The murder trial for a Massachusetts woman who strangled her three children, then tried to kill herself, continued with emotional testimony from police and first responders.
Lindsay Clancy, 35, is accused of murdering her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at her home in Duxbury in January 2023.
Clancy does not dispute that she killed her children, but claimed she is not criminally responsible because she was suffering postpartum psychosis after being prescribed a powerful cocktail of drugs to cope with depression.
On Thursday, the officers who discovered Clancy’s children the night they were killed broke down while taking the stand.
Duxbury Police Officer Stephen Hall wiped away tears as he recounted finding Dawson’s lifeless body in the basement.
He testified that Patrick Clancy, the children’s father, went into the house and that dispatch told him that he ‘couldn’t wake [the children] up.’
Hall said he heard a loud scream from inside the house, then he entered the building and went downstairs.
Patrick was in the basement and said the children weren’t waking up, according to Hall.
Officers who discovered Lindsey Clancy’s children the night they were killed broke down while speaking in court
The jury was a picture of Clancy’s eight-month-old son Callan’s pajamas after paramedics removed them to attempt life-saving measures
Officer Brian Josephine said he and Hall entered the home and went to the basement to find Patrick in the dark screaming ‘she killed the f****** kids.’
The pair observed a motionless Dawson on the floor, head tilted to the right-hand side. Josephine explained that Dawson had a ‘white, grey’ complexion with ‘blueish’ lips and ‘blood vessels popped in his eyes.’
He said based on his training and experience, ‘I knew it wasn’t going to be good.’
Josephine said he attempted chest compressions before the child’s mouth began to foam. When ambulances arrived, the officer rushed Dawson back up the stairs to a stretcher where emergency personnel began to work on him.
He added that Patrick was in shock and screaming, so officers requested an ambulance for him as well.
Firefighter and paramedic Jennifer Stratton testified about treating eight-month-old Callan.
Stratton said she saw Callan and Cora in the basement, and a photo was shown in court of Callan’s pajamas and an exercise band on the ground.
Duxbury Police Officer Stephen Hall wiped away tears as he recounted finding Dawson’s lifeless body in the basement
Officer Brian Josephine said he and Officer Hall entered the home and went to the basement to find Patrick in the dark screaming ‘she killed the f****** kids’
The jury was shown pictures from the crime scene, including the exercise bands Clancy used to strangle her children
She told the court that she removed Callan’s pajamas and that he had deep strangulation marks on his neck.
‘I scooped him up in my arms and carried him outside to the truck,’ Stratton said.
Firefighter and paramedic Patrick Dwyer testified that he went into the basement and saw two children on the ground and Patrick sitting on the couch next to them.
Dwyer said he performed CPR on Cora.
Later in the day, defense attorney Kevin Reddington continued pushed back on the prosecution’s narrative that Clancy faked her suicide attempt.
Paramedic Robert Costanzo testified he did not see active bleeding out of Clancy’s bandages.
Reddington asked: ‘Now, did you know, sir, at all that she suffered a burst fracture of her cervical spine?’ Costanzo replied no.
‘It was pretty dark out there, wasn’t it?’ Reddington asked, and Costanzo agreed.
Costanzo testified that Clancy’s wrists were bandaged and she had a collar around her neck when he treated her.
Reddington also suggested that hypothermia could be a reason why Clancy’s wounds were not actively bleeding.
The defense attorney questioned paramedic Daniel Dougherty about his knowledge of hypothermia and the temperature outside when he treated Clancy.
Clancy strangled her children – Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan – back in January 2023, then attempted to kill herself
Dougherty described the temperature outside as in the 30s.
‘How long was she lying in the snow on the ground?’ Reddington asked.
Dougherty said he did not know how long Clancy was on the ground.
The prosecution said the wounds on Clancy’s wrists did not have to be sutured until the next day, and her neck was never sutured.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.
