Lindsay told Gelada that she had no suicidal ideation, but she admitted, quote, I'm really feeling as if I can't go on like this.
Starting point is 00:40:55 So Nurse Gelada suggested they add another medication into the mix, not an antidepressant, but a mood stabilizer called Syracille. And in your practice, especially dealing with women's health perinatal issues, what would a low dose of Syracule accomplish for a woman postpartum? To get them to sleep. And you are aware that Syracil at higher doses could be used to treat other types of mental illnesses. Yes.
Starting point is 00:41:25 But in this circumstance and with this recommendation, what was the purpose of the So at this stage, my awareness was that she had tried a first line option, which would be the benzodiazepine. The second line options are usually what we call the sedating antidepressants, like tracidone, Remmeron. So this would be more like a third line option. But Lindsay didn't take the Sarah Quill right away. She was still having bad side effects from the Remeron. So on December 1st, Lindsay messaged Nurse Gelada again, asking to get off. the rumor on. The message read, quote, I started having very intrusive thoughts that I never had before.
Starting point is 00:42:05 I didn't take it last night. I would really like to go back to Julie's original plan of Prozac in the morning and Ativan and Benadryl at night as a band-aid until I get to a therapeutic level of Prozac. Please let me know if you agree with this plan. I know that I need to give it a good couple weeks to work. Now, the prosecution would later use this to argue that Lindsay was not sticking with the medication plan her providers recommended, even though as a nurse, she knew it took time to build up in her system. And so you encouraged her to stick with it, and then the next day she's asking to stop again. Yes.
Starting point is 00:42:41 On top of that, they argued that Lindsay's lack of consistency was a part of the reason why her treatment wasn't working. And it seemed like Lindsay actually agreed with that. Here is the prosecution questioning Dr. Tufts about a conversation she and Lindsay had. Did she also tell you, and this is a quote in the records on page 144, I think it's my problem. I keep reaching out to different people and not sticking with the plan. That's what I documented. And did you discuss that with her, that concern, that she kept reaching out to different people and wouldn't stick with the plan?
Starting point is 00:43:17 Yes. I advise that she have one person who is managing the Medicaid. And why is that important? So that it's very clear what's happening. But Lindsay's side effects were severe. The intrusive thought she was having on the remer on the remer on were scary. Nurse Gelada told Lindsay that intrusive thoughts are common with postpartum depression and anxiety,
Starting point is 00:43:43 and that she should try to continue taking the medication. But at trial, the defense suggested that Nurse Gelada was not proactive in asking important questions about Lindsay's intrusive thoughts. When you as an invested nurse practitioner receive a message from a woman who is postpartum who has been through what she's been through in the symptomology that she explained and the doctors that she's seen not too very good results, you'd be concerned when you see a person saying I have horrible intrusive thoughts, right? Yes. All right. So as a result of seeing on December 3rd that Lindsay Clancy, with her history, had. been telling you that she had horrible intrusive thoughts. What did you do?
Starting point is 00:44:32 Did you call her? She had told me that she took the out of Anne and now the thoughts were gone and she had felt good. But I did speak to her about it. Yeah, but she told you that in her message that she had today, all day, I had horrible intrusive thoughts. Deeply depressed, I finally took zero. 0.5 of Ataband at 6 p.m. And the thoughts are gone is what she told you, right? Yes. Did you ever bother to ask, I don't know. I mean, would you ask the patient what the horrible, intrusive thoughts were? I would have, yes. Did you? Yes. What did she say? She described them as
Starting point is 00:45:15 thoughts of not wanting to be here. How about does she ever describe to you that she was hearing voices? No. How many people have you treated for postpartum, And of those five people, did they hear voices? Not all of them. How about some of them? Some of them. And that's a real thing, isn't it? Yes.
Starting point is 00:45:37 And visual hallucinations, likewise? Not all. So with the voices that would be an auditory hallucination? Yes. Visual hallucination, not all, but some. Yes. And that's a real thing. Yes.
Starting point is 00:45:54 So when she had horrible, intrusive thoughts, did she say where these happened? Like, was she in the yard? Was she in a car? Did she ask her where and what? Or was it just that she just didn't want to be here anymore? It was more that she didn't want to be here anymore. Okay, did you ask her what that meant? I did ask her if she had any plans or intent for suicide.
Starting point is 00:46:19 Despite the horrific side effects, Nurse Gillotta encouraged Lindsay to stick with the Rimmeron and the Sarahquil. Lindsay agreed, although she made her hesitancy clear. In a message to Nurse Gelada, she wrote, quote, It's just a very scary, stressful time for me, and starting new meds with side effects is very scary to me. Now, Lindsay also reached out to Dr. Tufts on this day, updating her on the new medications. And despite her reluctance to take the Sarahquil,
Starting point is 00:46:46 Lindsay went along with the treatment plan and did it anyway. However, after taking the sarahquil, Lindsay's mental health began to spiral worse than it ever. had before. The very next day, she messaged Gelada, saying that the medication woke her up at midnight with horrible, intrusive thoughts. Lindsay reported feeling numb, no emotion, like she was going to die and didn't care about dying, but Gelada told her to continue taking it. In fact, she told her to add Prozac back into the mix of medications, Anne Adivan as needed. But Lindsay's side effects were so severe, she checked herself into the ER again. The next day, once home from the ER,
Starting point is 00:47:26 Lindsay reached out to another professional for help. This time, rather than speaking with a psychiatrist, she met with South Shore counselor Letitia Dukes. Lindsay told Latisha Dukes about her ER visit. She said she was having panic attacks, that she felt numb, couldn't sleep, lost a lot of weight, and had no appetite. She said she felt like she was addicted to Ativan,
Starting point is 00:47:47 as it was the only thing that brought her any relief and allowed her to sleep. What she reported as far as like passive thoughts were thoughts of not wanting to be here. or no longer wanting to live, but no plan. Lindsay continued taking the medication that Nurse Gelada recommended, but life quickly became unbearable. On December 5, 22, Lindsay called Aspire Crisis, a suicide hotline.
Starting point is 00:48:11 However, they turned her away because she didn't have a plan to kill herself. Kevin Redington would later speak about this call during Nurse Gelada's testimony, questioning why a woman who so clearly needed help was rejected in one of her darkest moments. So when you tell patients that are in crisis that if you feel that you're going to have suicidal ideation or anything, you should call these numbers what your people will give them, right? Yes. She called Aspire Crisis Report, support, not once but twice, right? If you know. I'm aware of that one time she called. But she was not given any help at all by Aspire, whoever they are, right?
Starting point is 00:48:55 I'm not aware of that. Well, it says right in the records for Letitia that she met with an inspired clinician, virtually, and was told that she did not meet the criteria for inpatient treatment due to not having an SI plan. What does that mean? They're just told her, you're not laying on the ground with your throat cuts, so we're not going to be able to help you.
Starting point is 00:49:17 Can't speak to what they told her. Lindsay's husband Patrick had also noticed how bad things had gotten That 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. Yeah, she started to say she was suicidal. Patrick was so concerned. He decided to sit in on Lindsay's next appointment with Letitia Dukes. During it, Lindsay talked about intrusive thoughts of wanting to die.
Starting point is 00:49:50 When she had talked about wanting to die, or not wanting to die, or not wanting to be there anymore, did you kind of follow up with her about those statements and whether she had any sort of intent or plan? Yes. And were there any signs of psychosis or signs of mania or homicidal or homicidal ideation? No. After this meeting with Letitia Dukes, Lindsay messaged Nurse Jalada about her horrible side effects and the message she wrote, quote,
Starting point is 00:50:20 I really need help. Soon after this, Lindsay scheduled another appointment with her. She was in such a bad state that Patrick requested she make the meeting in person rather than online. When you spoke to Pat, he had told you that in his quotation, his words would be, it was 10,000 times worse since she started this medication. I don't recall him using that phrase. But he was upset about the medication, wasn't he? I would say he was concerned.
Starting point is 00:50:48 Do you recall that he said that you're turning her into a zombie? I do not recall that he said that. And did it appear to you that he was very, very invested in her care and was very scared and worried? Yes. And he was complaining about the fact that he believed that they believed that she was being over-medicated, right? I believe he was concerned about her symptoms. He felt that they started once she started being medicated initially. But the fact that Lindsay and Patrick believed she was over-medicated wasn't what worried
Starting point is 00:51:19 Nurse Gelada the most in this meeting. It was Lindsay's lack of sleep. You see, Lindsay mentioned that she had gone a full 48 hours without sleeping, yet she didn't feel tired. And for Nurse Gelada, that was a huge red flag. One that indicated Lindsay might have bipolar disorder. Here she is explaining why. I discussed with her and her husband the possibility of potentially an underlying bipolar disorder. I based this on several factors, one of them being that she had such what we call an activating response to the Zoloft. It's unusual for somebody to describe taking Zoloft and then going 48 hours without sleep and not being tired. So that raised my clinical suspicion a bit. And she had been, I would say having difficulty tolerating other antidepressant
Starting point is 00:52:14 medications that we had been trying to have her take since then. And so again, I'm wondering if it's because potentially there might be an underlying, what we call mood disorder, bipolar. However, Patrick disagreed with this possible bipolar diagnosis. I recall Patrick saying my wife is not bipolar. Lindsay looked at me. She did not, she did not say anything. Both Patrick and Lindsay were convinced that her symptoms were from her medications, not an underlying mood disorder or condition. So despite her suspicions that Lindsay might have bipolar, Nurse Gelada agreed to move forward with what Patrick and Lindsay felt was best. Another shot at Prozac and discontinuing the Sarahquil. Kevin Reddington would later question Gelada about this decision.
Starting point is 00:53:03 And as I said, you were pretty much the only one that actually considered bipolar spectrum disorder of all the doctors that she had seen. And she told you in her message thing, No, the weird thing is I don't feel tired at all. Correct. And that's one of the things that you had told us earlier is a symptom, correct? Correct. A person that is not getting sleep, but doesn't feel tired. Correct.
Starting point is 00:53:27 What is the symptom of? It's a symptom of mania that we look for. But Reddington pointed to the fact that even though Nurse Gelada suspected bipolar, her treatment plan didn't reflect that. If Lindsay did have bipolar disorder, in a manic episode was triggered by the Zoloft, discontinuing Seroquil, a mood stabilizer, would likely only increase the mania she was experiencing. On top of that, adding Prozac, another SSRI, may also have an activating effect. But the Commonwealth argued that Nurse Gelada didn't do anything wrong. She was just prescribing what Lindsay and Patrick wanted.
Starting point is 00:54:05 And so, despite your suspicions, you listened to the patient and went along with her request. Yes. So at the conclusion of that meeting, did you indicate that she could discontinue the Sarahquil at that point? Yes. With the plan that she was going to restart Prozac? Yes. But what Lindsay and Patrick wanted didn't go as well as they hoped.
Starting point is 00:54:28 The very next day, Lindsay's messages to Nurse Gelada continued at 9.48 a.m. She wrote that last night had not gone well at all. She had only slept from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. She ended the message with, quote, What can I do? I really need help. Nurse Gelada explained that SSRIs can harm patients with bipolar disorder rather than help them. When explaining why she wanted Lindsay to stop the Prozac,
Starting point is 00:54:54 she wrote to her, Hold the Prozac. As I am concerned, this is a hypomanic, mixed manic state. She urged Lindsay to revert back to the antipsychotic Syracquil and hope for the best. But it didn't come. Days later, Nurse Gelada got a call from Patrick. He told her that Lindsay had panic symptoms. She was feeling numb, had thoughts of suicide, and was suffering from horrible, intrusive thoughts.
Starting point is 00:55:18 Nurse Gillotta once again encouraged her to continue taking the Seraquil. Kevin Redington would later say this during Nurse Gillotta's testimony. So this would be a Rebecca Gelada telephone encounter on December 9th, right? Correct. And on that occasion, Lindsay, and it says, and her husband called this writer, that it'd be you. Correct. Regarding the plan to taper, correct? Correct.
Starting point is 00:55:43 And they both agreed that Lindsay's symptoms remain too acute. What does that mean? Severe. Was he telling you all this while she sat there? She wasn't saying much on that conversation with. I don't recall who was saying more than the other person. Do you recall that she indicated that she wanted her husband to be involved to speak for her because she was really decompensating.
Starting point is 00:56:09 She wasn't self-reporting and self-advocating too well for herself at that point, was she? I just know she did have her husband on the call, and he did speak on the call. They indicated that she was waking up with panic symptoms. Correct. What panic symptoms? What does that mean? Panic symptoms can be this sudden rush of intense. Not what can be. What did she tell you, or what did her husband tell you? Panic symptoms.
Starting point is 00:56:33 What were they? Panic symptoms are racing. heart, intense fear. Those are panic symptoms. Would you agree that Patrick, in this conversation, also indicated that she was having intrusive thoughts yet again? Correct. What were the intrusive thoughts that she was having when she wakes up with panic symptoms?
Starting point is 00:56:56 I don't recall the specific intrusive thoughts. I recall asking about safety and that she did identify having thoughts of suicide. Well, Patrick told you that she has thoughts of suicide, right? Lindsay as well. Okay, so I'm asking you what you, as an invested, health care provider told this woman to advise her what your investigation revealed if you have a patient tell you I'm having intrusive thoughts. What were they?
Starting point is 00:57:27 I recall that they were intrusive suicidal thoughts. And is this a frequent theme that you noted? I don't know if I was a frequent. theme that I noted, but I know that it was documented several times. So at this point with all the providers of your program and her indications as well as her husbands about the number of times that she had suicidal ideation, did you prescribe more drugs for her? At this occasion, I prescribed Valium.
Starting point is 00:57:58 You both are up to Saracquil to 400 milligrams, didn't you? Yes. Did that help? How'd that work out? Now, the Commonwealth would later point out that it was also on this call where Nurse Gelada suggested a partial hospitalization program called Women and Infants. The Commonwealth wanted the jury to see that Gelada wasn't just adding another pill. She wanted to move her sick patient to a higher level of care, somewhere where she could
Starting point is 00:58:24 get the help she so desperately needed. And Lindsay told her she would consider the program. But on December 12th, Lindsay messaged Nurse Gelada again, reporting severe depression and erasing heartbeat. Nurse Gelada consulted her, telling her that a racing heartbeat was a side effect of the Sarahquil and that it should resolve on its own. But for Lindsay, the side effects were too much. She told Nurse Gelada that she wanted to stop medication altogether and try getting back to baseline.
Starting point is 00:58:52 But Nurse Gelada was concerned that going off medication would be more risky than pushing through the side effects. I said, as long as you are aware of the risks, I don't think you've been on Syracquil long enough for it to have a positive benefit on your mood or anxiety, but if you've noticed benefit, if you have noticed benefit, the risk would be worsening of mood and anxiety upon stopping the medication. Being off medication might help you see where you are at baseline, but I do think you are experiencing significant and severe symptoms of postpartum depression that needs to be treated. I acknowledge that medication alone is not always the best option for
Starting point is 00:59:28 someone, but often it's part of the puzzle. Now, that same day, Lindsay had another virtual appointment with Letitia Dukes. And here were Lindsay's symptoms. Her presenting concerns were anxiety, lack of sleep, depression symptoms, frequent, passive suicidal ideation thoughts of wanting to die and no longer be here. Lindsay told her she wanted to attend the partial hospitalization program, and Leticia agreed to get her a referral. And so did you work to make that referral after that visit?
Starting point is 01:00:03 Yes. But Lindsay would have to wait until she was accepted into the program, and it was during that wait on December 15, 2022, that Lindsay and her family seemed to accept how desperately hospitalization was needed. That day, Lindsay had called her father and told him some distressing information. Then, she told her husband. According to Patrick, Lindsay told him, quote, I called my dad and told him I wanted to die, and it didn't bother me at all, end quote.
Starting point is 01:00:32 In response, Patrick and Lindsay, called Nurse Gelada, telling her that Lindsay had her worst night, that the thoughts of suicide, along with intrusive thoughts, made it impossible for her to sleep. However, neither Patrick nor Lindsay divulged just how dark those intrusive thoughts had become. Though days earlier, Lindsay had told those thoughts to the two most important people in her life, her mother and Patrick. As it turns out, Lindsay wasn't just thinking of killing herself. She was having disturbing thoughts of harming her kids as well. I remember her saying, I just have to tell you guys something.
Starting point is 01:01:09 And then she told us. What did she tell you? She told us that she had thoughts of harming the children. How many times did she tell you this, that she had thoughts of harming the kids? A couple times. And was that a couple times over the course of a night or two in December? Yeah. Now, Nurse Jolada didn't know about these thoughts.
Starting point is 01:01:31 The only people who knew were Patrick, Lindsay, and her mom. However, it was agreed between everyone that Lindsay needed a higher level of care. So, they discussed different options, including the partial hospitalization and an inpatient psychiatric unit. Now, Lindsay was still waiting to hear back from the women in infants hospital for the partial hospitalization program, and in the meantime, with her condition worsening, they decided it would be best for her to go to Mass General's ER. While in the emergency room, Lindsay was given the option to be moved into their inpatient treatment program. However, she declined. Lindsay wanted to do the partial hospitalization program at women and infants because then she'd be able to spend more time with her family during the holidays.
Starting point is 01:02:13 The prosecution pointed that out, highlighting that Lindsay declined this help. Now, you're aware that on December 15th that the defendant and her husband reported that she was having persistent intrusive thoughts that day, correct? Yes. And that that's a day she first presented to Mass General Hospital. And that she was advised to go to the inpatient program and she chose not to go. Yes. The day after Lindsay's ER visit, on December 16th, she messaged Nurse Gelada to tell her about her decision to wait on women and infants.
Starting point is 01:02:51 She also asked what she should do regarding medication moving forward. And Gelada recommended increasingly. her Seraquil, but Lindsay was really struggling. In fact, later that day, she actually reached back out to the first doctor she had seen, Dr. Jennifer Tufts. During that appointment, she told Tufts she was having a quote, really hard time. Intrusive thoughts were? She said it was a feeling like I'm going to die. What was her response?
Starting point is 01:03:19 So she denied having suicidal ideation, but she was feeling pretty badly. She said she was close to it, meaning close to having some suicidal thoughts, and that she was feeling very hopeless. But she didn't have any active thoughts of hurting herself, didn't have any intention of doing anything, didn't have any plans. For Dr. Tufts, and many of the providers Lindsay saw, saying she didn't have an active plan on how she wanted to kill herself, meant she wasn't at risk of doing so. So rather than encourage higher care, Dr. Tufts urged her to continue taking the Sarahquil. She also added another medication for Lindsay to try. On top of the meds, she was already taking. Limitol, another mood stabilizer.
Starting point is 01:04:09 Here was Tuft's reasoning for writing that prescription. Yes, at that moment, given how the depression was continuing and worsening, I did feel like after we had discussed the limithel numerous times, that I did need to step in and prescribe that for her. Just to be safe, Lindsay reached out to Nurse Gelada asking her opinion on Tuft's Lamictal prescription, and Gelada said she was in agreement with it. Yes, I state absolutely Lamotogene works well for mood stabilization and depression.
Starting point is 01:04:45 I talked to her about the side effects of it. Now, a couple days later on December 20th, Lindsay was finally accepted into the women and infants partial hospitalization program in Rhode Island. This seemed like a good option for Lindsay, as she could bring Callan to the program, and she could also go home. When she arrived at women and infants, Lindsay expected to be in the program for the next two weeks. But after speaking with the doctors there, they didn't think Lindsay was suffering from postpartum issues, which is what their program was designed to help with. Rather than postpartum depression, they believe,
Starting point is 01:05:21 that Lindsay's symptoms and mental health decline stemmed from the medication she had been taking over the last few months. So they actually rejected Lindsay from the program. Their recommendation going forward was that she start tapering off the Sarah Quill that Nurse Gillotta prescribed. Here is Kevin Reddington asking Nurse Gillotta about this. What happened at Women and Infants Program? I can't speak to what happened at women and infants. Why not? Because I was not a part of that assessment. I did not see the assessment, and I did not speak with Dr. Diaz.
Starting point is 01:05:59 Why? Lindsay had informed me that she was going to be at the program for two weeks. She was hoping to be at the program for two weeks, right? But she was turned away after about eight hours of sitting there, and she was turned away because, well, let me ask you, what was their diagnosis? I'm not sure. Did you ever find out? I have not. Does it matter to you as a treating person that I think your words were is invested in Lindsay Clancy's care at that time?
Starting point is 01:06:29 Did it matter to you why she didn't get accepted into the program? It did. Did you know that in fact they wouldn't accept her into the postpartum program because of their concern that she had been over-medicated by drugs? I can't speak to that. Did you know that she was diagnosed as diagnosis depression due to adverse drugs? I cannot speak to that. December 20th, the very same day that she had finished being evaluated, woman you were invested in, had been evaluated by Dr. Diaz that you recommended or you mentioned, that in fact,
Starting point is 01:07:06 that they recommended tapering Seraquel follow up with outpatient provider of note. We attempted to reach current outpatient provider Rebecca Jalada, but did not receive a call back. There was never any communication between women and infants and anyone on Lindsay's care team. And after just eight hours of being there, Lindsay was sent on her way. As soon as she got home, she reached out to Nurse Gelada, telling her that the program had recommended she taper off the Sarahquil. Here was Nurse Gillotta's response. I said, I'm not opposed to that. However, I'm concerned she discharged you, as I do feel you could benefit from the groups and added support separate even from medication change.
Starting point is 01:07:49 In fact, if we're not going the medication route, I think groups and therapy are the treatment needed. As I feel the intrusive thoughts you've been having are nonetheless concerning and I know they've caused you considerable distress. I'm also on vacation next week, so I'm hesitant to start a taper when I am not available to you for questions and concerns. Again, I'm open to starting a taper, but I want to be available to you as it happens. You mentioned you are connected to your previous psychiatrist. Would that be someone to consult as well? Because Nurse Gillotta was going on vacation, she told Lindsay to reach out to Dr. Tufts if she needed help while tapering the Sarahquell and warned her about the symptoms that may come with stopping the medication. By that point, the list of medications Lindsay had been on and off were staggering.
Starting point is 01:08:31 Kevin Reddington believed that Lindsay had been severely overmedicated in the months before the murders, which contributed to her eventual psychotic break. As we stated earlier, women and infants, the partial hospitalization program, also believed that Lindsay was. extremely over-medicated and nurse gelada was the one prescribing most of those medications now nurse gelada testified that she knew lindsay was eventually admitted to mclean psychiatric hospital but gelada didn't talk to anyone there either in fact after their correspondence on december 21st lindsay and nurse gelada would never speak again the defense once again argued that this showed a lack of care that lindsay desperately needed so if you're treating a person for all of the stuff that we've talked about, and it's now apparent that things have decompensated so bad that they have voluntarily admitted her to a locked ward in a mental institution. Is it important to Rebecca Gelada to find out what the diagnosis and treatment was of their patient?
Starting point is 01:09:39 Yes. Did you find out? I did not. Did you talk to Tufts? No. Did you ever get access to Tufts? medical records. No. Do you know how many times she saw Dr. Tufts? I do not. Would it surprise you if I told you that she saw Dr. Tufts 14 times? And that's 14 times plus the three that she saw you. Yes. So that's 17 times that this young lady had access to health care providers for her mental health issues, correct? Correct. And during that period of time, you're aware that she was provided many, many, many prescriptions for antipsychotics, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, benzodiazepines, all of that. However, the Commonwealth argued that Nurse Gelada was not to blame here.
Starting point is 01:10:27 They pointed to the fact that Gelada only treated Lindsay for about a month. In fact, they only had three appointments together. The rest of their correspondence was messaging through my chart. Additionally, although Nurse Gelada prescribed Lindsay a majority of the medication, she took, she didn't prescribe Lindsay any medications in the month of January, the month that the children were killed. But as 2022 came to an end, and 2023 was ushered in, Nurse Gillotta faded out of the picture, and then things truly fell apart. And the week after being sent home from women and infants, Lindsay's mental health was worse than ever before. So after going to the ER again,
Starting point is 01:11:08 she was finally admitted to McLean's psychiatric hospital. This was not a partial hospitalization, like women and infants. This was an inpatient program. Lindsay arrived there on New Year's Eve. Dr. Goodhart, who was a psychiatrist at McLean, said this about Lindsay at trial. She was finding it hard to sleep if she didn't take medications. And do you recall reviewing in the records that it was noted
Starting point is 01:11:34 that she reported that she felt numb? Yes. And that she was having some issues managing medication. Yes. Upon her arrival, Lindsay was given an adult psychiatry services evaluation by Dr. Charlotte Hogan, who did not testify at trial, but Dr. Goodhart testified about Lindsay's evaluation. The patient said to Dr. Hogan or reported thoughts of wishing to be dead but no plan.
Starting point is 01:12:00 Yes. And that there was no violent or homicidal ideation, right? Yes. And that was observed at Mass General to have no evidence of psychosis, mania, obsessions, or current anxiety symptoms. Correct. At the end of her intake evaluation, this was Lindsay's initial diagnosis. Major depressive disorder, severe without psychotic features. You're aware she said that she denied feeling depressed and denied any passive death wishes or suicidal thoughts, but reports feeling numb.
Starting point is 01:12:31 Yes. In addition, Dr. Goodhart herself evaluated Lindsay on January 3rd two days after her initial admission. She appeared anxious. And her affect, did you observe it to be congruent to her mood? Yes. You examined her and found her to have linear thinking and appear goal directed, right? Yes. Did you talk to her about her thoughts of suicide?
Starting point is 01:12:57 Yes. And did you talk to her about whether she had any specific plan? Yes. Did she have any plan? No. Did she tell you there were reasons why she thought she wouldn't? commit suicide? Yes. What were those reasons? Her children and her family, her mother. During this interaction with her on the January 3rd, did you observe any signs of psychosis?
Starting point is 01:13:24 No. But at trial, Kevin Reddington questioned if the providers at the inpatient program had enough experience in order to properly diagnose Lindsay. And he asked Dr. Goodhart a question that brought up something surprising, something that further. bolstered his argument that Lindsay hadn't received proper treatment or a proper diagnosis. How many women have you treated that we're suffering from postpartum psychosis? I don't recall. I don't remember, but I think it would stick in my memory, so I don't think that I probably have. You don't think you probably have? I don't think I have. I haven't seen any. The fact that the program hadn't treated anyone with postpartum psychosis had the defense asking,
Starting point is 01:14:16 would they even be able to properly diagnose or treat it if they saw it? However, the prosecution had an argument of their own. Postpartum psychosis is rare. It only occurs in about one to two women out of every 1,000 births. In addition, they claimed that Lindsay didn't want to be treated and that she'd rather be home. They pointed to the fact that Lindsay was originally supposed to be discharged. on Friday, January 6th, but she asked to leave early to prepare for her daughter, Korah's birthday party. Originally, I think we were thinking, we had talked about discharge on Friday.
Starting point is 01:14:54 She stated that she was anxious being in the hospital and that she wanted to be discharged so she could be home with her family and her children. And so did she ask to leave earlier than Friday? Yes. Now, you said that you didn't have a concern for her safety. So what were identified as maybe protective factors that made you feel comfortable that she was safe? She was future-oriented. She was invested in her children. She was a caring mother.
Starting point is 01:15:25 She had her parents around to help her. She had family and supports. We ensured that she would have outpatient psychiatric care for follow-up. She didn't have a history. of suicide. She had no history of psychosis, postpartum psychosis. For the prosecution, they believe that Lindsay longed to be the mom she could no longer be, so much so that she rejected treatment. And why does she leave there? He wants to go to Corey's birthday party. And that's relatable. That's understandable. She wants to be that mom again who can throw her daughter a party
Starting point is 01:16:05 and enjoy it. It's completely understandable while she would want to. leave. But she also knew she wasn't there. She knew how she was feeling. She knew she was depressed. She knew she needed help. But she wanted to be that mom, she was more. However, the defense believed that her reason for leaving was twofold. Not only did she want to be with her family, but McLean wasn't giving Lindsay the individualized care she expected to get. They said the unit was understaffed over the New Year's holiday. Reddington went on to say that nobody at McLean pulled Lindsay's records from Dr. Tufts or nurse practitioner, Jolada. Staffing was minimal. In addition, no one checked Lindsay's thyroid levels when she was there, which is often a test performed on
Starting point is 01:16:54 postpartum women. McLean was one of Lindsay's last attempts to get help, and when she wasn't receiving that adequate help, she asked to go home so she could be with her family. By January 6, 23, Three, Lindsay reached out to Dr. Tufts letting her know that she had been discharged from McLean. She also said that she had safely weaned herself off the Sarahquil. But she still felt depressed, numb, and had poor sleep. The only medications Lindsay was taking at the time were tracadone, Ativan, and melatonin. Now, the fact that Lindsay wasn't sleeping while taking two medications and one supplement that are all designed to force sleep, and she still wasn't sleeping, was very concerning.
Starting point is 01:17:35 So Dr. Tufts increased her tracidone. The defense took issue with the fact that Lindsay wasn't urged to get more care. Specifically when he noticed that in Dr. Tuft's notes on the meeting, she marked that Lindsay was deteriorating. And your medical records you would agree show that during that period of time, that she was deteriorating. So. No, no, no, so.
Starting point is 01:18:00 You use the word deteriorating, but I pray, he do not. She was a little bit worse at certain appointments, and the deteriorating word, which is not my word choice, is what is in the note because I had to select that. Whether she was deteriorating or not, Lindsay tried to put on a brave face for Cora's birthday party on January 7th. The prosecution played a video of the party where Lindsay is seen standing behind Cora singing happy birthday to her. People who were present said Lindsay was a little quiet and tired, but pretty normal. No one suspected what was to come. And in the days that followed, Lindsay managed to continue to take care of her family. The very next day, January 8th, the Clancy family went to the Boston Museum of Science.
Starting point is 01:18:45 In court, they showed a video of the Clancy's walking and enjoying their day. The day after Cora's birthday party, on January 8th, the Clancy's went to the Boston Museum of Science. In court, they played another video of the Clancy's walking around the museum, seemingly having a good time. The Museum of Science in Boston can be crowded and overwhelming on a good day. And she's there with three kids under five with her husband.
Starting point is 01:19:12 You see her monitoring them, caring for them, doing the exhibits, showing them what to do with the exhibits. If you watch that video and you didn't know who the Clancy family was, and we ask you, pick out the woman who is depressed,
Starting point is 01:19:30 pick out the woman who wants to kill herself. Pick out the woman who's about to kill her kids. You couldn't pick her out. She's completely calm. The defense, however, believed this was an oversimplification of what mental health conditions look like, and that regardless of how a person is presenting, it's impossible to know what's really going on inside. To say that she must have been fine because she appeared so on camera was, in their opinion, a disservice to those suffering. What it's all about. Give me help. And so the government will say,
Starting point is 01:20:05 she was able to talk to people. She wasn't drooling. She wasn't putting tin foil inside of a hat when she was going to the schools. No, she was able to talk to people. We actually have, we meaning the government, we have video of her and Patrick and the kids at the Museum of Science.
Starting point is 01:20:24 And they were actually having a good time. I guess she was fine. She put on a pretty good face. In Lindsay's virtual meeting with Dr. Tufts the following day, she showed a different face. She reported that the tracidone increase was helpful, but that she was still experiencing rebound anxiety from the Ativan. But this time, Lindsay had a new side effect. She said she felt like she had no emotions. She couldn't even cry.
Starting point is 01:20:51 But she said she wasn't experiencing suicidal ideation. So Dr. Tuft prescribed Lindsay Valium to decrease rebound anxiety. However, it didn't seem to help. A few days later, Lindsay emailed Dr. Tufts about whether ketamine therapy would be a good option for her. Dr. Tufts messaged Lindsay back and told her that it was a great option, but that it was extremely hard to get insurance to cover it. Lindsay wrote, I'm still feeling very low mood, no motivation, just very depressed. This has been going on for months now, and I'm getting desperate for something that would work quickly to get me out of this depressed state. A couple days later, Lindsay stayed home with all three children, while Patrick went to brunch with friends.
Starting point is 01:21:32 Then a few days after that, on January 16th, Patrick took Cora skiing, leaving Lindsay alone with Dawson and Callan. The prosecution would later argue that Lindsay was obviously mentally well enough to be able to watch the children by herself. But on that same day, January 16th, Lindsay saw Dr. Tufts again, reporting this. Her mood was still very low. She was still depressed. It was, she was able to get out of bed and take care of her basics, like hygiene and eating. Her concentration was fine. And she was doing what she needed to do to take care of her baby.
Starting point is 01:22:13 Though she subjectively felt like the bonding was forced with the baby. Did you ask her if she had suicidal or homicidal ideation? I did. And what was her response? No. Did she show any of the signs or symptoms of psychosis on that day? No, she did not. During this appointment, Dr. Tufts prescribed Lindsay another antidepressant called amatryptylene. Now, amatryptylene is an older class of antidepressants that are often prescribed as a last resort
Starting point is 01:22:41 due to their potential for overdosing, as well as their risk of increased side effects compared to more modern antidepressants. And evidently, it seemed that Lindsay's decline came on even more rapidly after she started the drug. For the past couple months, Lindsay had been meticulous, documenting all of her medications, dosages, and side effects. But by mid-January, her journal entries looked a lot different. As she runs into January, there's nothing other than little chicken scratches because her mind was gone. However, the prosecution had a very different perspective on why her journal entry stopped, not because her mind was gone, but because she had given up. And if you look at their journal, you look at this journal that defense counsel showed you,
Starting point is 01:23:31 she's very detailed about when she took medication, what she took, the amounts she took, what the effect was for months, starting in October, and going all the way up to January, and where it stops, January 18. Someone who's been so momentary, about everything all the way up to January 18th and it just stops. It's as if she's decided she's done trying. She's decided that it's too much and she doesn't want to do it anymore. And so she just stops keeping track of the prescriptions. Lindsay saw a number of people towards the end of January.
Starting point is 01:24:06 Her mom came to visit around this time and the Clancy's also went to a friend's house on January 22nd. The people in attendance said that Lindsay was fine but quiet. Is it quieter than normal? Just quiet, but fairly normal. The following day, January 23, 2023, the day before the murders, Lindsay would have her final appointment with Dr. Tufts. During it, the two discussed how Lindsay felt on the amatryptylene. So she said she was doing all right, a little more anxious, and the anxiety was described as the feeling of her heart racing. She had a decreased appetite as well.
Starting point is 01:24:45 She was on only two milligrams of Valium at this point and feeling more anxious in the morning. Mood was the same, flat, anxious, no motivation, numb. She has to force herself to get out of bed and out of the house, but is able to do that. And she is sleeping okay. But according to Dr. Tufts, there was no suicidal ideation. So Dr. Tufts increased the amyptychitis. Celine from 10 milligrams to 20 milligrams. Then they hung up the call for the very last time.
Starting point is 01:25:22 At any point in time, did she tell you she was planning to kill herself? No. At any point in time on the 23rd, did she say she was planning to kill her children? No, absolutely not. At any point in time during your interaction with her in that session, was there anything about her affect or demeanor, her behavior that indicated to you that she was a danger to herself or others? No.
Starting point is 01:25:44 However, Kevin Reddington argued that Dr. Tufts may have not been an accurate judge of that, based on how short the sessions between herself and Lindsay ran. Anything else you want to say? So her sessions were largely focused on the medication management, but there was an aspect of therapy, including those items. Okay, and the sessions were for what? 17 minutes? No. How long, everybody?
Starting point is 01:26:10 25 to 30 minutes. And that's not noted in your time. records. It says 17 minutes on all your records, doesn't it? Reddington then asks her, what do you do when you're trying to give therapy to a patient who came to see you? It depends on the person. Well, how about what do you do for therapy with her? I listened to her. I listened to her concerns and provided support. I tried to provide her with hope that eventually things would improve.
Starting point is 01:26:44 Dr. Tufts clearly had no idea what was ahead. No one did. In fact, the prosecution argued that on the outside, Lindsay seemed to be doing better, not worse, leading up to the murders. And that argument largely hinged on a text sent from her mom, Paula. Around this time, Paula came to visit Lindsay and the kids. And when she left Duxbury, she texted Lindsay saying, I'm glad you're better.
Starting point is 01:27:08 The prosecution believed that Lindsay seeming better indicated that she was trying to manipulate her family into believing that. Here's the prosecution addressing that point. You know that she was doing better or seemed to be, and that our mom said, I'm glad you're doing so much better, because Patrick said the same thing. He said she was doing better in January.
Starting point is 01:27:28 Every day was better. The 24th was the best day. They had hope because that's what she wanted to show them. Which brings us to the day of the murders, January 24th, 2023. Now the prosecution and the defense have very different ideas on how this day played out. And I want to reiterate that we are simply laying out to both sides of the argument. But according to the Commonwealth, on the day of the murders, although Lindsay was very depressed, she knew the difference between right and wrong, and she could conform her behavior
Starting point is 01:28:00 to the law. They brought up the fact that Lindsay took Cora to a doctor's appointment that morning, and that the pediatrician said Lindsay was completely normal. Following the doctor's appointment, Lindsay was able to drive home. That day, she played with the kids and sent pictures of them to Patrick and her mom. The prosecution claims that Lindsay did all of this because she was trying to make it look like she was getting better, but then they say she started planning.
Starting point is 01:28:25 At 4.02 p.m., she googled Kids Miralax. At 4.13 p.m., she looked up takeout at 3V, and immediately after her put the restaurant into her Google Maps. Now, the prosecution said that Lindsay had eaten at that restaurant several times before. But she wanted to know exactly how far away it was, so she could figure out how much time she had to murder the children and then herself. They said she even called the CVS to make sure Cora's medicine was in stock, because she didn't want to be interrupted by Patrick calling her when she was in the middle of the murders. But soon after that, Lindsay placed their takeout order,
Starting point is 01:29:02 and Patrick eventually came upstairs from the basement. Before he left that day, Patrick said the kids were sitting on the couch eating chicken nuggets and green beans. Lindsay was standing by the basement door holding Callan, and she asked if he could go to CVS to pick up the Pediolax. She then sent him a picture of it, and according to Patrick, he left the house at 5.15 p.m. And he has out the door at 5.15, and you know that's the time he leaves,
Starting point is 01:29:28 because he says to her, yeah, just text it to me. And that's such a normal kind of interaction that we have your common sense and life experience, you're headed out the door to run an errand and someone in your home says, oh, while you're out, could you get me X, Y, and Z? And you're like, yeah, sure, just text it to me. Because you don't want to get there and be like, oh, what did they want me to get? It's such a normal interaction, right? According to the prosecution, as soon as Patrick walked out that door, Lindsay began murdering the children. They told the jury that Lindsay started with Dawson. Why? Because Dawson
Starting point is 01:30:03 was a handful. They said Lindsay knew he wouldn't be at compliant. They even referenced one of Lindsay's old Facebook posts where she posted in a forum about how Dawson was a more difficult child. And so it made sense rationally to remove him and separate him first and kill him first. And she brought him into that room into the office and closed the door and she wrapped that band around his little neck. And she squeezed until he was unconscious as the blood's pulling in his face and causing those blood vessels to burst causing him pain and panic and confusion the prosecution said that next lindsay moved on to cora they said that the order in which lindsay killed the children shows rationality because cora and dawson are older
Starting point is 01:30:56 they would have known what was going on and possibly could have interfered with her plan so she killed them first, and then finally she strangled Callan. Assistant DA Jennifer Sprague also claimed that the exercise bands weren't knotted or tied around the children's necks, meaning Lindsay had to manually strangle them for several minutes her child. Now Patrick would testify that he did untie the bands, but he said it was like when you, quote, initially tie your shoe, but then don't do the bow. But once the children were dead, the prosecution said that Lindsay left them in the basement. She didn't bring them up to their beds and put them with their favorite stuffed animal and cover them up gently and lovingly, leaving them peacefully there. No, she left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys because she was done playing the game.
Starting point is 01:31:48 At 5.33 p.m., Patrick Clancy called Lindsay from inside the CBS. He was looking for the pedialax, but he couldn't find the one Lindsay requested. However, she didn't answer the call. Now, the prosecution claims that Lindsay had already killed the kids by this point. At that same time, at 5.33 p.m., her iPhone shows her going up a set of stairs. A minute later, she called Patrick back. He later testified that Lindsay sounded distracted. He thought she was giving the kids a bath.
Starting point is 01:32:18 But on the call, Patrick said that Lindsay approved the generic brand of Pedialax, and then they hung up after 14 seconds. And when she got the call from him, she had already. strangled them. And she didn't tell him. She didn't ask for help. She didn't say, oh my God, what have I done? She's a nurse. She didn't go down and try to do CPR and help them. No, she lied. She stayed calm. She presented herself as normal. She had complete control over her behavior and her emotions. She had a normal conversation with him because she didn't want him coming home because she needed to finish her plan. She still had to kill herself. According to the prosecution, it's here where Lindsay grabbed a knife and at 5.38 p.m.,
Starting point is 01:33:11 her iPhone showed her going up another set of stairs. Now, as we mentioned in the previous episode, the police in this case did not thoroughly investigate the crime. Patrick Clancy would later say he found a cup of lemonade in their bedroom with a white powdery substance inside. Through this, this information. Investigators theorized that Lindsay crushed up some pills and ingested them trying to kill herself. But the police never tested that cup. They also never found where Lindsay would have crushed the pills or even what she used to crush them. Regardless, according to the prosecution, Lindsay took the crushed up pills and began to cut her wrists and neck. Then bleeding as she stumbled through the room, Lindsay moved her bed away from the window before opening it
Starting point is 01:33:57 and going out the window. Now, investigators did find blood along the side of the house, pretty far down from the opening of the window. Assistant DA Jennifer Sprague suggested that Lindsay slid down the side of the house instead of just jumping out of it. Why would she do that? Well, according to the prosecution, Lindsay didn't have the capability of killing herself.
Starting point is 01:34:19 She wanted to kill herself, but her natural instinct to live was fighting against that. So she took pills, but you heard the toxicom. psychologists, they were all at therapeutic levels or below, except the cervical, which was a little elevated. She cut herself, but you saw the cuts on the meaty pot of her arm horizontally. No arteries, no major blood vessels, didn't need to be stitched the next day. The one on her neck didn't need to be stitched at all. She knew as a nurse, those weren't going to kill her.
Starting point is 01:34:51 But she was trying. And then going out of the window, 12, 13 feet. She landed the wrong way and ended up paralyzed on the frozen ground. But, you know, the idea that falling out of a 12-foot window is going to definitely kill you, not necessarily. And so she wanted to. She was trying. She was trying in all these different ways. But she just couldn't get over that third prong, the capability of actually killing herself.
Starting point is 01:35:20 And that goes against it being a voice. Because if she's compelled to do it, if this voice is. making her do it, she would just do it. There would be no fight, there would be no struggle, there would be no resistance to dying. However, the defense believed that Lindsay's injuries, as well as her paralysis, was a clear sign that she had the capability to take her life. She had just failed to do so. The prosecution had to answer the question. If Lindsay didn't have the capability of killing herself, then how did she end up paralyzed? To which Sprague said, I don't think she took into account the fact that the ground was frozen.
Starting point is 01:35:57 Now let's take a second to talk about the defense's argument. Dr. Paul Zaisel spent the most time evaluating Lindsay, and he saw a very different person than the prosecution did, not a woman struggling with just anxiety or intrusive thoughts, but a woman who had been teetering on the bridge of insanity. Did she indicate, and I quote, that she had bad and intrusive thoughts, and she didn't even feel that they were like mine
Starting point is 01:36:22 telling me I should kill myself. My brain is damaged. You're never going to get better. Yes. And did that type of intrusive thought or persecutory thought continue for a period of time? Yes. Now, as we mentioned, the prosecution pointed to Lindsay's movements and her interactions with others before the murders,
Starting point is 01:36:45 as proved that she could function normally in society, which meant she wasn't psychotic. However, Dr. Zaisal argued that psychosis doesn't always present the way people expect. People with psychoses have intermittent symptoms. They can function fine one day and the next day they can be hearing voices. She only had auditory hallucinations. But hallucinations are like the waves at the beach. They come and go.
Starting point is 01:37:16 Dr. Zaisel said that like many people experiencing psychics, Linsie's condition would come and go, which is why Lindsay was functioning for the beginning part of January 24, 2023. She took the children to the doctor. She played with the kids outside. Then it was approaching dinner time. Now, the prosecution said that Lindsay looked up how far away the restaurant was, so she could plan out exactly how much time she had. But Kevin Reddington claimed this. You've got a compressed period of time that Patrick leaves to go to the restaurant, to pick up the CV and, oh, you heard the guy yesterday say, and then she sent him off to go to CVS.
Starting point is 01:37:55 It's on the way. It's on the way. She didn't want him out of the house long. She was in distress. She wanted him home to help with the bathing, to help with the kids, to help putting them to bed. How long is he going to be gone? She Googles it.
Starting point is 01:38:12 Is that something that is so nefarious? Now, there was another issue with the timeline that the defense wanted to address. Patrick said he left the house at 5.15 p.m. The CVS was only three minutes away from their home. But Patrick wasn't seen walking into CVS until 17 minutes later. So what there are 14 minutes unaccounted for. At trial, Reddington asked Patrick about something he did during those 14 minutes.
Starting point is 01:38:39 Does it indicate the date and the time? At the very top, you sent that email to your staff members with you. It does. The judge is what the date was. It's January 24th at 524. And that was sent from your Surface Pro? I don't know, actually. It could have been sent from my iPhone.
Starting point is 01:39:01 The Surface Pro that Kevin mentioned was Patrick's laptop, a laptop that he worked from in the basement. But if Patrick left the house at 515, like he said he did, he wouldn't be in the basement sending an email. According to the prosecution, Lindsay was already in the basement killing the children at that time. Now, this very moment at trial sent the internet into a spiral, and we will discuss that here in a little.
Starting point is 01:39:26 But the prosecution tried to explain this gap in time in Patrick's story. So from the time you should have been at the parking lot of CBS around 5.20 p.m. until 5.32 p.m. could you have been in your car sending this email on your iPhone? Yeah, I just don't know if I pulled into the parking lot at 520. As we mentioned, Patrick called Lindsay from inside the CVS at 533 p.m. The prosecution said she had already killed the children by that point. But the defense argues otherwise.
Starting point is 01:39:57 They claim that after Patrick left, Lindsay was standing at the fridge, getting chicken nuggets out for the children when Patrick called her. And it was after that phone call where she heard a man's voice telling her this. This is your last chance. You have to kill the children before you kill yourself. The defense said that from there, at 5.38 p.m., Lindsay made her way upstairs. In her bedroom, she set down her phone. She placed her Apple Watch in the nightstand and then went into the basement with her children. Now, if you recall, the prosecution claimed Lindsay killed Dawson first because he was
Starting point is 01:40:32 the most difficult kid, and that alone showed she wasn't in psychosis. Well, Kevin Redington took issue with this. He told the jury, the fact that they would have you think that she killed him first cruelly because she didn't like him, that is repulsive. He then showed pictures Lindsay posted online where she gushed about her son and called him her prince. During the murders, according to Lindsay's lawsuit, she felt a force come over her. She entered a dissociative dreamlike state in which her physical actions felt completely disconnected from her own will. The lawsuit said she claimed her body was simply acting and that she was only watching it happen the entire time she continued hearing that male voice over and over again, and that it didn't stop until all three children were dead.
Starting point is 01:41:19 Investigators claimed that after killing the kids, Lindsay ingested those crushed pills that were mixed with lemonade. But Reddington was very vocal about the lousy investigation police conducted. Investigators said that this was her first attempt at suicide. But Reddington questioned how that could even be determined when the lemonade and pills had never been tested. Now, in regard to the prosecution's claim that Lindsay's suicide attempt wasn't serious, Reddington became heated. He told the jury, quote, not serious. She had spinal fluid coming out her nose.
Starting point is 01:41:53 He added that the blood evidence was all over the primary bedroom floor on the window, and even dripping down the side of the house. Her paralysis, he said, came from a Jefferson fracture. The same kind of injury someone gets when they dive into the shallow end of a pool and break their neck. He pointed out that Lindsay, her ribs were broken. She had gone head first out the window. Because remember the government's opening when they told you, she wasn't suffering from the psychosis. She was a woman that didn't want to live a life anymore.
Starting point is 01:42:23 Wasn't happy being a mother. Didn't want to live that life. So she's going to kill her kids and hopefully throw herself out the window and not paralyze herself and then she could run off into the sunset, I guess. That's what their theory was. Along with the fact that it wasn't a real good suicide, it was fake. Well, now we know, don't we? The mess that this young lady was in, in her brain, my brain is being damaged. I will never be better.
Starting point is 01:42:50 And why did we spend almost a week showing you the extent and the severity of that suicide attempt? The reason that we had to do that is because they were arguing. Dinky little cuts. No bleeding. She didn't mean to kill herself.
Starting point is 01:43:13 She's just going to throw herself out the window, I guess, and slide down the house. Remember that one hanging off of the window? Sliding down the house and Lindsay screwed up. And she hurt herself bad. You know that's not what happened. You know that she made the testimony of Dr. Velkovich, that she made a very, very significant suicide effort. Back inside the Clancy home on the night of the murders,
Starting point is 01:43:38 Patrick said he came home at 6.09 p.m. After walking inside and finding a quiet house, Patrick opened the basement door, but he didn't hear anything. Next, he pulled out his phone and called Lindsay, but she didn't answer the phone. So that's when he went upstairs. After checking the children's bedrooms, Patrick saw that the door to he and Lindsay's bedroom was locked,
Starting point is 01:43:59 so he grabbed a key and unlocked it. Upon opening the door, Patrick said there was blood everywhere. He said he saw the open window, And after just a few steps into the room, he turned around and ran outside. And there, lying face up was Lindsay. Patrick said he asked Lindsay what happened. And what was her response? She said I tried to kill myself.
Starting point is 01:44:21 Patrick said he also asked Lindsay where the children were, and she told him in the basement. But Kevin Reddington had a lot to say about that alleged confession. And this whole thing about conversations and she's talking to people and the kids are in the basement, her throat was was crushed. You heard the 911 team. You draw the inference whether or not there's a conversation about where the children are. I tried to kill myself. The kids are in the basement. All that, you determine whether or not that was something that could be discerned. On the evening of January 24th, 2023, 5-year-old Cora and 3-year-old Dawson were pronounced dead. A few days later, 8-month-old Callan also passed away. And I want to take a second to remind everyone that they are the
Starting point is 01:45:07 victims in this story. I know a lot of media focuses on Lindsay, but Cora, Dawson, and Callan had their whole lives ahead of them, three little kids who should have grown up, and I can't imagine the fear they went through in their last moments. And while that often gets lost in this story, the loss of their lives is exactly why it's important. We talk about this. The tragic and unnecessary loss of their life is one of the reasons why when Patrick Clancy's mom, Sue, took the stand to testify in Lindsay's defense, people were stunned. She was begging for help. Lindsay was struggling.
Starting point is 01:45:43 We were all very concerned. That clip itself isn't what stood out to people. It was what happened after. As Sue Clancy was walking back to her seat. After her testimony, you can see her past the defense table where Lindsay is sitting. And just as she does, she looks at Lindsay and subtly nods her head. To people watching, the head nods spoke volumes. It painted a picture of a woman who perhaps understood Lindsay or even forgave her.
Starting point is 01:46:09 Another big moment at trial had to do with the medical examiner's testimony, Dr. Barbara Olson spoke to the jury about the children's injuries. When talking about Cora, she mentioned the ligature wounds, the abrasions, trauma to both her face and neck, the evidence of medical intervention on her tiny body. During the testimony, Lindsay kept her head down, silently sobbing, holding on to Kevin in Reddington's hand for support. But as Dr. Olson described Korra's injuries in detail,
Starting point is 01:46:39 the emotional weight became too much for Lindsay. Here is a clip from that moment. A lurgature is when you have external compression by an object on the neck, and a furrow is simply a pattern of injury that occurs beneath it. It can be an imprint, it could be a pattern,
Starting point is 01:46:54 or it could be more developed types of injuries such as bruising or abrasions. What about injuries? Hi, counsel could... What I'm going to take a break this time. All right? Boy, all right. Judge William Sullivan immediately called a recess as two nurses rushed to Lindsay's side.
Starting point is 01:47:16 It was reported that at least one juror was crying. But the medical examiner testimony wasn't over. After a brief recess, Dr. Kimberly Springer testified about Callan's autopsy. Photos were shown to the jury, and once again, as Callan's injuries were described in graphic detail, Lindsay broke down in the courtroom. She was eventually taken out, and while the camera panned over, one of the prosecutors was seemingly caught on a hot mic, saying the following. No, I don't want to go to the sidebar. I really don't want to go to the sidebar.
Starting point is 01:47:45 I need to know what you're going to talk about before. I want to tell you that they get picked up on a hot mic saying, shut her up during the playing of that autopsy. This is not like my inmate's tales. I'm not doing that at all. The prosecution would later say that they didn't say shut her up. According to them, they said shut it off, but that remains debated. Now, before we move on to the doctors who evaluated Lindsay, we want to talk about a big part of this case. As Lindsay Clancy's trial was playing out, being live streamed for the world to see, her husband Patrick testified. And almost immediately, a large number of people started taking to the internet to share their feelings about him.
Starting point is 01:48:27 But before we get into all of this, I just want to say that we are not accusing Patrick of anything. These are not our beliefs. We're simply reporting on what a large number of people online are saying. I just want to once again make it explicitly clear that we're not endorsing any of these theories or accusing Patrick of a single thing. Now, something controversial to the general public that we mentioned in the previous episode is the fact that Patrick remarried just three years after the murders. and a lot of people online shared their thoughts about how they believed he moved on too soon. Others, however, said that he deserved to find happiness after the loss of his family. Now, Patrick Clancy recently did an interview with 60 Minutes, where he and his new wife, Rachel,
Starting point is 01:49:11 said that they didn't meet until January of 2024 a year after the murders. And we'll talk more about that interview towards the end of this episode, but during Lindsay's trial, the speculation surrounding Patrick Clancy and the timeline of him meeting his new wife, snowbald. During Patrick's testimony, people also started talking about that trip he took and the weeks after his children's funeral. As we mentioned, he solo traveled to Central America and Europe. And one of the places that he traveled to was Costa Rica. But one internet sleuth actually found an online review of a hike in Costa Rica. The review was posted by someone named Patrick Clancy, and it was at the same time Patrick was there. The review read this.
Starting point is 01:49:56 The hike was amazing. It is short but lots of stairs. You will be dripping sweat. I'm not sure about $17. I was the only there with no one else in sight. There's also zero cell service. Now, we don't know for sure that Patrick was the one who made that review. But seeing a glowing review like this, allegedly from a man who just lost his entire family, rubbed some people the wrong way. However, others say that Patrick needed some space, some time to get away, and enjoy himself. Obviously, exercise is something that brings people comfort, and this could have been his way of coping with the unthinkable. And that's if Patrick actually left the review. But another thing people seem to focus on is Patrick's demeanor during the court proceedings. During his testimony,
Starting point is 01:50:44 Patrick answered all of the questions, very matter of fact. He didn't get emotional on the stand. He didn't break down like others did. Now, some people said he was drained after everything he went through. not to mention stressed that he was testifying at his ex-wife's murder trial. Others argued that grief is different for everyone. But a large number of people said he appeared cold, and it caused the rumors to spread like wildfire online. Patrick also admitted at trial that in the months before the murders, Lindsay confided in him that she was having thoughts of harming the children.
Starting point is 01:51:18 Many people online said that Patrick failed Lindsay. A common question that I read was, If your wife was telling you she had thoughts of harming the kids, why did you leave her alone with them? But Patrick said that he was never advised by anyone not to leave Lindsay alone with the children. He said there were a number of times where he went to brunch with friends, or went skiing, or even went on trips,
Starting point is 01:51:41 and Lindsay was able to take care of the kids with no issues. Even further, in January of 2023, she seemed to be improving. Of course, he never thought that Lindsay would hurt them. And from there, the conspiracy theories spiraled even further. Another thing that caused a lot of uproar online had to do with Google searches made inside the Clancy Home. The prosecution brought forth police sergeant Kyle Pavow, who testified that in August of 2022,
Starting point is 01:52:08 about five months before the murders, someone logged into Lindsay's Facebook account on Patrick's Surface Pro laptop. Then they logged into Patrick's email. Two minutes later, they went to Spotify and looked up the country singer Tom Hall playing his song, that's how I got to Memphis. Now, Tom Hall died by suicide. And that morning, after playing his song, the person Googled Tom Hall's Wikipedia page. They then scrolled to the
Starting point is 01:52:33 death portion of the page where it talked about Tom Hall's suicide. The person then clicked a hyperlink on the page titled Suicide Methods. The person scrolled through that page for several minutes. Then from there, they clicked another hyperlink that led them to the Grafton Bridge in New Zealand, which is known for suicides. Now if you're looking at Lindsay Clancy's case from afar, knowing that she attempted suicide months after this, you'd probably assume that it was her making these searches. But Kevin Reddington later pointed out that Lindsay was actually at a doctor's appointment with the children at the time these searches were made, meaning that Patrick must have looked
Starting point is 01:53:11 it up. And he eventually even admitted this on the stand. 9.45 a.m. is when a person not just hit a link by accident, but actually had to click on a link to go to suicide methods. Are you aware of that? No. Okay. Is there any reason why you would have been going in and logging on to Lindsay's Facebook account while going on Wikipedia and looking at suicide methods all in that same five minutes? I didn't use, I didn't log into Lindsay's Facebook ever. It's very possible that I looked at Tom Hall's Wikipedia page. Do you remember spending three minutes on the methods of suicide site, scrolling through and reading the methods of suicide site for three minutes?
Starting point is 01:54:00 No, I don't remember something I did for three minutes almost four years ago. Do you remember being on that site, the methods of suicide, and clicking on a link to a bridge in Australia that people used to commit suicide? No. No. So in this five minutes or so where someone's using the Surface Pro using Lindsay's Facebook while doing that and then clicking on these links you don't remember, you think it might have been you? I have no idea. Okay. Now you didn't, as you said to the DA, you didn't Google suicide methods, right? I didn't Google suicide methods now. But in fact, sir, when you Google Tom Hall, it took you to the Wikipedia page and it said that he died, right? He did, yeah. And you were just looking to
Starting point is 01:54:44 see about the guy because he's filmed himself, right? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. But there are other Google searches that caused even more online speculation. Investigators found that sometime before the murders, someone had Googled on the family's computer, quote, where is the carotid artery? And they spelled carotid wrong. Now, when this came out, people online went crazy.
Starting point is 01:55:09 For one, they claimed that Lindsay was a nurse and that she wouldn't have to look up where the carotid artery is. One comment that I read online, discussing this search even said, quote, that's like a seamstress looking up what a needle is. And quickly, this all began to snowball. Before long, people started accusing Patrick of making these Google searches himself. And soon enough, even more internet theories began. People started making videos that racked up millions of views,
Starting point is 01:55:38 claiming that Lindsay Clancy was innocent. Not just innocent by reasons of insanity, but completely innocent of the crime itself. These people accused Patrick Clancy of murdering the children and the attempted murder of Lindsay. According to these individuals posting online, Patrick had the perfect scapegoat. He had a wife with a documented history of mental illness.
Starting point is 01:56:00 These people claimed that Patrick was the mastermind behind all of this and that he framed Lindsay. But again, we are not claiming that to be true. Another thing people reference is the blood around the primary bed Patrick described the blood like this. It was everywhere. It was, it looked like it was sprayed almost with like a hose. And there was a huge puddle in the middle of the room
Starting point is 01:56:25 and it was sprayed all over the, pretty much every surface. But first responders at the scene described it differently. Sir, when you went into the master bedroom, did you see blood sprayed all over the walls and everywhere? No. And fair to say that the video shows all of the walls in the bedroom and doesn't show any spatter or anything on the walls. Yes.
Starting point is 01:56:45 But I also want to point out that this was also the most traumatic day of Patrick's life. So it's more than likely that trauma has clouded his memory. When it's your family, your loved ones, your entire life crumbling right before your eyes, any amount of blood would seem like far too much. Another thing people brought up is Lindsay apparently had Google Nest cameras in the home. These were taken in as evidence, but they weren't. talked about at trial, so I'm assuming nothing was recorded on them. Now, Patrick said they had been having Wi-Fi problems that day, so maybe that's why. And while we are on the topic of Wi-Fi,
Starting point is 01:57:22 people also bring up Patrick's 911 call. Patrick said that after finding Lindsay on the ground outside, it took several minutes for the call to go through. I don't know the exact time, but it took a few minutes because my phone was switching between Wi-Fi and 911. So I almost just started calling out for the neighbors, but eventually it went through. Okay. But people have brought up the fact that you don't need cell service or Wi-Fi typically to call 911. Another thing that people keep bringing up is the fact that Patrick stayed by Lindsay's side until first responders arrived instead of going to check on the children. A number of people have said that given Lindsay's prior statements about thoughts of harming the kids, It seems bizarre that he didn't rush to check on them.
Starting point is 01:58:06 But Patrick said he had no idea the children were hurt. And I do want to state, we often want to theorize on what we as individuals would do in a situation like this, how we would react and what actions we would take. But you can never really know until you're actually forced to confront a moment like that in person, in the real world, and oftentimes people's reactions are drastically different than the actions they believe they would take. Now a part of the prosecution's argument was that Lindsay confessed to Patrick when he found her on the ground outside. According to him, she told him, quote, I tried to kill myself. Then when he asked where the kids were, she said they're in the basement. But according to first responders, Lindsay was unable to speak.
Starting point is 01:58:50 Her thyroid had been injured. And when they arrived on scene, she was barely conscious, only able to moan in pain. However, the prosecution pointed out that Lindsay's, condition had worsened by the time police arrived. Another thing people have been talking about is the DNA evidence of the crime scene, specifically Patrick's DNA that was found on the exercise bands that had been used to strangle the kids. Many used this as proof to say that Patrick was actually the one who killed them. But Patrick admitted that when he found the children,
Starting point is 01:59:21 he untied the bands from around their necks like any father would do in that situation, which is why his DNA being on the bands wasn't a surprise for investigators. However, the quote news spread like wildfire online, and the accusations didn't stop there. Something else people mention is the knife, the one that Lindsay used to cut her wrists and throat. As it turns out, there were no usable fingerprints on that knife. People online have said that if someone was in the midst of a psychotic break, Lindsay's prints should have been on the knife. However, the prosecution's witnesses claim that sometimes smooth surfaces fail to retain,
Starting point is 02:00:00 identifiable prints. In addition, Lindsay's Apple Watch was taken off and neatly placed in her nightstand. Why did she take the time to do that? And why did she take the time to crush the pills? People online are saying that if Lindsay had a limited time to commit all of this before Patrick came home, why wouldn't she just swallow the pills whole? Now people also bring up the fact that when Lindsay went out of that window, she landed directly on her head, causing a Jefferson fracture. But something people have brought up about that is called a parachute reflex, which is essentially your body's natural reflex to stick your arms out when you're falling. And even if you are trying to kill yourself, your nervous system will override your desire to die and you'll still stick your arms out. It's an
Starting point is 02:00:47 automatic motor response. And according to the National Institute of Health, it can't be suppressed. But there isn't any available evidence that Lindsay stuck her arms out. She had no arm injuries. And because of this, many people are speculating that Lindsay was unconscious when she went out the window. Again, we are not claiming these beliefs. We're just telling you what people are saying. But I think the biggest thing that people keep coming back to was Lindsay's body temperature. When she arrived at the hospital, her body temp was 82 degrees. Now, many nurses have since come forward, claiming that they've rarely seen someone with a body temp that low.
Starting point is 02:01:25 Usually, people have to be out in the elements for hours for it to get that low. And Lindsay was only out there for less than an hour. So how was her body temp that low? Well, according to some experts, severe bodily injuries can lower your body temp at a faster rate. Now, we truly believe that a lot of these questions that people have would have been cleared up if investigators had properly investigated this case. But unfortunately, they didn't. They didn't test that cup of lemonade with the crucial.
Starting point is 02:01:55 crushed pills. They didn't test the blood on the side of the house until days later. They didn't look in Lindsay's nightstand where her medication and Apple Watch was. And because of the lack of investigation, there are still so many questions that we don't have answers to. Which doesn't necessarily point towards a grand conspiracy. At the end of the day, without any real answers to some of these questions, we have to blame the local authorities for their lack of care in this case. The bottom line is, there are loads of unanswered questions here that could have been answered but weren't due to a completely incompetent response and investigation by local authorities. Here's Reddington talking about all this at trial.
Starting point is 02:02:36 I was with Pat a night or two after this incident in the bedroom with all the blood. I was with Pat taking evidence that the police didn't even see in their thorough investigation. And I was able, as you know now, certainly, to grab this. Why wouldn't? One of them testifies, well, they might have looked at it, and saw it and just didn't seize it. Seriously? Take a handful of pills. Remember the guy saying that yesterday?
Starting point is 02:03:08 They tough to take a handful of pills. Well, no. They were crushed. Oh, shit, they were crushed. Okay. Where's the residue? Where's the crusher? Where's anything?
Starting point is 02:03:19 Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. investigation, guys. Another thing people talked about had to do with something Kevin Reddington did during Patrick's testimony. At one point when Reddington is talking about the children, he slides a box of tissues over to Patrick, but Patrick doesn't need the tissues. He's not crying. And immediately, people online began speculating about Reddington's intentions behind a move like that. People claimed he was trying to plant a seed in everyone's mind to paint Patrick in a darker light. But Kevin Reddington, has since spoken out about these conspiracies surrounding Patrick Clancy.
Starting point is 02:03:57 And every time he does, he always references the 911 call. Now, that call was not released to the public, but according to every single person that has heard it, it was one of the most devastating things they had ever heard. It was very clear to them that this was not an act, that the sounds coming out of Patrick Clancy represented the true agony of a man finding his children dead in his entire world. destroyed. Here is Kevin Reddington speaking about that call with CBS Morning News. Listen to the 911 call and the gut-the-public has not heard it. The jury-during. I understand that. The judge made that ruling, but I've said repeatedly the gut-wrenching horror that is
Starting point is 02:04:40 in his voice. No actor in California could ever imitate that. Several of the jurors also spoke out regarding what they heard Patrick endure in the 911 call. I will never be the same after that 911 call. After we learned, like, after this trial, I saw all conspiracy theories about how Patrick did it and that he somehow convinced Lindsay that she had done it when it was really him. And all I could think was that if these people could have heard of that, like, visceral blood curling scream. I don't think I could name a single actor or actress that could have performed that
Starting point is 02:05:25 that's what he did. And I was like he'd formed it, but like I won't ever be a thing after that. Just weren't fine. So with all that being said, we want to reiterate one last time that the last thing we want to do is feed into these unconfirmed conspiracies surrounding Patrick. But because it's such a huge part of this case, it just wouldn't feel complete without mentioning it. And towards the end of the episode, we're going to talk about the recent interview Patrick Clancy did with 60 minutes.
Starting point is 02:05:55 Now, after the murders, Lindsay Clancy was in critical condition in the ICU. She was still intubated. So even when she woke up, she couldn't speak. Doctors spoke with her through written communication. And one of these doctors was a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Biswas. When Dr. Biswas asked Lindsay how she was feeling, she wrote this. Did you ask her about her mood that day? I did ask her her mood.
Starting point is 02:06:22 And what did she write? She wrote horrified. And then she wrote down, do I have an attorney? Dr. Biswas only spoke with Lindsay this one time. But according to her, Lindsay showed no signs of psychosis. She also noted that Lindsay showed mental competence when she understood the severity of her injuries and agreed to have surgery on her spine. At trial, the prosecution.
Starting point is 02:06:47 said this. And when she woke in the hospital and she knew she was alive and the kids weren't, she knew what she did was wrong. She said she felt horrified. However, the defense claims that Lindsay had just come out of a coma. She was coming off medication, delusional like most people in that situation. The hospital was asking about her proxy. There were lawyers and cops outside the room. Lindsay was handcuffed. So of course she would ask for a lawyer when she woke up. Lawyers, cops, handcuffs. Do I need a lawyer? Write that down. Where are you? You're out there somewhere. Write that down. Why, she wanted a lawyer. That's a bad thing. Must be guilty.
Starting point is 02:07:31 Let's put that in the guilty pile. That's why she said that in a delirious state. Dealing with all of these people about that issue. The day after her surgery, Nurse Amade noted that Lindsay's demeanor was flat and she had, emotion. That night, Lindsay told a nurse that she was experiencing hallucinations in delirium. The next day is when Lindsay changed her healthcare proxy from Patrick to her parents. But in order to do that, Lindsay had to have a mental health examination to make sure she was in the right state of mind to change her proxy. This examination was done by psychiatrist Dr. Sejaw.
Starting point is 02:08:10 When Dr. Shaw spoke with Lindsay, she asked if Lindsay was having any current hallucinations or delirium. She said she was not. Dr. Shaw determined that Lindsay's earlier delirium and hallucinations might have been brought on by anesthesia from her surgery. Also in the evaluation, Dr. Shaw said there was no suicidal, homicidal, or paranoid ideation. Dr. Shaw listed her mood as okay and her thought process is organized. Another person that Lindsay saw early on was Chaplain Sheila Kavanaugh, and her testimony
Starting point is 02:08:43 is very important. She visited Lindsay on January 31st. Her emotional state was very neutral, a flat affect. But I remember vividly the first thing she said to me. Now, she had heard me for a couple of days. We had been praying together. And so when I went in on Tuesday, the 31st, she said to me, as I held her hand to comfort her, I am so glad my children are safe.
Starting point is 02:09:12 I replied Theologically to Lindsay And I said, Lindsay, Your children are safe. They're safe in heaven with God. And I held her hand throughout that conversation. And we prayed for them. Sheila also testified that Lindsay told her
Starting point is 02:09:29 about the auditory hallucinations she heard. She did. She alluded to having heard a voice. And the voice, according to Lindsay, told her that if she did not follow the command, neither she nor her children would be safe. She alluded to the fact that it was a male voice and it was persistent. That came up several times.
Starting point is 02:09:53 I visited Lindsay minimally 14 times while she was hospitalized at the Brigham. And the voice conversation came up several times during several of our visits. Now, the supposed auditory hallucinations became the center point of the trial. and the only people who could truly testify whether they believed Lindsay was experiencing them or not, were the doctors brought to the stand. For the final portion of this episode, we are going to discuss the doctors who evaluated Lindsay after the murders. Their testimonies are very important because they will help determine whether or not Lindsay was insane at the time of the murders. Now, there were a lot of doctors who evaluated Lindsay,
Starting point is 02:10:35 but I'm going to focus on the doctors who I believe had the most compelling. arguments from each side. We will start with the prosecution and the testimony of Dr. Kirk Helbrun. Dr. Helbrin is a professor at Drexel University and a forensic psychologist. He was hired by the DA in January of 2025 and he said he spent about 180 hours total working this case, which included speaking with members of Lindsay's family and reviewing all of the evidence. His evaluation of Lindsay took place in April of 26. He spent three days speaking with Lindsay for a total of 10.5 hours. Now for the first two days, he said, quote, she had a very good memory for dates and medications and dosages and times and other relevant
Starting point is 02:11:21 details, end quote. However, on the third day, he said she was a little more guarded. More frequently said, I don't remember, I don't recall, that sort of thing during the third day than the second or the first. For one example, I ask her about wearing a smart watch, which she had carried a phone, married a smart watch as well. And one of the things I ask her is what wrist she wore it on. This was on the third day and she said, I don't remember. Later in cross-examination, Kevin Reddington pointed to the fact that Dr. Helbrun didn't meet Lindsay until over three years after the murders. And are you telling this jury that it's good, using the term loosely,
Starting point is 02:12:09 medical practice to interview a young lady like this three years after the event for purposes of helping the DA, in your opinion? The answer to your question is the sooner that I'm able to evaluate somebody after their involvement in the alleged offense, the more closely I can come to using that current state, information as something that is relevant to their mental state of the time of the offense. So in other words, yes, it is better to see them sooner rather than later to coin a phrase, right? Yes, it is.
Starting point is 02:12:44 Okay. Now, if you remember, when Lindsay first woke up from the coma and the doctor asked how she was feeling, Lindsay wrote, she was horrified. During Dr. Helbrin's evaluation, he asked her about that. She said, I don't remember writing that, and I don't remember why I would have been horrified. In regard to Lindsay's statements at this time, Kevin Reddington would later say this. Now, is Dr. Helbrun aware of the concept of post-intensive care syndrome? Post-intensive care syndrome.
Starting point is 02:13:16 Yeah, Picks. It's called Picks. No, I have not heard of post-intensive care syndrome. Dr. Helbrin aware of when a person is coming out of major surgery and has been subject to anesthesia, that it is known. that they have delusions, hallucinations, make statements that don't make sense. Are you aware of that, sir? Yes, I'm aware of that. And is that from your personal experience, professional experience, because you didn't know
Starting point is 02:13:44 what Picks was when they asked you, right? Dr. Helbrin also spoke to Lindsay about the months before the murders and her mental decline. And through his evaluation, he came to believe that Lindsay had a bipolar 2 diagnosis. So while people with Bipolar 1 have manic episodes, people with Bipolar 1 have manic episodes, people with Bipolar 2 typically have hypomanic episodes, which is a lesser form of mania. And I was having a hard time finding something that looked like it was a manic episode. There were times when she felt, as she described it after the birth of different children, she felt good, she felt on top of the world, she felt really close to them, her husband and her kids.
Starting point is 02:14:28 But it's also something that it didn't look like a manic episode so much as it looked like she was really feeling good and getting back into exercise and things like that. So it's one of those considerations where the thing that sort of kept me, gave me pause for a while in diagnosing a bipolar disorder is that I didn't see that manic episode. But what really convinced me is that she's been at Tewksbury now. for more than three and a half years. And the diagnosis of record at Tewksbury is bipolar disorder. And they are, as I read the records, very careful about what they prescribe and how much and various other kinds of considerations. And one of the things that the records reflect is that when she was on some medication
Starting point is 02:15:22 that's prescribed to help stabilize her mood and it was discontinued for medical reasons, she had a kind of immediate response to that, which is to say she noticed it. And that's a consideration as well. So I ended up with a diagnosis, making a diagnosis of bipolar 2 disorder, which is a slightly less, not slightly, it's a less severe form of bipolar disorder. During his evaluation, Dr. Helbrin asked Lindsay how she felt in the weeks before the murders. Her description of how she was doing in January of 2023 is that she endorsed feeling blue or still extremely depressed, feeling no interest in things, thoughts of death or dying, feeling hopeless about the future, feeling very self-conscious with others, and the idea that something is wrong with her mind. she thought depression, suspiciousness, memory problems, problems with attention and concentration, and things like, she was having trouble concentrating, so she'd be cooking, for instance,
Starting point is 02:16:35 and she'd forget what steps she was on. So most of these are consistent with symptoms of depression, and so I thought that they were good indications that she was endorsing feelings of depression, although she was improving somewhat from her December feelings. A part of his evaluation also included obsessive beliefs questionnaire, and here was part of Lindsay's results. She was elevated on something called importance and control of thoughts, meaning that for her, it's always been important to be able to work hard and control what's going on with her mind and her life. And one of the things that I'm going to talk about in a few minutes that I think was making her depressed and hopeless and sad and so on is that she had
Starting point is 02:17:25 been trying very hard since October to basically control the problems that she was having and it wasn't working. It was not succeeding for her. He also gave her a hallucination scale, And Lindsay told him this. And so she endorsed the following things. Sometimes a passing thought will seem so real. It frightens me. Sometimes I get distracted, trying to concentrate on my work. That was something she endorsed back in 22 and 23.
Starting point is 02:18:00 In the past, I've had the experience of hearing a person's voice and then found there was no one there. That was only on January 24th. I often hear a voice speaking my thoughts aloud, again, only on January 24th. I've been troubled by hearing voices in my head, again, only on January 2024th. Now, a huge part of Dr. Helbrin's evaluation was wanting to understand why Lindsay would have murdered her children. Explain that, please. I can, yes.
Starting point is 02:18:32 There are a number of reasons in my experience why people harm one another, why people kill one another. And most of these reasons ended up not applying to Ms. Clancy. I mean, it wasn't job-related. She wasn't in the military of the police. Didn't have to do with money or property or fame or anger or being callous or abusive or being afraid or doing it and so none of those there was any evidence for. Why it was important for me to consider her motivation for killing children. And this is something that if you look at Lindsay Clancy, I would be described as so out of character that I just like to know what was what could possibly have been going on. Because for instance, when I talked to her and talked to her husband as well about how do you
Starting point is 02:19:30 discipline your kids, it was never spanking, it was never hands on, it was never anything like that. They both felt bad. when they yelled at the kids. So it was one of those things that to imagine her doing something like this is really, seems so out of character that I thought it was very important to try to figure out why it might have happened. So this is how I approached it. Dr. Helbrin said he came up with two possible explanations for why Lindsay killed her children.
Starting point is 02:20:05 The first was acute psychosis with command to live. which is what the defense is claiming. And here was the evidence he found that supported that explanation. The first was that's what she said. I asked her that question and that's the way she explained it happened. She said sometime on the afternoon of January 24th, 2023 that she heard a voice and the voice said, this is your last chance. You have to kill the kids so you can kill yourself.
Starting point is 02:20:36 If she actually heard a voice like that, that would be evidence of psychosis being experienced and what we call command hallucinations where the voice is instructing her to do something. He also said there was other evidence that pointed to possible psychosis, something called thought broadcasting. Now, in January of 2023, the month the children were killed, Lindsay told her mom that she was afraid people could hear her thoughts. Here is how Dr. Helbrin described it. One was thinking that others might know her thoughts.
Starting point is 02:21:13 Now, this is something that is a symptom of psychosis called thought broadcasting if it's experienced in a certain way. In thought broadcasting, if I'm experiencing that, I literally have the idea that that if I'm thinking it, you can hear what I'm saying, just as if I were putting it on the television or podcast or a movie or whatever. It's just coming out that way. I asked her about that and she said, and other people ask her about that too, and she said it was not thought broadcasting, but these were very vivid thoughts. And she thought that it might be that people could hear them as vivid and strong as they were.
Starting point is 02:21:58 During cross-examination, Kevin Reddington challenged Dr. Helbrin on this. Are you aware that Nancy Clancy indicated to anyone that she was hearing or having these intrusive thoughts in her mind? Yes or no? Yes. Did she indicate that she was afraid people could read her mind or knew what these thoughts were or whatever they were in her mind? Put you guys aside. Who else like people, normal people, did she say that to? I believe she said it to Patrick.
Starting point is 02:22:28 Okay. And she may have said it to others as well. She may have said it to others as well. I don't remember who else she said it to, but she said it to Patrick. Well, how can you come in here and testify about a young lady that is saying to people that she's having thoughts that are intrusive and back, and that she's worrying that other people are reading her mind and know about it? You don't even know who she said it to. No other evidence presented that pointed to possible psychosis was a symptom called paranoid delusion.
Starting point is 02:22:56 For Lindsay, this was her thought that the police might take her children away. But Dr. Halperin didn't think this was a paranoid delusion. Now, some of the records, in some of the records, I saw people saying, well, this looks like a paranoid delusion to me. And I will tell you that it didn't look either paranoid or like a delusion to me. In Pennsylvania and every other state I know, I'm a mandated reporter. If someone tells me in therapy or in an assessment that they think that a child is going to be injured or severely hurt or that might happen, then I'm required by law
Starting point is 02:23:37 to contact child line in Pennsylvania. Ms. Clancy is a labor and delivery nurse. She's a health care professional as well. And so it's one of those things where if she had thought, if she had said to a psychiatrist, psychologist, anyone providing treatment, that she thought she was experiencing ideas like she might harm her kids, she would know as a mandated reporter that they were legally required to report that. Now, that might not mean that the police would literally come and take her kids away, but it would mean that there would be an investigation. She would have to answer questions, and it might be that for a period of time, she would be separated from the children. Ultimately, Dr. Helbrin went on to say this about the psychosis argument. It's appealing as an
Starting point is 02:24:29 explanation because it could explain acts that seemed so out of character for her. You don't have to get complicated at all. It's just, I had a psychotic episode. I heard a voice. The voice told me to do something terrible. I did it. Dr. Halbrin also doubted that Lindsay heard a voice telling her to kill the children. And he pointed to the fact that Lindsay told different versions of what that voice said. She said, the voice said, this is your last chance. You have to kill the kids. kids so you can kill yourself. And it just kept repeating that and only that for about 18 minutes or the duration of the time it took to do this. There were other times though, for instance, when she was in the hospital after this happened and was talking to a psychiatric attending,
Starting point is 02:25:18 when she said that the voice had said other things, for example, the children will suffer without you or you have to take the kids with you or things like that. So, Inconsistency is important because it suggests inaccuracy. Dr. Helbrin also said this about the voice. Is that the way she described this is happening, is that she heard a voice that she'd never heard before, experienced it an hallucination. And she's never experienced it since,
Starting point is 02:25:54 but she only experienced it for the 18 minutes or so that it took to kill the children. And to put it mildly, that would be a very, very unusual pattern or manifestation of how this kind of thing comes about. Very unusual. I've been doing this kind of evaluation for many, many years. And I'm always very careful when someone tells me that they experience the symptom only during the course of committing an offense.
Starting point is 02:26:30 When asked why he was careful about this, he responded with this. Well, because it provides a convenient way of lessening your own culpability. Now, in regard to Lindsay's conflicting statements about the voice, and whether there was a voice at all, Kevin Redington pointed out that in Dr. Helperin's examination of Lindsay, he gave her a test to see if she was malingering, which essentially means faking or exaggerating her symptoms or even undermining her symptoms. And Lindsay's results showed that she had no signs of faking. In fact, she had a tendency to underreport her symptoms.
Starting point is 02:27:11 So she wasn't, according to the testing you administered when you saw her, exaggerating, lying, malingering, anything like that, right? That's correct. Okay. The next thing Dr. Halperin observed that he said went against the postpartum psychosis, argument was the fact that Lindsay was eight months postpartum. Dr. Helbrin said that normally with postpartum psychosis, people will experience psychosis one to two months after birth. But the farther away you get time-wise from the birth, the less likely it is under those
Starting point is 02:27:44 kinds of authority to be postpartum. Now, it could be something else. And there were certainly some things that I saw that were symptoms of depression and other sorts of things that she experienced in January. But it was given the time, it was less likely I thought to be postpartum. But during cross-examination, Kevin Reddington brought up a different medical study that said otherwise, one promoted by none other than the World Health Organization. World Health Organization accepted authority in the field? It's one accepted authority. What do they say? I don't know what they say.
Starting point is 02:28:21 Would you be surprised by you? They say up to a year that a woman can be experiencing post-platom psychosis or post-platom depression up to a year or even longer? Well, I don't know. I think it depends on a number of things in terms of how it changes. And I'm now in a position to offer informed opinion on that, really. Obviously. Now, in regard to the auditory hallucinations, Dr. Helbrin referred to, Dr. Helbrin referred to, a study about people who fake psychosis.
Starting point is 02:28:54 That one consideration is whether the voices are internal or external, whether they're coming from your own thoughts or whether they're coming from outside of your head. And Ms. Clancy perceived this voice as external, which is more consistent with genuine hallucinations. However, command hallucinations are often in about 88% of individuals reporting them by one account, accompanied by a related delusion. as Clancy did not report any accompanied delusions. So thus far, you've got one point for genuine and one point for possible exaggerated. Ultimately, Dr. Helbrin believed that Lindsay was likely not experiencing auditory hallucinations,
Starting point is 02:29:35 but rather horrible, intrusive thoughts that she acted on. Thoughts about hurting herself because her brain might have been damaged. She was experiencing thoughts about hurting the kids. she was experiencing all sorts of unwelcome thoughts. If that were the case on January 24th, if these were thoughts, then that would be consistent with what she'd been experiencing for months. Now, in regard to the murders itself, Lindsay described this. She talked about feeling like it wasn't her, like she was watching herself, like she was going through what she called, no thinking. no decision making, only responding to the voice, and taking action.
Starting point is 02:30:23 Helbrin acknowledged that her description might sound like psychosis, but he believes that when Lindsay was murdering the children, she went through something called peritramatic disassociation, which is this. That's the kind of thing that you experience when you're going through a very frightening or traumatic set of situation or circumstances or whatever. And it's the sort of thing that you can experience in the sense that you kind of feel that things are unreal or that it's not you. It's like you're watching yourself go through actions.
Starting point is 02:31:00 It's the sort of thing that if you talk about it, it sounds like it could be psychotic, but it's actually a recognized, more likely to be a recognized aspect of going through a traumatic situation or set of circumstances that many people going through something like that would experience. However, Reddington said this. Do you agree with me, sir, that if a person has a memory while they're in a psychosis, that it's very possible that they could be imagining that they did something, but in fact, the facts, objective facts, would show she didn't. It's possible that being in an actively psychotic condition could affect the way information is processed. and therefore could affect the accuracy of their memory.
Starting point is 02:31:48 So, for example, she told you that after she slashed her wrist and after she tried to slit her throat, that she used the knife to cut the screen before she threw herself out of the window, right? Yes. Was it screen cut? I understand that it was not. Did that give you pause? There are a number of things that I don't think are all that important. in terms of memory difficulties and accuracy of memory,
Starting point is 02:32:17 and that was one of them. Do you recall this morning indicating that you recounted that Lindsay told you that she felt, quote, like it wasn't her, end quote, as though she were watching herself commit the killings and that she was simply responding to the voice rather than consciously deciding what to do? Do you remember saying that this moment?
Starting point is 02:32:36 Yes. Would you agree that that description is consistent, Almost black-letter definition with profound disassociation? My testimony was... No, no, no, is that, sir, consistent with profound disassociation? No. No, disassociation is a symptom of psychosis. So Reddington then asked him to define disassociation.
Starting point is 02:33:01 Dr. Helbrin said this. Dissociation is sort of the sense that you are removed from yourself. you're not feeling like yourself. It's something like you're in a position where you, your sense of time and your sense of self are altered. Also, the sort of thing where you don't feel as if it's you anymore. Sometimes you feel as though you're watching body that's, that's you, but it's not really you.
Starting point is 02:33:33 Now going against the psychosis argument, Dr. Helbrin pointed out that Lindsay was making decisions during the killings. There are just many ongoing decisions that have to be made to accomplish a killing like this in 18 to 20 minutes. For example, why the basement? Who among the children goes first? Later in the trial, Dr. Gregory Satoff also spoke about Lindsay's decision making throughout the murders. Did the defendant tell you that the voice told her where to kill the children? No.
Starting point is 02:34:09 Did the voice tell her how to kill the children? No. Did the voice tell her what to use to kill the children? No. Did the voice tell her in what order to kill the children? No. Did the voice tell her where to try to kill herself? No.
Starting point is 02:34:26 Did the voice tell her in what way to kill herself? No. The fact that the voice, according to the defendant, the voice didn't tell her any of those things, but instead just said, kill the kids so you could. kill yourself. Is that significant in your evaluation in any way? Yes. How so? Well, in the small amount of time that Ms. Clancy had in the home without her husband, it was important in order to carry this out as well as her suicide to do this quickly, methodically, and the like. And so this is having no instructions as to how to do it, but being able
Starting point is 02:35:09 to execute those decisions, including being able to get a phone call and then return it to her husband in the process of all of this. Certainly the phone call was not expected. That is surprising that she's able to accomplish all of this without any other kind of direction or plan. Dr. Heilbrun said that something that also went against the psychosis argument was Lindsay's alleged response to Patrick when he found her outside that day. When he asked her what happened, Lindsay told him, I tried to kill myself. Now, I thought that if she had actually experienced this command hallucination,
Starting point is 02:35:49 that she might have said something like, I did what I had to do, I did what the voice said, or something like that. But no, she said, I tried to kill myself. But during cross-examination, Reddington suggested that this confession, Patrick Clancy said occurred, didn't actually happen. Now, one of the other things that you had made reference to, sir, is that that you relied on is when her husband came home and found Lindsay on the ground in the snow after she had jumped out the window. He spoke with her, is what he told us, Jerry. Yes.
Starting point is 02:36:24 He said, what did you do? And she said, I tried to kill myself. And then he said, where are the kids? And she said, in the basement. Now, what is your source of that information, sir? It was in the records, and I also did a collateral interview. What wait? Patrick Clancy.
Starting point is 02:36:45 Did you listen to the 911 take? No, I did not. If I tell you, would you be surprised, sir, that she had significant damage, not only to her back, her spine, it was hemorrhaging, but also to her throat? No, I would not be surprised. that was a, she injured herself very badly when she jumped out that window. If I suggest to you, sir, that if you listen to the 911 tape as it relates to Patrick Nancy interacting with her, that she can only make grunting noises, would you be surprised?
Starting point is 02:37:18 I would be surprised, yes. Can you never listen to that tape? I did not. Now, Dr. Helbrin also said that evidence against psychosis had to do with the day Lindsay finally woke up from her coma. The recovery of memories. So when she regained consciousness that night in the hospital, one of the things she said is that she wasn't able to remember what it happened.
Starting point is 02:37:45 And she was informed of it. But if this had been a genuine memory loss, then human memory is funny. And one of the things that happens is that when you're trying to remember something that actually happened, things can interfere with that, things that you read, things that you're told, other sorts of things of things like that. So it would have been hard to understand how she would recover that memory accurately, including the particular memory of the command auditory hallucination when it said. As we mentioned earlier, Dr. Helbrin said he came up with two possible explanations for why Lindsay killed her children. The first was acute psychosis with command hallucination.
Starting point is 02:38:27 But the second explanation he came up with was that Lindsay wanted to kill herself. However, she didn't want to leave her children behind. He called it suicide combined with altruistic phyllicide. Here is how he explained it. Altruistic felicide is a term that's used that means killing your kids out of love. So that you could basically, they wouldn't have to suffer. So you could prevent their suffering. He used the example that if you had no doubt in your mind,
Starting point is 02:38:57 The Holocaust was coming tomorrow, and you decided to kill yourself so that you wouldn't have to suffer through it. Some people also might think about taking their kids with them to prevent their suffering as well. And the act of that is called altruistic philicide. She didn't like to leave her children, whether that was for date night or school or going back to work or anything. She did not like to leave her children. And if she had taken her own life, then her children would have been without her, and she thought that they would suffer. She was in pain. She was suffering.
Starting point is 02:39:34 She was doing a little bit better than she had been before she went into McLean. But she was still in pain. She was suffering. I think she was even desperate. And that is something that is often characterizes people who try to take their own life. They're in pain, they're suffering, and they're trying to put a stop to it. And I think when she decided at some point that she was going to put a stop to it, then she had to answer the question of what to do about the kids. And she didn't want to leave them.
Starting point is 02:40:06 And she was convinced that they would suffer without her. Dr. Heilbrun said there was evidence that supported his belief that Lindsay's motive was suicide combined with altruistic filicide. And the evidence he used to support this caused an uproar at trial. He pointed to what Lindsay said to the children during the act of killing. them. Lindsay reportedly told them, go to God, baby. Now, when Dr. Heilbrun brought this up at trial, he started talking about how Lindsay believed her and the kids would be in heaven together, and he started talking about her Catholic faith. And that was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in heaven with God. She was raised as a Catholic,
Starting point is 02:40:48 and as I understand, Catholic considerations, that's not necessarily what happens. but when I ask her about that, when I said, isn't suicide a mortal sin? Let's she object. Yeah, can I see counsel over here? Soon after this, Lindsay's attorney, Kevin Redington, asked for a mistrial because the Catholic faith was mentioned, which had already been brought up earlier in the trial. The fact that this is not the first time that it occurred during the trial and the prosecution has previously brought up the concept of mortal sin, based on your ruling in the past, in conjunction with the fact that they brought it up again,
Starting point is 02:41:28 I believe it was intentional misconduct, and I feel that the court should grant the motion for mistrial. Ultimately, Judge Sullivan denied the mistrial request. He told the jury to ignore the part about Catholicism, and the trial continued. The prosecution then asked Dr. Heilbrun if he believed Lindsay was suffering from mental disease or defect at the time she killed her children. He said this. Yes, she was. She was experiencing bipolar-2 disorder depressive symptoms, and there were other things that were exacerbating that, making it worse. One is the sleep problems and probably the continued adverse reactions to medication and so on.
Starting point is 02:42:11 But yes, in my opinion, she did have a mental disease or defect on January 24th. But despite Lindsay's mental disease or defect, Dr. Helbrose, said this. That opinion is that 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 and if she were dead not to leave her children behind. My opinion, my clinical opinion, since I'm not the decision maker here, but my clinical opinion is that she was criminally responsible on January 24th. Now, when it came to Dr. Helbrin's cross-examination,
Starting point is 02:42:54 Kevin Reddington started going through Dr. Helpern's work over the decades, which largely involved work with juveniles and adolescents. Have you ever treated a woman in post-patom psychosis? When I was a staff psychologist at the Forensic Service at Florida State Hospital. When was that, please? That was back in 1982. I had a therapy group, which was comprised of women who had killed their children. And this is 44 years ago?
Starting point is 02:43:29 Yes. All right. Is there one article, one, that you wrote about a woman who is pregnant, who is undergoing postpartum depression, and, God forbid, psychosis? No. But you did write an article. 48 years ago, you published an article on psychosis in 1977 with your dad, right? Yeah, I was his research assistant at that time when I was in college, yes.
Starting point is 02:43:59 Okay, that's the only article you ever wrote dealing with that issue. Is that correct, sir? Then with what issue, sir? Postpartum psychosis. Ah, yes. Yes. I mean yes. Now, hours later, towards the end of Dr. Halpern's testimony, Kevin Reddington would come come back to this topic, the article that Dr. Helbring claimed to write about postpartum psychosis, and Redington said this.
Starting point is 02:44:24 I stand corrected in one regard, sir. This morning, I started off my questions by asking you about 49 years ago when you published an article on postpartum psychosis, and you agreed you were in college or something. But in fact, it was not postpartum psychosis. It was about schizophrenia, wasn't it? I'd have to think back 49 years, but I think that's right. Right, yes. Transcripts of interviews with 32 schizophrenic patients, 15, male, 17.
Starting point is 02:44:52 Female, all with primary, a secondary paranoid symptomology, were edited only to delusion relevant material. Is that refreshing memory, sir? It does. Okay, so it wasn't post-partum psychosis. You're never written about post-partum psychosis, right? That's right. Okay.
Starting point is 02:45:07 Reddington asked if Dr. Helbrin met with the DA's office before evaluating Lindsay, and he said he did. And when you get involved with this case, three years later, or two and a half years later, you'd agree with me that it was quite publicized, right? Yes, I would agree with that. You've heard of confirmation bias, I'm sure, right? I have indeed.
Starting point is 02:45:29 Yes. However many times you talked to the DAs and review the information, would you agree with me, sir, that before you met with Lindsay, you pretty much had an idea that this woman was a beast, killed her three kids, didn't you? I would not agree with you at all. So you had an open mind when you went in there to Tewksbury to see and speak to for three days, Lindsay Clancy? I did my best to have an open mind, yes. Reddington would later question him about Lindsay's life and the months before the murders.
Starting point is 02:46:02 You agree that before the end of September of 2022, this young woman was living her life with her husband and her kids. summer 22, happy, had a great time. Did you agree with that, sir? I do. And when she saw Tufts from September end, up until the killing of these children and the state of her condition that you told the jury was confusing.
Starting point is 02:46:30 Remember using that word yesterday? It was confusing with these number of diagnoses that she dealt with? Yes, I did use that word. And confusing with the number of drugs that was one drug on top of another drug and stop this drug, start that drug. That was confusing, wasn't it, sir?
Starting point is 02:46:45 Yes, it was. And it was confusing and upsetting to her and her husband to the point where they went to these doctors and said to them, you're turning her into a zombie, right? Yes, that's right. Prior to seeing Tufts and the other health care providers, she was a happy woman, wasn't she? She was in many respects, happy, pleased with her life.
Starting point is 02:47:07 And then she still, however, had a positive outlook and was hoping that things would turn around in her life and that she could get back to being herself, is a quote. Right? Yes, that's right. But instead, and I quote your words yesterday, it got worse. Yes. Late in November, she's still having a lot of trouble sleeping.
Starting point is 02:47:25 She thought that she was close to, and I quote, the end of her rope, bad analogy, but nevertheless, that's what she said, right? Yes, it is. She was feeling off, disconnected, sort of like a zombie, your words, testifying here yesterday, sir, correct? Correct. She was reporting at this point panic symptoms, concerns about the benzodiazepines, correct? Yes.
Starting point is 02:47:47 Indicated that she was disoriented and forgetful, correct? Correct. You told us that she stated that she was disconnected from her body. Isn't that correct? That's how she described feeling, yes. Could not relate to people, felt that she was in a disassociative state. Isn't that right? Yes, that is right.
Starting point is 02:48:05 Thought that the medication was resulting in this type of development in her life, correct? Yes, that's correct. December was probably the worst month for her, as she described it. And in December, sir, you recall that she indicated, and I quote from your testimony, horrible intrusive thoughts. She had thoughts about harming herself, potentially as she continued to experience these thoughts later into December, correct? Yes, that's right. These thoughts, did anyone, anyone say to her,
Starting point is 02:48:35 are these thoughts, are these coming from outside your head? Are they coming from inside your head? Are they male voices? Are they female voices? Anybody ask anything about thoughts, what they were? Yes, that's a standard question that psychiatrists ask at the beginning of each appointment. It's a standard mental status question. Did any one of those psychiatrists ask Lindsay Clancy that question, according to the medical records?
Starting point is 02:49:01 Anyone? If somebody said I'm having dark thoughts, then the follow-up question would be, tell me more. What are the thoughts? tell me, just give me some descriptions of what you're having, what you're thinking, what it's like, and so on. Reddington then brought up the fact that Lindsay told Patrick about these thoughts. And she'd mentioned that to her husband, didn't she? That's what she said, yeah. A couple of times she said it to her, right?
Starting point is 02:49:26 You got this girl living in her house with her kids saying she's having dark thoughts, saying she's thinking of harming the children. and Patrick's response, according to your testimony, is just basically just power through it, you'd be okay? Objection. No, overall. No, that was not his response, as he described it. He asked more questions because one of the things that she had been dealing with for some time
Starting point is 02:49:53 are thoughts about hurting herself and possibly the kids. And so what he did was try to get more information about the details. He asked questions that a mental health professional would also ask, which is how often? What do they like? Do you have a plan? Things like that. And she pretty consistently said, no, I don't have a plan. And this is how often it happens, but they're just thoughts.
Starting point is 02:50:26 Would you agree, sir, that if she was complaining through December about these unwelcome and internal thoughts, it's important for your evaluation because when you ask the question when you're experiencing these thoughts, would they your own thoughts or were they auditory hallucinations? And she indicated to you, they're my own thoughts. That's what your testimony was, right, yesterday? That's correct. But she made clear that these were unwelcome and that they were intrusive. Is that correct? Yes, yes, she did. So she's answering your questions, honestly. She certainly isn't trying to fake, that she's hearing all sorts of voices, yelling at her and things like that. She's answering on Yes.
Starting point is 02:51:03 Very cooperative, correct? Yes, correct. And she described December 15th as being literally one of the worst days in her life, right? Yes. It was one of the worst days because things were getting more intense and difficult and the thoughts that she was experiencing were harder to handle for her. As a result of that, her husband Pat took her to the hospital, right? hospital, right? Correct.
Starting point is 02:51:33 And you indicated that it looked like she was having general anxiety symptoms, right? That's your testimony yesterday. It looked from what the records reflected, that anxiety was something that they were focusing on her experiencing. In regard to Lindsay's medications, Redington asked Dr. Helbrin this. Did she have adverse reactions, sir, up to the time of late January when you had Oprah answering questions for the DA yesterday. Does she have adverse reactions into late January?
Starting point is 02:52:07 I believe she was having adverse reactions from the time she began taking the medication in October up to and including January. Do you think that the treatment that she got from Tufts and Jolada was good? Objection. No, overruled. I don't know. That's not something that I evaluated as part of my evaluation of Ms. Glantz. Now, the prosecution brought up the fact that after the murders, Lindsay was making comments, quote, that seemed to focus in on herself, end quote. But Dr. Helbrin said this.
Starting point is 02:52:43 I don't think that she was in any way over this or thinking only about herself. It's something that I noticed when I evaluated her in April is that she is still grieving. She's still in mourning for those kids, and she used language like, I have lost everything and I don't want to be here. So I would not think of Lindsay Clancy as someone who is really self-centered or oriented only to herself. She is grieving her children. She's an individual who, for most of her life, has been disciplined and like to control things, like to work hard, like to accomplish things. And one of the things that was striking about what happened with her between October and January is that she seemed to be doing her best, talking to the doctors, talking to the therapists,
Starting point is 02:53:43 working on trying to get things accomplished in terms of lessening the anxiety and getting the right medications. And it wasn't working, and she couldn't help make it work. She could not control that through hard work. discipline and so on. And that had to be very frustrating. And I think got her to the point where it was very difficult for her to actually think about not being hopeless and going on with her life and so on. Would you agree with me, sir, that she also, by all accounts, is and was an incredible mother taking care of her kids? I would describe her as a very good mother, yes. Reddington then points to the prosecutors. And in fact, sir, in the past,
Starting point is 02:54:28 six weeks or five weeks. There hasn't been one person that's got one thing bad to say about her other than these two. Isn't that right? The state. Did anybody, to your knowledge, come into this court in front of this jury and say that Lindsay Clancy was a bad wife? I don't know. How about bad mother? Again, I don't know. So in your readings about her as a mother, you were able to see that she would sing to her, Darduk, when she put her to bed. That's in the reports. You read the reports, right? So if I suggest to you, sir, that Lindsay would say to her daughter every night, is that important to you in your evaluation? Yes. You didn't know that, though, apparently, right? I knew that she was very good with her kids, paid a lot of attention to them, spent a lot of time
Starting point is 02:55:21 with them, and really enjoyed it. Even right up to within hours of their killing. She was making snowmen with her, right? Yes, she was playing with the two older children out in the backyard. And then bringing her life experience, which you testified yesterday, that she never had any abuse in her life, was raised by loving mother and father, good student, hard worker, great mother, good friend, wonderful wife. She then randomly decides to kill her children by strangling them. Now, Reddington believes that Lindsay had postpartum depression
Starting point is 02:56:08 and through her misdiagnosis and the plethora of medication she was given, it eventually progressed into postpartum psychosis. But throughout his testimony, Dr. Helbrin really pushed back on contributing Lindsay's mental health problems to her being postpartum. In this next part, Redington asks him about the symptoms of postpartum depression. Do you agree that a patient would complain that they're less able to laugh and see the funny side of life? That's a symptom of depression. You're going to tell me it's a symptom of depression constantly.
Starting point is 02:56:41 My question is, do you agree that it's a symptom of postpartum depression? Yes. Okay. Not looking forward to things. And let me just say. No, I don't want to let you do anything. Can you just tell me if letting someone stopping looking forward to things is a complete. that is common to post-partum depression.
Starting point is 02:57:02 Yes. Anxious and worried for no good reason. Yes. And Lindsay complained of anxiety and being worried for no good reason constantly, right? Yes. She blamed herself for a lot of things in her life. Isn't that right? She did, yes.
Starting point is 02:57:18 And she was not looking forward to the future. She was not happy with her life in the sense of the way she felt and wanted to go back to the way she was, right? That's right. How about complain? When I say complain, I don't mean complaining. It's just that that's the language you guys use. Complained about overwhelmed. Her day is overwhelming. Yes. So unhappy that she would cry constantly. Yes. Sad and miserable. Yes. Thoughts of harming herself, which is according to the master department of mental health, a flag in and of itself.
Starting point is 02:57:53 She had thoughts of harming herself, right? She did. Okay. How about postpartum psychosis, sir? Same study. Hearing voices or a voice commanding a person to act. Yes. Command hallucinations, yes. Delusional beliefs or distorted reality is a symptom that a person can complain of, right? All the beliefs, yes. Confused, disorganized thinking. She had that, right? What is aceshesia, a-k-a-S-E-S-I-A-I-I-Bel?
Starting point is 02:58:21 Yeah, I'd have to look that one up. Okay. Feeling overwhelmed. She felt overwhelmed? She did, yes. Not herself, family? seeing the change? Obviously, right? Yes, correct. Lord knows. I mean, the mother-in-law, the father-in-law, her mother, her father, her husband, neighbors, people could see the change in her, right? Yes, they could. Okay. Thoughts of harming her children? That's a big red flag, isn't it? Yes. Okay. Thoughts of suicide, she complained of that, right? Correct. Would you agree, sir,
Starting point is 02:58:51 that in December of 2022, and she told you that at that time frame, she had these thoughts that would, quote, hop into her head. Do you believe she was telling you the truth, sir? Yes. Doctor, if Ms. Clancy had a genuine command hallucination, which in fact did cause her to feel compelled to carry out the killing of her children in herself, would you agree that she lacks substantial capacity to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law, if in fact that was a genuine command hallucination that she believed?
Starting point is 02:59:24 That would depend on a number of things. It would depend, for example. Let's not go through a number of things. So your answer is no? My answer would be it depends. The next expert we're going to talk about is forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Philip Resnick. Now, Dr. Resnick testified at trial through Zoom, so the audio from his testimony is kind of difficult to hear.
Starting point is 02:59:44 But Dr. Resnick is considered an expert on philicide, which is the act of a parent killing their own child. He's also been involved in high-profile cases such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Casey Anthony, Andrea Yates, the Aurora Theater shooting, and Ted Kisendez. Now, he evaluated Lindsay in May of 2003, four months after the murders. The evaluation lasted roughly three hours. During it, he noted that Lindsay had a blunted affect, meaning her emotions were not as you would expect. Her feeling tone was muted.
Starting point is 03:00:14 But he added that she was fully cooperative and gave me a detailed account of her recollections of the critical event. After looking at Lindsay's behavior before the murders, it was clear to Dr. Resnick that Lindsay was suffering from postpartum mental health issues. Yes, this Clancy felt she couldn't function. Her brain was damaged. She would never be the same. So she definitely got the definition of a major depression as well as this bipolar phenomena.
Starting point is 03:00:50 Now, with respect to the postpartum aspect, soon this Crancy's symptoms began within three months of Callan's birth that would be considered a
Starting point is 03:01:04 holopartum onset Now again Dr. Resnick's audio is hard to hear but he said that Lindsay had severe depression in the months leading up to the murders he said So in the diagnostic manual
Starting point is 03:01:17 For example One needs to have five out of nine symptoms To make a diagnosis of major depression and Ms. Clancy, as she approached the date of the crime, actually had seven of the nine symptoms and was severely depressed. So that, in addition to that, she had some earlier evidence of what's called a mild mania, and that fits together in what's called bipolar two.
Starting point is 03:01:38 So my final diagnosis of her was called bipolar two with a severe depression on January 24, 2023. Dr. Resnick also said that he believed postpartum was factored into her diagnosis. And so what I can say is whether it is a classic postpartum psychosis or not, with the postpartum onset and rank psychosis on the day of her killing, I would label that a postpartum psychosis in the sense that it was a postpartum onset, and she was clearly psychotic on that day.
Starting point is 03:02:18 Now, Dr. Resnick did point out that postpartum psychosis is rare, eight months after birth, but it does happen. He also said that while Lindsay was struggling, she did her best to not reveal the extent of her depression. Although he said she was forthcoming with medical professionals about her symptoms, she did not tell them that she wanted to harm her children, fearing that they would be taken away. He stated that it's a common fear with women who suffer from postpartum depression in psychosis.
Starting point is 03:02:46 He also said that psychosis does not present as continuous, non-stop symptoms, every minute of every day, which is why Lindsay appeared functional earlier that day. For example, on the day of her crime, I'm not suggesting that she was frankly psychotic every minute. She was functioning. In fact, she said she was having a better day than other days, and she actually went out and made a snowman with the kids, visited with Kora to a doctor, and was functioning at a level that was not frankly psychotic
Starting point is 03:03:25 until she had a command hallucination while her husband Patrick was out doing a couple of chores. First of all, a hallucination is simply hearing a voice, and the voice can be benign or it can be more malignant. So a voice may just simply say, open the window. About one-third of voices are called command hallucinations. That is, an instruction to do something. And the majority of those commands are benign.
Starting point is 03:04:01 What might be opening a window, get a glass of water, it might be something much more ominous, such as to kill oneself or harm someone else. Those are dangerous command hallucinations. In Ms. Clancy's case, she had not only a command hallucination on the day that she killed her children. She had what is known as a delusion of influence. That is, not only did she hear a command, but she felt that her body was taken over by an external force, where she was in a green state and did not have control. of her own body is almost like she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings.
Starting point is 03:04:52 Dr. Resnick believed that Lindsay did indeed hear an auditory command hallucination on the day of the murders and that Lindsay was unable to conform her conduct to the requirement of the law due to severe mental disease on the day of the killings. She felt that she had to obey the instructions she was The second evidence that she was lacking control is the fact that she made a severe suicide attempt, also based on the command hallucination that she heard that day, so that she not only cut her throat and jumped out of the window, she very much wanted to die. Like Dr. Helbrin, Dr. Resnick also brought up the act of philicide, the killing of a child. by a parent. He said there are five types of motivations when it comes to fill aside.
Starting point is 03:05:46 Altruistic, acutely psychotic, unwanted child, fatal maltreatment, and spouse revenge. Dr. Resnick said that Lindsay fell into two categories, acutely psychotic and altruistic. Altruistic filicide, it is an effort on a mother's part to do what is best for the child. They may have a delusional belief. The child is about. to be tortured in their delusional mind and they take their life in doing what they believe is in the best interest of the children based on their delusional idea. In Ms. Clancy's case, she believed that as the jury has already heard, she was obsessional about caring for her children.
Starting point is 03:06:34 She consulted with others at work to try and do exactly what was right for her children, She believes that if she took, if Ms. Clancy took her own life, her children would be in terrible shape. And in her mind, she believed that she would be doing her children a favor by having them go to heaven with her. Her mind was distorted like that. The second category does apply to Ms. Clancy, and that is, it's called. acutely psychotic cellicide. Okay. And this occurs when someone is frankly psychotic.
Starting point is 03:07:21 They may have delusions or hallucinations. They're out of touch with reality. And rather than having any rational motive, they're simply acting on their psychotic beliefs. So those two both apply to Ms. Clamster's. Dr. Resnick said that Lindsay believed what she was doing was morally right. But during cross-examination, the prosecution questioned Lindsay's morals in general, citing how she behaved while in the hospital in the year after the murders. A woman who kills her child can have more than one motive, correct? Yes.
Starting point is 03:07:59 And actually the most common motive for women who kill their children is fatal maltreatment or child abuse, correct? That's correct. And in fact, most women who kill their kids don't do it due to mental illness, correct? That's correct. And in fact, there's a quote from you in an article, child murdered by mothers, patterns and prevention, where you say, quote, more philicides occur due to fatal maltreatment than because of maternal psychiatric illness, correct? Correct.
Starting point is 03:08:27 You also have written about parents having significant emotional devastation after killing their children, correct? Yes. And in fact, you've written, quote, these life events are likely to prolong the parents' depression. The anniversary of the children's deaths and exposure to things that remind the parent of it are likely to be upsetting, correct? Yes. Dr. You mentioned that when you interviewed Ms. Clancy, you spoke to some nurses who told you she had been crying every day, correct? Yes.
Starting point is 03:09:00 Are you aware that in the Tewkesbury records in the one-to-one notes of children, you know, people who watched her every minute of every day. There's no record of her crying every day. I'm not aware of that note, but my recollection is that she was observed crying. But there's no record of her crying at Tewksbury every day. On another day at trial, during Dr. Zaisal's testimony, the Commonwealth again questioned her behaviors at Tewksbury. How about on January 24th, 24, where she's observed in a note from Tewksbury State Hospital
Starting point is 03:09:34 on page 674 saying where the note reads, patient was visible in the milieu, engageable with both staff and select peers, patient accepted select medications as her baseline, that she was pleasant during interactions, self-propelling in wheelchair in the halls, spending much of the morning and early afternoon in her room and hall on her electronics.
Starting point is 03:09:58 In January 24th, 2024, would have been the year anniversary of the incident, correct? Yes. The Commonwealth was pointing out that Lindsay didn't seem very affected when it came to the anniversary or her children's birthdays. However, Reddington would later accuse them of cherry picking. The district attorney took the 7,000 pages in one of the records and apparently went through them to the anniversary of the death of her three children, went through them to highlight each birthday of her three children. is it your understanding to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the fact that a woman who is paralyzed is propelling herself down the hall from one room to another is indicative of anything?
Starting point is 03:10:47 Not at all. How about the fact that her mother and father who have been with her for three years and practically missed none one day of sitting with her and bringing her dinner or lunch? Is that something that would be indicative of undercutting the fact that the woman was suffering for mental disease or defect? That's indicative of love. She is extremely, extremely well-regarded and well-liked on that unit by everyone. Overruled. How about in reviewing the records, I didn't hear that she's laughing and partying and having a good time while she's in the Tewksbury Hospital. Did you see anything like that?
Starting point is 03:11:32 No, Lindsay Clancy has bad days and worst days. During Dr. Philip Resnick's testimony, the Commonwealth also referred to Dr. Resnick's academic work when it came to people who fake psychosis. Now, you've written a lot about malingered psychosis, correct? Yes. And malingering psychosis, you can have a mental illness and your malingering could be exaggerating those symptoms
Starting point is 03:11:59 or saying you have psychosis symptoms when you don't, correct? That's correct. And one of the things that you have written, and there's an article that you wrote called Faking It, you've written in here, quote, command auditory hallucinations are easy to fabricate. Persons experiencing genuine command hallucinations do not always obey the voices,
Starting point is 03:12:21 especially if doing so would be dangerous, correct? That's correct. You've also given some points to other practitioners if you, quote, if you suspect a person of malingered auditory hallucination, ask what he or she does to make the voices go away or diminish in intensity, correct? Yes. Kevin Reddington also talked about Lindsay's psychometric test, which showed no signs of malingering.
Starting point is 03:12:47 And given that Dr. Resnick is an expert in the field of malingering, having written 46 book chapters on that topic alone, Reddington wanted to highlight his belief that Lindsay wasn't faking at all. Okay, doctor, I had asked you if you were aware that government's Dr. Halpern had administered the MMPI test and came to a conclusion as to whether or not Lindsay was telling the truth, faking, or exaggerating symptoms. And you relied on that test as a portion of your opinion, is that right? Yes, I did. Can you tell the jurors what the results of that test were to your knowledge.
Starting point is 03:13:27 In summary, the results were Lindsay Clancy had a tendency to minimize and did not have a tendency to exaggerate what she was saying in her own symptoms. Did it also indicate that she was not, I think the terminology is faking or lying in her answers, but in fact was being truthful as best she could be. It did not suggest any evidence of faking symptoms. The man is something out of a scary movie. He has the world record of investigating, examining, and treating people in psychosis that kill their children. Philicide.
Starting point is 03:14:11 He has a world-renowned record for checking fakers to see if a person is malingeringering. Jennifer Sprague then brought up the case of Andrea Yates, who experienced probably one of the most well-known cases of postpartum psychosis. In 2001, Andrea drowned her five children while in a state of psychosis. Notably, Andrea's youngest daughter, Mary, was six months old, just two months younger than Callan was. But the prosecution used Andrea's case to point out why they believed Lindsay wasn't experiencing psychosis. She reported hearing voices telling her to kill the children for months before she actually killed them. She even admitted herself to the hospital several times, and she also attempted suicide, so she wouldn't harm the kids. But ultimately, she did. She had heard voices for months and
Starting point is 03:15:06 telling her to kill her children. And to resist those voices, she actually tried to kill herself, correct? Until she could no longer resist the voices, yes. Right. But she tried. Right, as did Ms. Clancy. Well, according to the records and reports that we have that are in evidence, Ms. Clancy heard the voice and immediately acted, correct? Is that correct? Well, Ms. Clancy, Ms. Clancy had pre-places to harm her children, which she did resist until the command hallucination when she was overwhelmed, yes. In case you didn't hear that, Dr. Resnick said, Ms. Clancy had pretenses to harm the children, which she did resist until she heard the command hallucination. when she was overwhelmed.
Starting point is 03:15:53 Now, interestingly enough, Lindsay had actually shared her opinion on the Andrea Yates case years prior. Back in the summer of 2015, just after Lindsay had started working as a labor and delivery nurse at Mass General, a pregnant patient arrived with plans to harm herself. Lindsay's co-worker Meg Hampt mentioned the Andrea Yates case to Lindsay, and this conversation unfolded. I asked her if she had ever heard of the Andrea Yates case, and she hadn't, and I explained. that to her, and she cried, and she said, how could a mother hurt her children?
Starting point is 03:16:28 Now, the prosecution was asking that same question about Lindsay. They pushed back against the argument that Lindsay had mentioned harming the children a couple times in December, not at length, like Andrea Yates had, to which Dr. Resnick said this. There were only two occasions she mentioned this, but she referred to having those horrible impulses. So that suggests to me she was dealing with it on an ongoing basis, although she mentioned it only twice to her husband. But she never said she had thoughts to kill her children. She said she had thoughts to harm her children, correct? Yes, but actually I think it's clear that to harm her children was to kill her children.
Starting point is 03:17:12 The prosecution also brought this up to Dr. Paul Zaisal. He testified that Lindsay had been hearing these voices inside her head. since December, but she didn't tell her providers about it. In all of the time between September of 2022 and January 23rd of 2023, at any point in which the defendant heard these voices about harming herself, she didn't act on them then, did she? That's correct, yes. She did not act on those. She sort of helped instead.
Starting point is 03:17:45 Now, the prosecution brought up the fact that the voices were, inside Lindsay's head, not outside, which suggested it wasn't an auditory hallucination. But Kevin Reddington said this. Remember, it was a big deal about whether or not the voices are within the head or whether or not they're outside of the head. Dr. Resnick's article with the largest research on voices of the world indicates that 38% of almost a thousand people that were examined report voices from inside their head, and it stops. There were a number of other doctors who evaluated Lindsay as well, like Dr. Margaret Spinelli.
Starting point is 03:18:33 She's a clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia and considered a pioneer of perinatal psychiatry. She has evaluated and testified for more than 25 mentally ill mothers who killed their infants, and she evaluated Lindsay for about five hours on June 11, 2024. She ultimately diagnosed Lindsay with bipolar 1, severe, with psychosis and anxious distress, with postpartum onset. Dr. Spinelli believed that Lindsay's providers repeatedly gave her the incorrect medication, which eventually led to a psychotic break. But according to the Commonwealth, Lindsay Clancy told different stories to different people.
Starting point is 03:19:10 For instance, she told Dr. Spinelli she heard the voice right after Patrick left the house around 5.15 p.m. But then Lindsay later told Dr. Gregory Satoff that she heard the voice after getting that call from Patrick, nearly 20 minutes after he left. Lindsay said she was standing at the fridge getting chicken nuggets for the children when Patrick called her, and that's when she heard the voice. Now this is also a huge debate online. Because Patrick Clancy said that before he left that day, the children were already eating chicken nuggets on the couch, which would mean Lindsay was lying about getting chicken nuggets from the fridge
Starting point is 03:19:47 after he left. So which is it? Did Lindsay hear the voice right after Patrick left? Or did she hear it 20 minutes later when Patrick called her? I really wish they would have talked about this when it came to the children's autopsies. Because if there were chicken nuggets in their system, that would prove that Patrick's story was correct, that the children were eating chicken nuggets before he left. However, about that claim, Kevin Reddington said this. Just as there's no chicken nugget residue, And when you look at those photographs, there's a slice of a cucumber, there's a slice of a carrot, there's no chicken nuggets in that bowl. Patrick wouldn't know what the kids were eating. She was the one that would cook their dinner.
Starting point is 03:20:31 She was in the refrigerator, but the guy yesterday was like, oh, no. Patrick said the child was eating the chicken McNuggets in the bowl. No, she was getting food out for the two kids, not the little baby, two kids for dinner. However, the Commonwealth claimed that if Lindsay's version of events were correct, that she heard the voice as she was standing at the fridge, and then she started the killings around 5.38 p.m., she wouldn't have had enough time to murder all the children, take the pills, slit her wrists and neck, and jump out the window before Patrick came home at 6.09 p.m. Patrick saw Dawson eating the chicken nuggets and green beans. So why would the defendant make that up? Why would she say she's doing that during the phone call? Because if she's already killed the kids because of a voice and being compelled
Starting point is 03:21:23 and it being against her will and she's like a puppet, then she can't get a call and miss it and then call the person back and have a conversation and then hang up, a puppet can't do those things. Those are decisions and choices and actions that she's controlling. So she has to explain away the phone call because her behavior and her ability to have the phone call don't make sense.
Starting point is 03:21:49 Now on August 27, 2026, after 84 witnesses and nearly a month of testimony, the evidence phase of the trial was over, and it was now time to hear closing arguments. Kevin Reddington laid out these big posters all over the courtroom floor. On some, there were pictures of Lindsay and her children. On others, it showed,
Starting point is 03:22:09 lists of medications she had been prescribed, text messages to her mom asking for help. But as Reddington turned to the jury, he talked about the children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, an eight-month-old Callan, saying, quote, they are the victims of the horrible, horrific act that has been laid out at your feet. He then reminded the jury about reasonable doubt. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt before the government charges any citizen. with a crime. I don't care how many cops you have in here, how many DAs are sitting here, how many people are sitting in the front row, and they're all going to sit there and be proud
Starting point is 03:22:48 of this prosecution. I told you in the opening statement that this is a prosecution that has ripped the soul out of this girl. You know from looking at the objective evidence in this case, this young lady, believe me, I don't have many clients like that. This young lady did nothing wrong in her life. She was a nurse, a daughter, a wife, and a darn good mother. He held up a photograph of the Clancy family and then a photograph of Lindsay lying in a hospital bed. And he asked, how does this turn into this? Just another woman, I guess it's just going to make an excuse. She's depressed. GAD, generally anxiety, give her a couple of pills, she'll be all right. Because one of the
Starting point is 03:23:39 thing this kid did was try to do what she was supposed to do. She took the drugs as she was told to take them. She was religious in her obligations to take care of her health. This woman lived for her kids until she had the pleasure running into Dr. Tufts of her two months' experience. and after she ran into Dr. Tufts, it was not a wonderful life anymore. She was scared September until October
Starting point is 03:24:18 of 22. Hardworking nurse, hardworking mother would take the kids to the Kingsbury Club. That's another thing. Sounds pretty snooty, doesn't it? Well, they're at the Kingsbury Club. It's a swim and pool and a place where you can exercise. Watch the manipulation.
Starting point is 03:24:38 They're arguing. She didn't want to go back to work. She didn't want to go back to work because she didn't want to leave her kids, especially Callan, because she loved her children. They were her life. Manipulation.
Starting point is 03:24:50 In January, as she's on these drugs, and she's suffering from what you've heard is postpartum depression that can lead to postpartum psychosis, and you have these men coming in here that don't even know psychosis from schizophrenia
Starting point is 03:25:05 as experts telling you that if a woman doesn't have these symptoms of postpartum depression within four weeks that's it lights out you're not a person that can be considered you're not a real person for purposes of postpartum depression and or postpartum psychosis you look at the records of her googling drugs you look at how many times how many hours of the night In the afternoon, she's looking this stuff up, in between taking care of the family, in between all the stuff that was going on with, visiting doctors, seeing doctors, going to Rhode Island, being told, no, we can't help you. Calling a hook, suicide hotline, we can't help you.
Starting point is 03:25:49 Calling another suicide hotline, we can't help you. My God, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help, and she was not getting it. And when you consider the journals, You'll watch the movie there, The Shining, with Jack Nicholson. Remember the scene when he's sitting there in a state of complete psychosis, and he's writing a book and he's typing, and the white finds the book and opens it up and looks at it and says, All working no play makes Jack a doll boy.
Starting point is 03:26:21 All working no play makes Jack a doll boy repeat it after repeat it after repeated. And he says, do you like it? Many people would talk about this comment he made. In The Shining, Jack goes insane. He tries to kill his family, and in the end, he ends up freezing to death. People pointed out that this seems to reflect aspects of this story. But Reddington goes on to say that Lindsay Clancy was failed by her providers, that they misdiagnosed her time and time again.
Starting point is 03:26:49 And instead of getting her the proper care, they overloaded her with medications that only made her worse, eventually leading to a psychotic break. Reddington reminded the jury that Dr. Resnick's work on Voices is a leading article in the world of research, and Resnick believed that Lindsay was in a state of psychosis at the time of the murders. But the prosecution's experts disagreed. Reddington would talk about the prosecution's experts during his closing statement. No, we're the most advanced country in the world, but we still have doctors that come in the court on a murder trial
Starting point is 03:27:23 and talk about four-week cut-off on something that they don't even know. They've never treated it. They've never written about it. you have terrorism experts, you have an expert that comes in and talks about his focus and his interests and about juveniles and drugs. And like I said, kids that like to drink and smoke weed.
Starting point is 03:27:44 Those are the experts, quote unquote. And the fact that under the law, as his honor has given you, she's not criminally responsible. And the burden is on them right here. The burden of proof is on them to prove to you that at the time that she killed these three beautiful kids, that she just wanted to move on with her life. This young lady is not guilty of the killing of her children
Starting point is 03:28:10 because she was suffering from a disease and defect, as his honor instructed you. And they're not going to be able to prove otherwise. And it's their brain, not as. For the Commonwealth's closing arguments, Jennifer Sprague stepped forward. She started out by saying, there's no dispute that Lindsay Clancy was suffering from mental illness and that she tried to kill herself.
Starting point is 03:28:33 There's no dispute about that. However, the issue was whether or not she knew right from wrong and could conform her behavior to the law. She added that the health care system was not on trial. That it wasn't her provider's fault Lindsay wasn't getting better. She said they were doing the best they could with the information Lindsay provided them. They added that Lindsay wasn't sticking with the treatment plans her providers recommended. For some of the pills, she stopped. after a couple days because she felt so bad.
Starting point is 03:29:00 Some of the medications she never even tried because she was fearful of the side effects. She wanted help. She wanted to get better. But she wanted to get better on her own terms, doing things her way, the way she thought she should do them. Prosecution said that her motivation throughout it all
Starting point is 03:29:16 is to go back to her old self. She just wants to go back to who she was and she wants it now. And she doesn't want any side effects. She just wants to be herself again and wants it now. And you know that's the, what she was thinking because in the searches on her phone she's searching for things like which antidepressant works the fastest how fast does well butrin work and she's searching all of these
Starting point is 03:29:38 different medications for the side effects and symptoms the prosecution said that from september to december 2002 lindsay was interacting with everyone driving the kids to activities going to the gym they told the court that this was a woman suffering but not from postpartum psychosis she's interacting with friends with family, teachers, gym staff, the nanny, people at gymnastics, interacting with them in public spaces and public ways driving her kids around all throughout that time, able to know the difference between right and wrong, able to conform her behavior to the law and to the requirements of society and interacting with others and presenting herself as a functioning adult, a functioning mom. On the day of the murders, Jennifer Sprague said that Lindsay met with the kids' pediatrician and everything was fine.
Starting point is 03:30:29 She played with the children that day, presenting herself as normal. Basically saying, look, this is a good day. I'm having a good day. Everything's good. I'm getting better. Here's proof. This is what I'm doing. According to the prosecution, Lindsay began planning, looking up Miralax, looking up how far away the restaurant was.
Starting point is 03:30:50 Well, defense wants you to believe that, you know, You know, she was checking that because she didn't want him gone for too long. She wanted him home. She was in distress. If you're in distress, don't send him anywhere. Make food at home, have him cook, get delivery, get DoorDash. Go to one of the other restaurants that Patrick mentioned that were two minutes down the road. The prosecution stated that Lindsay didn't kill her children because a voice told her to.
Starting point is 03:31:17 So why did she specifically do it? She was depressed. she was exhausted she was done she didn't want to try anymore she felt damaged but those kids those kids were her protective
Starting point is 03:31:33 factor those kids were keeping her from ending her misery and so she had to remove the protective factor and I'm not saying she was happy about it I'm saying that it was what she had to do to end her misery
Starting point is 03:31:50 but it was a choice. You know to a moral certainty. She is guilty. And with that, it was time for the jury to deliberate. Judge Sullivan reminded them that the Commonwealth had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Lindsay committed the killings
Starting point is 03:32:08 and that she was criminally responsible if a mental disease or defect left her unable to know her actions were wrong. She was not criminally responsible. But that first day of deliberations, came and went with no verdict. The following day, August 28th, the jury asked to view some of the exhibits, specifically the knife and the bag of pill bottles that Patrick Clancy gave police. But still by the end of that day, they hadn't reached a verdict. On September 1st, six days into deliberation,
Starting point is 03:32:40 the jury came back and said they could not reach a unanimous decision. But Judge Sullivan ordered them to keep deliberating. Several more days would pass, and we still had no answers. That is until September 4th, 2026. That day, Judge Sullivan stepped into the courtroom, and he said this. It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to. Ultimately, out of the 12 jurors, 11 believed that Lindsay Clancy was not guilty by reason of insanity. However, there was one juror who wouldn't agree, a man who wouldn't change his mind. Now, Kevin Reddington would later say that during deliberations, this juror admitted that there was reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case.
Starting point is 03:33:25 And at the beginning of the trial, those jurors took an oath saying that if the prosecution didn't prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, they're supposed to find Lindsay not guilty. But this juror wouldn't do that. Kevin Redington even tried to have that juror replaced with an alternate as he wasn't abiding by the oath he took. But that wouldn't happen. It looked more and more like this case was heading for a mistrial, which we'll discuss shortly. But first, when news of the potential for a mistrial spread, many people were outraged. They pointed to issues they had with the fact that the jury was not sequestered in the case. That means they weren't isolated from the public, media, and their own families during the trial or deliberations to prevent outside influence.
Starting point is 03:34:07 But why not? Well, because it's hard to get a sequestered jury. According to various news outlets, sequestering jury, juries has become very rare. It's a lot to ask people to separate from their families, their lives, their jobs, and be completely isolated from the outside world. During the trials, they aren't allowed to watch television, use the internet, get on social media, or read newspapers. It's also expensive. Hotel rooms, meals, transportation, and hiring a bailiff for court deputy to monitor the jurors 24 hours a day. So the jury in Lindsay Clancy's case was allowed to go
Starting point is 03:34:41 home under these strict instructions by the judge. There may be reports about this case in newspapers or on social media or on the television. You may be tempted to look or listen. Don't do it. My instruction to you is do not read anything about this case. Don't listen to anything about this case. If something comes on, turn it off. Whether they followed these instructions or not, we have no way of knowing. I can't help but wonder if any of them saw anything online about what was going on, about the judgments, conspiracy theories, or the anger spreading on posts around the country. Regardless, the case was ultimately declared a mistrial.
Starting point is 03:35:18 But what does this mean? If a jury fails to come to a unanimous decision, meaning all 12 jurors vote either guilty or not guilty, then the judge will declare a mistrial. And because a verdict wasn't reached, in the case of Lindsay Clancy, there are a few options on what can happen next. The first is the Commonwealth can choose to retry Lindsay in the future
Starting point is 03:35:40 using a new jury. Now, retrials are pretty complicated because now both sides know what argument the other side is making, so they can better prepare their own arguments. But a retrial also opens the door to finding new information. As we know, there are a lot of gaps in this story, questions that no one seems to have answers to. But given a new trial, they might be able to fill in some of those gaps. Now, the second option is that prosecutors could choose to dismiss the charges. against Lindsay. Or finally, they could reach some sort of plea deal so that they don't have to have another trial. It should be noted that they are having a conference on September 29th, 2026 to debate whether or not they will retry the case. This episode will be released before the
Starting point is 03:36:28 findings of that conference, but we will keep everyone updated. Now, following Lindsay Clancy's mistrial, the jurors in her case began speaking to the media. Paula Devlin, Ronnie Carlson, Kelly Furina, spoke with Sue O'Connell for NBC10 Boston. And here's what Kelly had to say. The takeaway that I have is for more mental awareness, for women, men, children, and anybody with a beating heart. I believe in the jury system.
Starting point is 03:36:58 I believe that Lindsay was wronged by the medical system. And I hope this changes things in this country. And here is what policy is. said. Juror Ronnie Carlson discussed how the prosecution did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Yes, it showed huge reasonable doubt, saying that she hung out the window, things that they were saying was all disproven by professionals and sometimes their own professionals. So that brought huge reasonable doubt to their case. Juror Kelly Farina would also say that the prosecution,
Starting point is 03:37:49 was really harsh and cold, and even unprofessional. But the big question they kept coming back to was this. We're trying to figure out, did she know right from wrong at that time? And with everybody saying, she loved her children so much, and everything proved she loved her children from our journals to her mother-in-law. Everything proved that she loved her children. So she had to have snapped and not known. what she was doing. To me, it was proof that she didn't know what she was doing.
Starting point is 03:38:26 Juror Paula said that they considered everything when making their decision. During deliberations, Kelly admitted there was a lot of crying, hugging, and timeouts. They played soft music and took breaks. And at first, there were eight jurors who believed Lindsay was not guilty and four that believed she was guilty. However, after going over all the evidence, three of those jurors, who originally believed she was guilty changed their minds, which left 11 to 1. In regard to that holdout juror, Ronnie said this. He admitted he had reasonable doubt, and I started filling out the forms.
Starting point is 03:39:07 I was so excited. I actually, there were three forms I had to fill out, and I started filling them out. I wrote my signature on each one, and then he said, but I'm still not going to say that she's not guilty by reason of insip. For me, I'm not sure if Rogue is the right word, Sue, but every one of us in the hours of a frustration would get up and walk the room because you just couldn't sit anymore and would all go out of the cart with the exhibits. He, I think, got up to the cart once very briefly and went back to his seat. He would not
Starting point is 03:39:48 He would not interact with us and try to understand We read him on numerous occasions The definition of reasonable doubt From Judge Sullivan's Instruction He actually said one day in the end
Starting point is 03:40:07 Well why don't we have the judge come in and read it again And we were like, no We have it in front of us We don't need that And we would highlight it and, you know, so-and-so, this is the definition of reasoned up. But he had the hardest time getting off the fact that Lindsay viciously killed her children. So I in the end felt that he just was failed and, you know, just refused to be open-minded. One of these three male jurors was 25-year-old Nick Dargey, an army vet.
Starting point is 03:40:42 He spoke with ABC News on September 10. Nick said that he had never heard of the Lindsay Clancy case because he had been overseas when it happened. But he was one of the jurors that believed Lindsay was not guilty by reason of insanity. He also said that if Lindsay is tried again, quote, nine times out of ten, another jury would do the same. Now, in regard to the holdout juror, Nick said that he refused to engage with others, constantly scrolled on his phone, and couldn't find anything to support his view. At one point, Nick said the man took out one of the exercise bands, and he tied it around an empty water bottle to mimic how Lindsay strangled her children.
Starting point is 03:41:22 But while Nick believed that Lindsay was insane at the time of the killings, he also acknowledged how heartbreaking this case was. He said he can't close his eyes without seeing Lindsay's children, and that Patrick's 911 call will be forever, quote, seared into his memory. Now, after the mistrial was declared, people online found out who the hold juror was. His name was doxed as well as his history, including domestic violence charges, evictions, and current restraining orders that are against him. Through a statement released by his attorneys, the juror claimed that during deliberations, he kept getting cut off. He said he believed
Starting point is 03:42:00 the prosecution proved that Lindsay planned out the murders, and she knew what she was doing when she committed them. Now, the other jurors said that he admitted to having reasonable doubt, but in his statement, he said he didn't have doubt, and he's sticking by that. decision. NBC10 actually interviewed one of the holdout jurors family members who admitted that he was a narcissist who should have never served as a juror in the high-profile case. But this holdout juror has received a ton of support from people around the world who agree that Lindsay Clancy is guilty. And that brings us to the last thing we want to talk about when it comes to this case. The divide in public opinion. Caught in the center of that divide was Patrick Clancy himself. The controversy surrounding
Starting point is 03:42:43 how the public believed he handled his wife's condition spread like wildfire, especially following the news that he had remarried. To combat some of this and tell his story, he and his wife, Rachel, took part in a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday, September 20th. In the interview, Patrick explained that at the time of Lindsay's descent into mental illness, he knew very little about postpartum and only began to realize that something was truly wrong with Lindsay in October when she didn't sleep for 48 full hours. What unfolded, in the months after was something out of a nightmare. But Pat expressed that he did all he could.
Starting point is 03:43:19 In the interview, the interviewer asked, Do you feel like you failed in some way in this period? Or do you feel like you did the best you could? And to that, Patrick responded, I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time. And I live with the outcome. I live with it every day. Living with it was the hardest in the immediate wake of the murders.
Starting point is 03:43:40 When his son Callan was clinging to life in the hospital For four days after the attack, Patrick sat by his side, holding his hand. This is what he had to say about those days. I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live. And I remember just thinking, just give me one. Just give me one kid, and I would raise him as best I could. And I would give him the best life I possibly could. I'd tell him about his brother and sister.
Starting point is 03:44:03 But sadly, Callan didn't make it. When he took his last breaths, Patrick was there. He told 60 minutes this. I'm so grateful for those four days. days that I had with him. And I'm so grateful he hung on. I said, I'm sorry. And I got to. I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms. Pat was given a moment to reflect on his kids. And he gave some insight into who they were and what the world is now missing. When the interviewer asked about Cora, he said this.
Starting point is 03:44:35 Cora was cautious. She was shy, but she was so good at making friends. I could see the friendships that she was creating, and I love that. I love that about her. She loved princesses. She loved art. As for Dawson, he had this to say. Dawson helped me realize not all kids are the same. They have different personalities. They got along. They were best friends. But Dawson was much more adventurous, much more daring. He was so funny and he was smart. I remember driving with him once and he just started counting from one to 20 and he was only a year and a half old. So I was impressed. and all of a sudden he starts counting from 1 to 10 in Spanish and he just constantly blew my mind.
Starting point is 03:45:18 We had a special bond, we drove everywhere together. And for baby Callan, he holds a special kind of grief. He told the interviewer this. Callan was just one of the happiest babies. I mourned Callan in a way that I didn't really get to know him as well as my other kids. The interviewer asked if Patrick ever asked Lindsay why she did it. And Patrick answered, this. I asked if she remembered it. She said it was like a dream, and she remembered it much in the way
Starting point is 03:45:47 you would remember a dream after waking up. But in spite of what happened, in the agony of losing three children, Patrick didn't see Lindsay as a monster. He told the interviewer this. I saw headlines that said, you know, killer mom and baby murderer, monster, and none of them were accurate. I believe that it was her mental illness that caused that. And I think when it comes to forgiveness, I also felt that if I didn't get there, I would be eaten up inside forever. The interviewer asked if Lindsay ever asked for forgiveness, to which Patrick said, No, but I gave it to her. But forgiveness didn't mean moving on was easy. He told 60 minutes, there was a time where I didn't think I would live to see my 35th birthday, and I was completely fine with it. His grief came to a head when one day, Patrick drove by the children's
Starting point is 03:46:35 school without meaning to, and he happened to see some of their friends being dropped off. It was the moment that he decided he couldn't be in Duxbury anymore, so he moved to New York City. And there, he found the anonymity that he craved in the wake of the tragedy. He told the interviewer, Five weeks after I moved to New York on May 26th, I had to figure out how I'm going to celebrate Callan's first birthday. And how do you celebrate your son's birthday after he's passed away? So I go to St. Patrick's Cathedral, I light a candle, and I say, I love you, buddy. And I walk out on Fifth Avenue and I cried my eyes out and no one cared. I thought this is where I need to be. I can grieve. Something Patrick said also helped him deal with the trauma was EMDR therapy,
Starting point is 03:47:21 which stands for eye movement, desensitization, and reprocessing. It's an extremely effective type of therapy for people who have been directly involved in violent traumas. Patrick stated this. The thing that helped me the most was EMDR. It's a little unusual. they put you right back in that place that you've been trying to avoid for years and you face it head on and it's unpleasant but they get you used to dealing with that and eventually you're better at processing it and i did those sessions the waking up screaming the horrible dreams they stopped it was like a miracle in the midst of his grieving he says he found hope and rachel danis according to rachel the two met at a running club in january of twenty twenty four and they got to know each other over a coffee date
Starting point is 03:48:06 She told 60 minutes about the moment she learned about the loss of his children, saying, quote, Pat pulled out his phone to pay, and I noticed this adorable photo of children as the wallpaper, and I just asked, who are those cuties? Pat said, those are my kids. And then I think I asked if they lived in Massachusetts, and Pat said they died. And this is just at the cashier. From there, their relationship grew, and with the trial, their relationship became a center of controversy. Rachel addressed this saying, I don't understand how this story has been so twisted, but I would hope people know that Pat is, as I said before, the most selfless father and supportive partner.
Starting point is 03:48:46 She added, I was just a girl that met a guy running in Central Park on a really cold Saturday, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But it's not Rachel or Patrick that the conspiracy theories have really been the most harmful to. Patrick made his opinion on them clear and put the focus on what the discussion should really be about saying it's deeply harmful to the legacy of my children it's a huge distraction from what really matters here which is perinatal mental health and it's done real harm to real people myself included but also others he added that he feels it's extremely important for people to learn about postpartum conditions when the interviewer asked what he wanted people to know he responded i think the biggest
Starting point is 03:49:27 thing and what most people agree with is that it can happen to anyone i've met with so many other victims people who have had the disease, fathers who have become victims to the disease, and lost children. It's best detected early. He continued, I think we can find a compassionate way to deal with these tragedies, and that doesn't mean no accountability. It just means that we recognize the suffering and the stigma, and we try to find a way to prevent this from happening in the future. And that's what we want to focus on here, too. The Lindsay Clancy case split the country. There was an obvious divide between people who believed she was a calculated, cold-blooded, and others who believed she was sick, begging for help, and suffering from polypharmacy and
Starting point is 03:50:09 postpartum psychosis. It was hard to get on to social media and not see at least one person talking about the trial. Influencers, celebrities, major news outlets, it was everywhere. And one thing that really brought the conversation about the trial to the forefront started on August 19, 26. NBC reported that on that day, 300 women and several men stood outside the the courthouse, clothed in pink for Lindsay. It was a rally organized by Renee Kimball. Some of the women outside were wearing shirts that read, justice for Lindsay. Peace for Lindsay. She needed help and stand in peace for Lindsay. Others held signs that read, she asked for help, listen to mothers, compassion before justice. And this rally was met with outrage. If you look online,
Starting point is 03:50:58 you'll still likely see comments summing up the support for Lindsay as, quote, women support child killer. But we want to be clear what's going on here is more than that. No one is saying what Lindsay did is right. There are women out there who kill all the time and no one supports them. I think the reason Lindsay has gotten so much support is because there is documentation that she tried very hard to get help. I think women can relate to that. And I also want to point out that I think any human being, man or woman, that tried that hard to get help, would be met with the same compassion. But something that this case highlighted is that women's health is not a priority. In fact, most health research is about men. According to the National Library of Medicine,
Starting point is 03:51:44 between January 1st, 2015 and December 31, 2019, there were 4,76,785,783 human subjects for clinical trials. 56% were male and 44% were female, despite there being more women in the world. than men. It stated, quote, sex bias remains prevalent in human clinical research trials, end quote. And historically, health data has been collected from men and generalized to fit women.
Starting point is 03:52:16 In 1977, the FDA excluded women, quote, of childbearing potential from clinical trials. The exclusion wasn't lifted until 1993. And out of the 13 medications that Lindsay was prescribed, 10 of them were tested and put on the market during this period. Now we aren't saying this to put anyone under the impression that medication
Starting point is 03:52:38 isn't safe for women, but it does highlight just how much less focus there has been on women's treatment. And sadly, it's not just treatment that has a delay on. The Center for Addiction and Mental Health notes that women take, on average, two years longer than men, to receive a proper diagnosis for their mental health disorders. The majority of the time, due to overlapping symptoms and biases, women are diagnosed with general anxiety at first rather than the conditions they truly have, which was exactly the case for Lindsay Clancy. One other significant reason why women face longer times getting diagnosed is the fact that symptoms of mental health disorders can differ in men and women. And historically, symptoms men faced have been prioritized and seen as
Starting point is 03:53:25 the quote-unquote face of the disorder. And when you bring postpartum mental health disorder, into things, they get even more complicated. For generations, women have been expected to endure the hardest parts of motherhood and silence. The same goes for miscarriages and stillbirths. So perhaps the case became less about Lindsay herself and more about what it highlighted, the need for more recognition, research, and support for women struggling with postpartum mental illnesses. Lindsay's trial brought attention to postpartum mental health issues, and many women took
Starting point is 03:53:59 their stories to social media and even local news outlets. I was constantly reeling in my head of what if I do something to them and I don't know or what if, what if something happens to them and I'm not aware and you're so tired. I was trying not to feel it and when I sat down and allowed myself to feel sad, I just sobbed because all of it was just I wanted to be with my child and I couldn't. During the trial, women felt empowered to share their own personal stories of postpartisan depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Not because their experiences were the same as Lindsay's, but because the trial forced a public conversation
Starting point is 03:54:38 about the hidden struggles many mothers face after childbirth, women started to see that it was important to speak about a condition that is often suffered in silence and ignored by professionals. Now, I am not putting full blame on Lindsay's providers. I think mental health providers have such an important, an incredibly difficult job. They're working with vulnerable people every single day, doing what they can to help them.
Starting point is 03:55:05 Now, do I think Lindsay's providers could have done more to help her? Yes. But I'm also fully aware that Lindsay did not share everything she was experiencing. And something I keep seeing online is that your doctors can't read your mind, which is why I want to emphasize how important it is, to be honest with your providers about your side effects. You can't get the help you need, unless you tell the truth about what's going on, no matter how scary that might be.
Starting point is 03:55:31 But more than anything, we hope that this trial will change the way we see women in their postpartum journey. We hope it brings even more conversations about mental health. And hopefully next time a doctor is sitting with a postpartum woman who is saying she's having intrusive thoughts, they'll ask more questions, they'll meet their patients with urgency. Hopefully the next time someone close to you has had a baby, you will ask more questions about how they're doing, you'll be more present. Hopefully, anyone who begins to experience the symptoms that Lindsay did after having her baby, they'll have better insight into what they could be facing, and they'll be able to get the help
Starting point is 03:56:08 that they need. At the core of this story are three beautiful children gone. Kara, Dawson, and Callan, they should still be here. Their families should be able to see them grow up. They should be able to have families of their own. But that chance was taken from them, and we want a world where this doesn't happen. Mental health is better understood, where families take priority, where people aren't ashamed to share their truth with mental health professionals, and that we get help when we ask for it. We hope that in a case, as divisive as this one, that is something we can all agree on.
Starting point is 03:56:50 Hey, everybody, thank you so much for joining us for this three-part series on the Lindsay Clancy case. We hope you guys have enjoyed this incredibly deep dive. I know that Courtney has spent weeks putting this all together with our team of writers. and researchers behind the scenes. And I hope that we presented people with the fullest portrait possible so that people can really understand the case and the frustration surrounding it.
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Starting point is 03:57:33 I don't even know how many there are at this point, 170 or so. These are full-length episodes of the show, just like the episode you just listened to. With both Courtney and I, they sound exactly like what you would listen to on the main feed, but they're exclusively on Patreon for those who choose to support our work in that way. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram
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Starting point is 03:58:12 Anyways, y'all, we'll be back next week. We're turning to a new case now. Thank you so much for tuning in. I hope everybody has a great weekend if you're listening on Friday. And, uh, yeah, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you on the next one.

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