Closing arguments took place in the Lindsay Clancy case Thursday, bringing an end to a weekslong trial in which jurors will now determine whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for murdering her three young children. The former labor and delivery nurse admits she killed her children in January 2023 but argues she is not responsible because of claims she was in a psychotic state. The prosecution and the defense offered closing arguments to the jury at Plymouth Superior Court, bringing an end to the murder trial after five weeks of testimony from around 80 witnesses. At times, Clancy was stoic, looking straight ahead. At other times, she was visibly emotional, crying and wiping her eyes.
The defense’s position
Clancy’s defense, led by attorney Kevin Reddington, argued she should not be criminally liable because of assertions that the killings were brought on by postpartum psychosis, a severe mental health condition that was poorly managed by doctors who prescribed her over a dozen medications with possibly dangerous side effects. He emphasized the words of Dr. Phillip Resnick, who testified that Clancy was in a state of psychosis at the time of the murders, “times three.” He further cited one of the prosecution’s own witnesses, forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, a prosecution witness, who told the jury, “it’s possible either way,” according to Reddington. “That’s not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the attorney said.He also emphasized Clancy’s suicide attempt, which she said she sought to carry out after killing her children, arguing testimony proved “that this was a legitimate, dreadful, horrific suicide attempt.” “Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got,” Reddington said, “this young lady did nothing wrong in her life. … She was a nurse, a daughter, a wife, and a darn good mother.”Reddington said handwritten notes from Clancy proved the devolution of her mental state in the fall and winter of 2022. By December, her journal was “chicken scratches because her mind is gone,” he said. Reddington disputed the prosecution’s take on the elastic workout bands Clancy used to strangle her children. The attorney said Patrick testified that when he found the children, the elastic bands were tied in knots around their necks, and he struggled to untie them. The defense has said Patrick did not testify that there were knots, arguing it is an indicator she held the elastic bands around her children’s necks for minutes as they died.Reddington also argued searches for how long it would take for her husband to pick up takeout and medicine prior to the killings were not evidence of guilt or premeditation, as the prosecution has argued. “She didn’t want him out of the house long. She was in distress,” he said. “She wanted him home to help with the bathing, to help with the kids, to help putting them to bed. How long is he going to be gone? She Googles it. Is that something that is so nefarious?”Lindsay Clancy listens to testimony during her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr /The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
