Mother testifies daughter expressed thoughts of harming children during murder trial
During the trial of Lindsay Clancy, accused of killing her three children, her mother testified that Clancy had told her she was thinking about harming the kids, while the defense argues postpartum psychosis affected her responsibility.
The defense began presenting its case in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, calling the defendant's mother and sister as witnesses. Paula Musgrove, who traveled to Duxbury after receiving a distressed text from her daughter in October 2022, told the jury she loved her grandchildren "with all her heart" and described Clancy as a "loving mother" who was struggling with severe insomnia and anxiety medication.
Musgrove recounted that in December 2022, while in the Clancys' kitchen, Lindsay Clancy said she had "thoughts of harming the children." Her sister, Allison Ozga, also testified that Clancy confided she was in a "really tough spot" and experiencing worsening depression, suicidal thoughts and insomnia.
Clancy faces three murder charges for the 2023 strangulation deaths of her children Cora, Dawson and Callan, and she also jumped from a second-floor window, leaving her partially paralyzed. She has pleaded not guilty, and the defense plans to argue that she was not criminally responsible because she was experiencing postpartum psychosis.
Prosecution witnesses, including a labor-and-delivery nurse and a digital forensics expert, presented evidence such as phone health data, search history for postpartum psychosis symptoms, and details of the children’s injuries. The trial, which began in July, is expected to last six to eight weeks.
"She was attempting to go through the motions of her day, take care of the kids the best she could," Musgrove said.
"Based on communication with Lindsay – and I started communicating with Pat directly at that time – she was reporting her mood was worsening, as she described it as depression," Ozga added.
The jury, composed of twelve women and six men, will later hear testimony from mental-health experts before deliberating on Clancy's criminal responsibility.