By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-04 14:16:06 | Updated at 2026-08-05 08:16:10
18 hours ago
The Massachusetts mother who strangled her three young children, then tried to kill herself in the grip of post-partum psychosis scored a major courtroom victory from a prosecution witness, an expert claimed.
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.
Although Clancy does not deny killing her children, she has pleaded not guilty and claimed she is not responsible for her actions because she was suffering post-partum psychosis after being prescribed a powerful cocktail of drugs.
Clancy's suicide attempt failed but left her paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life.
On Monday, the prosecution called Dr Sejal Shah to the stand to testify about Clancy's mental state while at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston five days after the killings.
Prosecutors have argued the killings were intentional and well-planned, not the work of someone who had lost control, and that Clancy exaggerated her mental condition.
However, on cross-examination by Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, the psychiatrist conceded that Clancy was an 'honest patient.'
Seth J Zuckerman, a former New York City prosecutor and founder of Zuckerman Legal Group, said that the doctor's admission is 'extremely helpful to the defense.'
Lindsay Clancy, 35, does not deny killing her children, but claims she is not responsible because she was suffering post-partum psychosis
Clancy strangled her children - Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan - in January 2023, then apparently attempted to kill herself
'They want to portray her as someone who wasn't manipulative, who didn't have some grand plan,' he told Fox News.
Reddington asked Shah: 'Was she, in your opinion and your experience, an honest patient telling you what her symptoms were, if any?'
'Yes,' the doctor replied.
'She didn't go off and try to exaggerate to you and say, "I'm seeing visions, and I'm hearing voices," and suicidal ideation and homicidal ideas. She didn't say any of those things to you, did she?' Reddington said.
'Correct,' Shah replied.
The defense attorney doubled down asking, 'So this is not, in your opinion, someone who was trying to exaggerate her conditions for some legal reason, correct?'
'No,' the psychiatrist answered.
Zuckerman also said that Shah's testimony helped the defense by showing that Clancy could appear lucid while experiencing symptoms of psychosis.
Dr Sejal Shah testified about Clancy's mental state while at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston five days after the killings
On cross-examination by Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, the psychiatrist conceded that Clancy was an 'honest patient'
'The burden is on the prosecutors to show that she was criminally responsible at the time of the deaths,' Zuckerman said.
'That is unique to Massachusetts, and I think it's beneficial to the defense here.'
Clancy's murder trial has been filled with emotional testimony, including from her ex-husband who has publicly forgiven her and come out in her defense.
Jurors heard his harrowing 911 call the night he discovered their dead children, which brought the courtroom to tears.
Clancy has broken down several times during the trial as doctors have described her children's injuries.
