It's been more than three months since 32-year-old Lindsay Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse from Duxbury, Massachusetts, allegedly killed her three children and attempted to kill herself. The young mother reportedly suffered from postpartum depression, but had been receiving mental health care. No one reportedly expected her harm her family, and now many are grappling with the circumstances surrounding her alleged crimes.
Clancy was charged with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation or suffocation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, after reportedly killing her children, 5-year-old daughter Cora, 3-year-old son Dawson, and 7-month-old son Callan. Today, Clancy remains in the hospital while her lawyers prepare her case.
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The killings occurred when Clancy's husband left home to get dinner.
Patrick Clancy was running errands for his family the night Clancy allegedly killed their children. While he was gone, Clancy reportedly strangled the children with an exercise band and jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt. Cora and Dawson died right away, but Callan was airlifted to a Boston-area hospital, where he died days later.
Clancy's jump proved catastrophic. Her defense attorney, Kevin J. Reddington, has now confirmed that she is paralyzed from the waist down. "She will be forever," he said, reported The U.S. Sun.
Clancy was recently transferred to a different hospital.
Clancy, who has been hospitalized since January, is now at the Tewksbury Hospital, in the care of the state's Department of Mental Health. Medical professionals determined she needs long-term psychiatric care, Reddington told The Boston Globe.
He previously said Clancy had postpartum psychosis following the birth of Callan, and was improperly prescribed medications that may have contributed to her irrational actions.
"Because of the break from reality, people often don't know what they are doing or what they have done while they're in an active psychotic process," clinical psychologist Dr. Katayune Kaeni exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
A GoFundMe was established for Patrick Clancy.
In the wake of the devastating loss of his children, Patrick Clancy's family and friends created a GoFundMe to help him. In the months following the tragedy, it has raised more than $1 million. The money is reportedly earmarked solely for the grieving father, and Reddington assures the public that his wife is not benefitting from it financially, and that none of the money will be used for her legal fees.
"That's Patrick's money," he said. "Her parents are paying for her defense."
In January, Patrick Clancy implored the community to forgive his wife. "I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have. The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone — me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients. The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace," he wrote on the GoFundMe page.
The defense has hired experts to help Clancy's case.
At the time the fundraiser was created, many questioned its motive and wondered why people would donate money to help a woman who is accused of murdering her children, and why her husband was so quick to forgive. Reddington evidently wants to reassure those critics that there is nothing questionable going on in regard to the $1 million fundraiser.
The Globe reported that Clancy's lawyers are working with an expert who deals with parents who kill their children, Dr. Phillip Resnick, a psychiatry professor at Case Western Reserve University. They have also obtained help from psychologist Paul Zeizel, to examine Clancy's mental health. The defense is trying to determine whether they can raise a defense of diminished capacity in the mother's case.
"At Reddington's request, District Court Judge John A. Canavan III has authorized him to spend as much as $17,500 to cover the fees of Resnick and Zeizel, the two mental health professionals. Reddington said he has not disbursed any public money to the experts but may have to in the near future," The Globe reported.
Clancy's parents are funding her legal defense.
According to Reddington, Clancy's parents are of modest means, but are currently paying for her legal expenses. He said that Clancy will likely need financial help from the court when her parents can no longer support her.
"They're pretty much depleting everything they have to try and help her out," he said. Clancy is due in court on July 25.
