Prosecution Psychologist Challenges Claim Lindsay Clancy Was Hallucinating During Filicide Trial
Forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun testified that Lindsay Clancy likely acted to avoid leaving her children behind rather than being driven by acute psychosis, as the murder trial nears its conclusion.
A forensic psychologist hired by prosecutors testified Monday that he does not believe Lindsay Clancy was experiencing acute psychosis when she killed her three children in 2023. Kirk Heilbrun, who conducted psychiatric evaluations of Clancy in April, said the defendant’s account of hearing a previously unknown voice and experiencing a one-time hallucination was “very, very unusual” for the type of act alleged.
Heilbrun stated that he concluded Clancy killed the children because she intended to end her own life and did not want to leave them behind, noting she told him she said, “Go to God, baby. Go to God,” while strangling each child. He added that she appeared to believe the act would reunite them with God in heaven.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse who is paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a second-floor window, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of her three children, ages eight months to five years. Her defense argues she suffered postpartum psychosis, a rare condition linked to hormonal changes after childbirth, and also cites bipolar disorder and possible overmedication.
Prosecutors maintain that Clancy planned the killings and manipulated her husband’s whereabouts to carry them out. The trial, expected to go to a jury this week, will hinge on expert testimony regarding her mental state and whether she understood the wrongfulness of her conduct.
Other experts for the defense have described Clancy as “clearly psychotic” and lacking appreciation for the criminality of her actions. In contrast, a separate prosecution psychiatrist, Dr. Avram Mack, said there was no evidence of mania or psychosis but noted she was experiencing severe depression while still capable of distinguishing right from wrong.
The judge barred reference to Clancy’s Catholic upbringing as inappropriate testimony. Closing arguments are slated for later this week, with a potential verdict of life without parole if found guilty, or a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity leading to psychiatric hospitalization.