The Clancy trial and a split over postpartum psychosis

Lindsay Clancy was tried on three counts of first-degree murder for strangling her three children in 2023. Clancy's attorneys argue she was not criminally responsible because she was experiencing postpartum psychosis. The prosecution argued Clancy intentionally planned the killings and was in control of her actions.

Patrick Clancy testified that his wife had been struggling with her mental health for months. Patrick Clancy said he was not concerned when he left because she was having one of her best days. Patrick Clancy returned to find his wife injured from a suicide attempt and the children strangled in the basement.

The prosecution said first-degree charges were appropriate because three children were violently murdered. The DA has gotten a lot of criticism because a different approach could have resulted in a judge mandating treatment rather than prison time.

The prosecution said the postpartum period is up to four weeks after birth, as stated in the DSM. The prosecution maintained that because Clancy killed her children eight months after birth, she was not in postpartum psychosis. The defense pointed out that other medical experts define the postpartum period differently, in some cases up to a year after birth.

Postpartum psychosis occurs in one to two of every 1,000 births, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Psychosis is losing touch with reality. Postpartum psychosis is not listed as its own illness in the DSM, although advocates are feverishly trying to change that.

There is a dangerous misconception that the mom has to be hallucinating aliens or stealing her baby, but really, it's the quieter symptoms that we miss.

It's wild how quickly it happened, and also how, in my case, how logically I was acting, but in a deluded reality. My brain is essentially taking all of these little details and knitting them together into this new alternate sense of terrifying truth, wherein the entire city is out to get me. In my mind, I was thinking, if I showed, I'd be willing to jump from the roof. That would just showing I'd be willing would prove my loyalty and sort of save us.

Clancy was definitely experiencing psychosis. She was hearing a voice which was commanding her to engage in the killing behavior. She did not feel any sense of control. She felt that she had to obey.

Clancy tried prescriptions for several medications, extended her maternity leave, checked into McLean Hospital, went to a day program, went to the emergency room, and called a suicide hotline twice. The prosecution argued Clancy had ample access to care, but sometimes disregarded her provider's advice, switched providers, or stopped taking certain medications.

There was a lot of really hard, emotional testimony from Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband, her mother, her former mother-in-law, and first responders. The prosecution played Patrick Clancy's 911 call the night of the killings, which was very harrowing.

The jurors deliberated for about 38 hours and were unable to come to a unanimous decision. One holdout juror told the other jurors he had reasonable doubt but would not go along with issuing a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. The defense made an eleventh-hour appeal to remove the juror, but a single justice declined to get involved and the mistrial was declared.

About 400 people, mostly women dressed in pink, stood outside the courthouse to signify support for Clancy. Some carried signs saying things like 'You're a good mom' or 'The system failed you.'. There was also a call from counter demonstrators who say people need to remember the children who were killed, but they have been a much smaller group.

Online, there were so many conspiracy theories, blood spatter analysts, all kinds of 'who done it' talk, and theories that Patrick Clancy wasn't truthful. It shows how hard it is in this fractured media information landscape to really stick with facts because those things can get repeated and misconstrued.

No one requested sequestration, and I think no one realized how big this was going to get.

Many people who've attended or watched this trial say they're energized to work on making improvements in postpartum care. Postpartum Support International told Becker that calls from Massachusetts have increased substantially since this trial began. There is movement underway to get a law passed in Massachusetts to have new moms who are charged with crimes go to treatment instead of into the criminal legal system.

The state's highest court ordered a new trial for Latasha Sanders because the judge did not allow her mental health records to be presented as evidence.

The district attorney has to decide if he will retry the case and whether it will be on the same or lesser charges, and whether it would require a jury. He could also negotiate a plea deal. Lindsay Clancy remains in a state hospital pending next steps in the legal process.