By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-19 13:05:37 | Updated at 2026-08-19 13:15:53
15 minutes ago
Lindsay Clancy continues to make her insanity defense in ‘America’s saddest murder trial’ following a day of gripping testimony from her psychologist.
The former nurse, 36, is on trial for the murders of her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 2023.
She strangled her children with exercise bands and then allegedly attempted to kill herself, but her efforts failed and left her paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life.
Clancy's psychologist, Dr Paul Zeizel, told jurors on Tuesday about the moment she told her husband about the 'male voice' in her head that ordered her to kill her children, then herself.
Dr Zeizel testified that he visited Clancy in the hospital in the days after the killings, and she borrowed his phone to call her husband, Patrick.
That was when she told him that she had heard a man's voice telling her to kill the children and herself.
The prosecution rested its case against Clancy on Monday after using the first three weeks of the trial to argue the killings were intentional and well planned, not the work of someone who had lost control.
Clancy has admitted to killing her children but pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, citing postpartum psychosis, and is seeking to be committed to a state mental health facility rather than a prison sentence.
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
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Lindsay Clancy's harrowing confession to husband Patrick about the 'male voice' in her head
Dr Paul Zeizel, a highly experienced, well-respected forensic psychologist who works with Clancy's defense attorney Kevin Reddington, testified that he visited Clancy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital days after the killings.
He first visited her on February 4, 2023 - 11 days on from the killings - at Reddington's request because the defense attorney had taken on her case and was concerned about her mental health and the fact that she had been allowed no visitors.
Clancy asked him if she could use his cell phone to call Patrick, who she had not seen or spoken to since that tragic evening.
Dr Zeizel let her, so long as the call was on speakerphone.
Clancy called Patrick, but he did not pick up.
Two days later, when Dr Zeizel visited again, Clancy called again from her hospital bed. That time Patrick picked up.
It was during that call that Clancy told her husband that a man's voice had commanded her to kill the children and herself.
‘She had said that she heard a male voice ordering her, telling her that she didn’t have any choice, but she had to kill her children and then kill herself,’ Dr Zeizel testified.
New The Trial USA podcast takes you inside Lindsay Clancy murder trial
The Daily Mail has launched a new podcast taking you inside the courtroom for the murder trial of mother-of-three Lindsay Clancy.
The Crime Desk’s Rachel Sharp has been covering every single day of the trial in Plymouth, Massachusetts, keeping our readers up to date with live reports and filing video roundups from the scene.
Rachel will now be joined by Trial USA host Kayla Brantley twice a week to record a special podcast miniseries.
Lindsay Clancy's life locked in psych ward
Behind the doors of the pre-Civil War psychiatric facility, the former nurse who once cared for her own patients has become the patient herself.
There, confined to a wheelchair, she receives round-the-clock care for her physical and mental health, following what her defense says was a severe episode of postpartum psychosis and depression.
Patrick Clancy's emotional mother relays distinct sign of support to former daughter-in-law
Lindsay Clancy's former mother-in-law showed her a sign of support after delivering emotional testimony about her three slain grandchildren.
Patrick Clancy's mother, Sue Clancy, nodded with intention at her ex-daughter-in-law as she walked off the stand on Tuesday.
Sue faced intense questioning while testifying as a defense witness, including from Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham who asked the grieving grandmother if she was aware that 'murder is considered a mortal sin.'
