A timeline of Lindsay Clancy’s postpartum struggles, killings and legal case
By Eric Levenson, CNN
(CNN) — Lindsay Clancy’s case began with a bout of insomnia and anxiety several months after the birth of her third child with her husband, Patrick, in a quiet suburb outside Boston.
A few months later, all three children of her children were dead, and Lindsay Clancy was hospitalized and partially paralyzed from a suicide attempt.
What happened in between those events was at the heart of Clancy’s triple murder trial, which ended in a hung jury and a mistrial in early September.
Prosecutors argued she intentionally and deliberately strangled her children, while her defense argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time and so was not criminally responsible for her actions. The dueling arguments raised questions about maternal mental health, the legal strategy known as the “insanity defense” and the American jury system.
Prosecutors have not yet said whether they plan to retry her. The next court hearing is set for November 2.
CNN reviewed documents, interviews and court proceedings to put together a timeline of her case. Here’s a closer look at Clancy’s spiraling mental health, the killings of her children, her triple murder trial and her ongoing legal situation.
Clancy’s declining mental health
May 2022: Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse, gives birth to her third child. She lives in Duxbury with Patrick and their three young children Cora, Dawson and Callan.
September 2022: Clancy meets over telehealth with a psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Tufts, to address her anxiety, depression and insomnia. Clancy is prescribed about a dozen medications and meets with several other providers over the following four months as her mental health declines.
December 31, 2022: Clancy is admitted to McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility, after reporting thoughts of suicide and intrusive thoughts of hurting the kids. She is released after five days to attend her daughter’s birthday party.
January 23, 2023: Clancy tells Tufts she is “doing all right,” denies any suicidal or homicidal ideation and shows no signs of psychosis, according to Tufts.
The killings and arrest
January 24, 2023: Clancy sends Patrick out of the house to pick up dinner and medication from CVS. While he is gone, she fatally strangles her three children with exercise bands in the basement, cuts her own wrists and neck and jumps out of a second-floor window, according to trial testimony.
Patrick comes home to the gruesome scene and calls 911.
January 26: Clancy, partially paralyzed and unable to speak, writes on a piece of paper she is “horrified” and asks for an attorney, according to a hospital psychiatrist.
Late January and early February: Clancy tells her husband and a hospital chaplain she heard a persistent male voice directing her to kill her children and herself.
February 7: From her hospital bed, Clancy is arraigned on murder charges and pleads not guilty.
September 15, 2023: Clancy is indicted in Plymouth County on three counts of murder.
October 2024: Patrick Clancy opens up to The New Yorker about the killings and expresses empathy for his wife. “I wasn’t married to a monster – I was married to someone who got sick,” he said.
January 2026: Lindsay Clancy files a lawsuit against her medical providers in which she says she strangled her children after hearing a voice in her head. “I lost all control. My body started acting without any control on my part,” she wrote in the suit.
The triple murder trial
July 20, 2026: Clancy’s murder trial begins with jury selection in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
July 26: In opening statements, prosecutors say Clancy “acted intentionally, rationally and swiftly” when she killed her children, while the defense says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
Patrick Clancy, now divorced from Lindsay, testifies as the trial’s first witness.
August 17: The prosecution rests its case after calling over 70 witnesses, including Clancy’s family and friends, first responders, investigators and medical providers.
August 20: More than 100 people wearing pink demonstrate outside of Plymouth Superior Court in support of Clancy and to raise awareness for maternal mental healthcare.
August 21: Clancy’s defense rests its case after calling 10 witnesses, including psychiatric experts who said Clancy suffered from postpartum psychosis.
August 26: The prosecution rests its rebuttal case after calling three mental health experts who said Clancy was not psychotic at the time of the killings.
August 27: Prosecutors and the defense present closing arguments, and the jury begins deliberations.
September 1: On its fourth day of deliberations, the jury reports it is “unable to come to a unanimous decision.” The judge directs the jury to continue deliberating.
Outside court, a 56-year-old woman is arrested for allegedly filming jurors leaving the courthouse. She later pleads not guilty.
September 3: A jury note to the court indicates the jury is split 11 to 1 and says the holdout “refuses to listen to the law” on reasonable doubt, according to defense attorney Kevin Reddington. After a heated discussion with Reddington, Judge William Sullivan asks each juror individually whether they can follow his instructions on the law, and each says they can.
September 4: Jury notes to the court indicate the jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict due to a single holdout juror. Clancy’s defense files an emergency appeal to further question the holdout juror, but the appeal is denied.
Judge Sullivan declares a mistrial due to the deadlocked jury, ending the trial without a clear resolution.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz says the prosecution will decide “shortly” on whether to retry the case. Reddington says the defense won the case and criticizes the holdout juror.
The mistrial’s aftermath
September 8, 2026: Three jurors tell NBC10 Boston a single male juror “admitted he had reasonable doubt” but still declined to find her not guilty by reason of insanity.
September 9: Reddington expresses an openness to a plea deal in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
September 17: The holdout juror issues a statement saying he believed the evidence pointed to a guilty verdict. “I didn’t have any doubts,” he says.
September 20: Patrick Clancy and his new wife, Dr. Rachel Danis, speak to “60 Minutes” about his late children, the trial and whether he feels anger at himself. “I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time, and I live with the outcome,” he says.
September 29: At a court hearing, Clancy’s defense argues prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence that she killed her children. “Where is the evidence that she did this?” Reddington said. The prosecution calls that argument “laughable.”
October 1: Judge Sullivan denied Clancy’s motion, finding prosecutors presented sufficient trial evidence for a reasonable juror to convict Clancy of murder.
Sullivan is still considering other defense motions. He set a follow-up hearing for November 2.
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CNN’s Nicki Brown and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.
