Lindsay Clancy now on trial in murder of her 3 children in Massachusetts
CBS News · LC · trust 63/100
Updated on: July 27, 2026 / 4:40 PM EDT / CBS Boston
Lindsay Clancy's high-profile trial started Monday with opening statements. Testimony then began with her ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, taking the witness stand. He was still testifying when court ended for the day.
Lindsay Clancy is accused of murdering her three young children inside her Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in 2023.
Judge William Sullivan ended court for the day around 3 p.m. with Patrick Clancy, Lindsay's ex-husband, still on the stand as the first witness.
Something unrelated to the case came up that will cause there to be no testimony on Tuesday. The trial will resume on Wednesday with Patrick Clancy still on the witness stand.
Each day, court will begin around 9 a.m. There is normally a morning recess, then a break from 1 to 2 p.m.
Once court resumes in the afternoon, testimony will go until about 4 p.m. each day.
The day that Lindsay Clancy has admitted to killing her children was Jan. 24, 2023.
Patrick Clancy, Lindsay's ex-husband, testified that the couple exchanged text messages throughout the day while he was working in the basement and she was upstairs playing with the children.
He said that he went upstairs only once or twice to interact with the children because it was a busier work day than usual.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague asked if Lindsay Clancy was having suicidal thoughts that day.
"She was having one of her best days," Patrick said.
Patrick Clancy testified that on Jan. 16, 2023, he went skiing with 5-year-old Cora and left the family's two younger children with Lindsay at home.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague asked why he felt comfortable doing that, despite Lindsay's past suicidal tendencies and statements that she had thoughts of harming the children.
"Her mood seemed better. She was more active. She was able to partake in more things," Patrick Clancy said.
Sprague asked Patrick Clancy if he was hopeful at the time that things were getting better with Lindsay. He said yes.
On Jan. 8, 2023, the Clancy family went to the Museum of Science in Boston. A week later on Jan. 15, the family went to the Cape Codder resort.
The prosecutor asked Patrick Clancy, who is no longer married to Lindsay Clancy, about her demeanor during the outings.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague showed surveillance footage from the museum, the resort and a water park. Sprague noted that Patrick Clancy was comfortable trusting the children alone with Lindsay while he was not nearby.
Patrick Clancy returned to the stand around 2:15 p.m. after the afternoon recess.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague displayed a picture of his daughter Cora, asking if that is what she was like in 2023, around the time Lindsay Clancy was released from McLean Hospital.
Patrick Clancy hesitated and began to become emotional. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington objected and there was a sidebar.
When the sidebar ended, Patrick Clancy described his deceased children, taking deep breathes before answering questions.
Lindsay Clancy reached for tissues and cried as photos of her three children were displayed on the screen in the courtroom.
Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan said the trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.
The list of potential witnesses has nearly 200 names on it.
If Lindsay Clancy is found guilty of first-degree murder, she faces life in prison without a chance at parole.
If she's found not criminally responsible for the deaths of her children, she will be sent to a state mental health facility in Massachusetts.
Watch the complete opening statements from the Lindsay Clancy trial in the video above.
At 1 p.m. with Patrick Clancy still on the stand, Judge William Sullivan dismissed court for the afternoon recess.
Clancy is expected to continue direct questioning around 2 p.m.
In December 2022, Lindsay Clancy told her father that she wanted to die by suicide, according to her ex-husband Patrick.
Lindsay Clancy was then taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. One doctor recommended inpatient treatment at McLean Hospital. Two others recommended a day program in Providence.
She went to the program in Providence, and Patrick would pick her up each day.
By Dec. 31, 2022, Lindsay Clancy was back in an emergency room with concerns about suicide.
"I was exhausted," Patrick Clancy said. "I said I think it's time to go to McLean. We didn't have a diagnosis so we just didn't know what was wrong. For me, I was just hoping McLean could evaluate her and find out what was wrong."
After receiving treatment at McLean, Lindsay Clancy began asking to be discharged so she could go to her daughter's birthday party. On Jan. 5, 2023, she was discharged from McLean Hospital.
In December 2022, Lindsay Clancy switched to a new medication, Patrick Clancy testified.
"That was really where her big spiral started," he said. "She started to lose a lot of weight, she became really depressed and was having a hard time. She started to say she was suicidal."
Also in December 2022, Patrick Clancy testified that his wife told him that she was having intrusive thoughts about hurting their children.
"The way she was describing it was that something might happen to the kids," he said.
Patrick Clancy said he asked Lindsay if she felt she needed to be kept away from the children. She said she did not.
"It was very confusing because the next minute she was making them lunch or putting them to bed," he testified. "I never saw Lindsay harm the kids."
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague attempted to show that while Lindsay Clancy was prescribed a large amount of drugs, she did not appear to have taken many of them.
Of the prescriptions collected as part of the investigation, most bottles were only missing a small amount of pills, Sprague said.
"There were a lot of pills prescribed, but not a lot of pills taken, correct?" Sprague said.
By Thanksgiving 2022, Patrick Clancy said his wife was "in rough shape, not talking much, low energy, really…
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