Trial begins for mom accused of killing her 3 children
The first jurors were selected Monday in the trial of a Massachusetts mother accused of strangling her three young children to death in 2023.
Lindsay Clancy, a former nurse, has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges in connection with the deaths of her 5-year-old daughter Cora, 3-year-old son Dawson and infant son Callan on Jan. 24, 2023.
Clancy attempted suicide on the night of her children's deaths at the couple's house in Duxbury, a small seaside town about 30 miles south of Boston, according to local authorities.
First responders rushed to the home that night after receiving a 911 call from a man about his wife's suicide attempt and subsequently found three young children inside the home who were "unconscious with obvious signs of severe trauma," Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said when charges against Clancy were announced in 2023.
Clancy was left paralyzed as a result of the suicide attempt and is being held at a state hospital. She appeared in court Monday in a wheelchair.
Clancy's husband Patrick Clancy has said previously that he forgives his wife.
"Our marriage was wonderful and diametrically grew stronger as her condition rapidly worsened," he wrote in a statement shared on Jan. 28, 2023. "I took as much pride in being her husband as I did in being a father and felt persistently lucky to have her in my life."
Patrick Clancy did not share details at the time on his wife's "condition."
Lindsay Clancy's lawyers are expected to present an insanity defense, according to ABC Boston affiliate WCVB-TV.
During a court hearing in 2023, Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, argued that the killings "were not planned by any means" and were a product of mental illness. He added that Clancy had previously mentioned having suicidal thoughts and checked herself into a mental health facility for five days in early January.
During the same hearing, prosecutors said on the day of the deaths, Lindsay Clancy took a child to the pediatrician's office and built a snowman with her kids in their backyard. Later in the day, she called the restaurant to place a pick-up order before asking her husband to drive to get the meal, according to prosecutors.
Lindsay Clancy's trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, according to WCVB-TV.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You are not on your own.
