Lindsay Clancy's mother testifies "she had thoughts of harming the children"

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Cite

Parseghian, A., & Schooley, M. (2026, August 18). Lindsay Clancy's mother testifies "she had thoughts of harming the children". CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lindsay-clancy-trial-watch-live-day-14/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-08-18 · by Aaron Parseghian, Matt Schooley

Quick Summary

Lindsay Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, testified in court that her daughter had expressed thoughts of harming the children in October 2022. Musgrove described Clancy as a loving mother who was dedicated to her children, but noticed a change in her demeanor around mid-October 2022. Clancy reportedly told her parents that she was overmedicated and experiencing anxiety, insomnia, and scary feelings, which made her want to be alone. The prosecution's cross-examination of Musgrove revealed text messages between the two in January 2023, where Clancy claimed to be feeling better despite her mother's concerns.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Lindsay Clancy, 36, has been accused of murdering her three children: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, in their home on January 24, 2023 in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The prosecution alleges that Clancy planned the murders before faking a suicide attempt. Her defense team argues that she should not be held criminally responsible due to her mental state at the time of the incident, citing bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, a rare condition that affects approximately one to two cases per 1,000 births.

Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that her daughter had expressed thoughts of harming the children in the months leading up to their deaths. A forensic psychologist, Dr. Paul Zeizel, also testified that Clancy reported hearing a male voice ordering her to kill her children and die by suicide.

The trial is being livestreamed on CourtTV, with prosecutors led by Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham arguing that Clancy plotted the murders in advance. If convicted of murder, Clancy faces life in prison without parole; if found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

The trial has entered its final stages, with closing arguments expected early next week. The defense is nearing the end of its case and anticipates calling one more witness before potentially resting its case.

Written for “Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial
Crime & Law · 6 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 4 of 32 📰 publisher trust 77
“Both articles report on the ongoing trial of Lindsay Clancy, mentioning the same case details and events”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 28 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles report on the trial of Lindsay Clancy, where her mother Paula Musgrove testifies on August 18, 2026, about Clancy's statements and actions prior to the killing of their children.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 53 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different stages in the trial, with Article A covering a day when witnesses are being called and Article B reporting on procedural matters and the possibility of closing arguments”
CBS News · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 3 of 72 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A refers to a mother (Musgrove) who testified on August 18, while Article B mentions that Clancy's testimony ended early due to an unforeseen circumstance, which suggests that it is Clancy herself who testified and possibly was interrupted, on a different day”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 5 of 84 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on the 14th day of testimony, while Article B reports on the 15th day, indicating a different court session”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
97
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
4 of 97 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 3033 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Aaron Parseghian
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan, in their Duxbury home on .Judge Sullivan told jurors at the start of the day that Thursday was expected to be shorter.
🔮 The defense is now expected to call one more witness Thursday before potentially resting its case and giving the prosecution an opportunity to call rebuttal witnesses.
🔮 Zeizel was still on the stand when court ended for the day and is expected to resume testimony Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. Psychologist says Clancy "heard a male voice ordering her"
🔮 , Judge William Sullivan told jurors it's possible the on Monday and allow the defense to begin calling witnesses.
Also by Aaron Parseghian
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
Matt Schooley
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 There was not a single moment throughout the presentation of that case where you could say 'Yup, 100% I'm certain she did it' or that she didn't do it.
🔮 The hung jury could not reach a verdict in Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
🔮 Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan, in their Duxbury home on .Judge Sullivan told jurors at the start of the day that Thursday was expected to be shorter.
🔮 The defense is now expected to call one more witness Thursday before potentially resting its case and giving the prosecution an opportunity to call rebuttal witnesses.
🔮 Zeizel was still on the stand when court ended for the day and is expected to resume testimony Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. Psychologist says Clancy "heard a male voice ordering her"
🔮 , Judge William Sullivan told jurors it's possible the on Monday and allow the defense to begin calling witnesses.
Also by Matt Schooley
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Matt Schooley →

Topics

Duxbury Massachusetts Newton Wellesley Hospital Plymouth Superior Court

Subjects

Musgrove PERSON · 15× Clancy PERSON · 14× Sprague PERSON · 5× Callan PERSON · 2× Duxbury GPE · 2× Reddington PERSON · 2× Massachusetts GPE · 1× Michael Vulfovich PERSON · 1× Plymouth Superior Court ORG · 1× includingPaula Musgrove PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The defense attorney argued that Clancy was "clearly and unequivocally suffering from a mental defect." Judge Sullivan denied the motion. The jury then returned to the courtroom, and Reddington began calling witnesses. Ian Whiffin cross-examined The final prosecution witness called was Ian Whiffin, who works for digital forensic company Cellebrite.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-18
🔮 , Judge William Sullivan told jurors it's possible the on Monday and allow the defense to begin calling witnesses.

Claims (97 extracted, 4 hedged)

Clancy's mother and sister, before court ended for the day asserted
court → end → day
Massachusetts resumed Monday in Plymouth Superior Court, with the prosecution resting its case. asserted
prosecution → resume → case
The defense began calling witnesses, includingPaula Musgrove, Clancy's mother, took the stand around 12:40 p.m. and completed her testimony just before 3 p.m. asserted
defense → begin → p.m.
He finished his testimony about the injuries Clancy suffered, and court ended for the day. asserted
court → finish → day
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan, in their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023. asserted
Clancy → plead → Jan.
The prosecution, led by Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham, alleges that Clancy planned the murders before faking a suicide attempt. asserted
Clancy → lead → attempt
Clancy to killing her children. asserted
Clancy → kill → children
Clancy's defense attorney Kevin Reddington argues she should not be held criminally responsible because she was overmedicated and suffering from asserted
she → argue → ?
, Judge William Sullivan told jurors it's possible the on Monday and allow the defense to begin calling witnesses. asserted
defense → tell → witnesses
That happened around 11:15 a.m."She told us that she had thoughts of harming the children" asserted
she → happen → children
Musgrove first took the stand just before the lunch recess. asserted
Musgrove → take → recess
She described her daughter as a loving mother who was dedicated to her children. asserted
who → describe → children
Musgrove said that around the second week of October 2022, she noticed a change in Clancy's demeanor. asserted
she → say → demeanor
Reddington displayed text messages for the jury. asserted
Reddington → display → jury
"Mom will you please come up and stay with me for a bit. asserted
you → come → bit
I had horrible insomnia all night and I just don't know how I'm going to get through the day. asserted
I → have → day
I started taking the medicine my doctor prescribed for anxiety and I think it's made things worse. asserted
things → start → anxiety
It's just really scary and I don't want to be alone," Clancy wrote. asserted
Clancy → want → ?
Reddington's final question involved a conversation Musgrove had with Clancy and her husband at the time, Patrick. asserted
Musgrove → involve → time
"I remember her being very nervous. asserted
her → remember → ?
I remember her saying, 'I just have to tell you guys something.' asserted
I → remember → something
And then she told us," Musgrove said. asserted
Musgrove → tell → us
"She told us that she had thoughts of harming the children." asserted
she → tell → children
On cross-examination, Sprague asked Musgrove about the conversation. asserted
Sprague → ask → conversation
She asked if Musgrove had any concerns about the children's safety. asserted
Musgrove → ask → safety
"No, because I was there," Musgrove said. asserted
Musgrove → say → ?
Sprague asked if Musgrove had any thoughts about having Clancy committed to a mental health facility. asserted
Clancy → ask → facility
She said she did not. asserted
she → say → ?
On cross-examination, the prosecutor read several text messages between Musgrove and Clancy from January 2023, in the weeks leading up to the children's deaths. asserted
prosecutor → read → deaths
In several of the messages, Musgrove would ask how Clancy was feeling. asserted
Clancy → ask → messages
In the messages read by Sprague, Clancy answered several times that she was going "good" and feeling "a little bit" better. asserted
she → read → Sprague
On Jan. 22, 2023, Lindsay and Patrick Clancy took their two older children to a friend's party and Musgrove stayed at the Duxbury home with Callan, the youngest child. asserted
Musgrove → take → Callan
After the party, Musgrove wrote to her daughter, "Enjoyed seeing everybody this weekend. asserted
Musgrove → write → everybody
Nice to see you doing better." asserted
you → see → ?
She was asked about the message by Sprague. asserted
She → ask → Sprague
"The text from me was meant to encourage her, because I didn't think it did any good to discourage her. asserted
it → mean → her
So the text was meant not necessarily what I observed that weekend, but it was meant to encourage her because I was encouraging her to do things with the kids to kind of try to get back to normal. asserted
I → mean → kids
So it's not necessarily a representation of what I observed that weekend," Musgrove said. asserted
Musgrove → observe → what
Sprague asked Musgrove if she remembered her interview with police the day after the children were killed. asserted
children → ask → police
"I do not recall. asserted
I → recall → ?
…and 57 more, not listed.
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