Lindsay Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, took the stand at her daughter's trial, testifying about Lindsay's behavior and statements in the months leading up to the killing of her three children on January 24, 2023. According to Musgrove, Lindsay had expressed thoughts of harming the children and had said she felt medication for postpartum depression was "destroying" her mind. The defense is seeking to show that Lindsay's actions were driven by a broad array of depressive symptoms and postpartum mental illness, rather than an intentional act. Lindsay's mother testified that in the months leading up to the killings, Lindsay lost weight, became paranoid, and said "this wasn't her mind" and "this isn't me".
Written by the local model 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).
Story summary
A Massachusetts mother, Lindsay Clancy, is on trial for allegedly murdering her three young children, Cora (5), Dawson (3), and Callan (8 months). Prosecutors claim that Clancy planned the murders and faked a suicide attempt afterwards. The defense, however, argues that Clancy should not be held criminally responsible due to her mental state at the time of the killings. They cite her diagnosis with bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, which they say caused extreme mood swings, delusions, and confusion.
Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that her daughter had expressed thoughts of harming the children and felt overwhelmed by medication for postpartum depression. A psychologist, Dr. Paul Zeizel, met with Clancy in the hospital after the killings and reported that she heard a male voice ordering her to kill her children.
The trial has seen 15 days of testimony so far, with the defense calling several witnesses, including Clancy's mother and a forensic psychologist. The prosecution has presented evidence that Clancy planned the murders and faked a suicide attempt. Closing arguments are expected early next week. If convicted, Clancy faces life in prison without parole.
Written for “Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.
The defense in the Lindsay Clancy filicide case called the defendant’s mother as one of its first witnesses Monday, after three weeks of prosecution evidence laid out, in often harrowing detail, events surrounding Clancy’s killing of her three children.
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weeks → call → children
Under questioning from defense attorney Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that her daughter’s statements and actions had unsettled her in the months leading up to 24 January 2023.
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statements → question → January
Clancy, Musgrove testified to the court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, had asked if she could sleep in her mother’s bed and told her she felt the medication she had been prescribed for postpartum depression were “destroying” her mind.
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she → testify → mind
Musgrove also disclosed that on one occasion her daughter had approached her and Lindsay’s former husband, Patrick Clancy, and said: “I want to tell you guys something”.
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I → disclose → something
“She said she had thoughts of harming the children,” Musgrove testified.
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Musgrove → say → children
Patrick has previously told the court of his former wife’s statement and said she told him she had no plans to hurt the kids.
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she → tell → kids
Jurors have heard testimony from Patrick that his wife told him after the killings, while in hospital, that she’d “heard a man’s voice telling her that if she didn’t do it now, she would lose her chance, or something like that”.
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she → hear → that
Lindsay’s mother also said she received a text from her daughter on 20 October, three months before the killings.
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she → say → killings
“I’m really sick.
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I → ’m → ?
Something is wrong,” Lindsay wrote, saying she didn’t know how she would get through each day, and that medicine had not helped.
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medicine → write → day
“I don’t want to be alone,” Lindsay added in the text.
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Lindsay → want → text
Musgrove went to her daughter’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and stayed for a week.
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Musgrove → go → week
In the following months, Musgrove and her husband made repeated trips from their home in Connecticut.
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Musgrove → make → Connecticut
“In November and December, it was not getting better,” Musgrove testified, adding that Lindsay was losing weight and becoming “paranoid”.
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Lindsay → get → weight
Musgrove said her daughter had said “this wasn’t her mind” and said “this isn’t me.
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this → say → ?
I just want to feel better and enjoy my kids again.”
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I → want → kids
Lindsay’s defense is seeking to show she was suffering from a broad array of depressive symptoms, for which she had sought psychiatric help in the months leading up to the killing.
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she → seek → killing
Reddington argues the killings were driven by postpartum mental illness and not an intentional act, as prosecutors contend, followed by an insincere suicide attempt.
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prosecutors → argue → attempt
Lindsay, 36, is charged with the murders of her children, Cora, five, Dawson, three and eight-month-old Callan.
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Lindsay → charge → children
Lindsay does not deny she fatally strangled her children – but has pleaded not guilty to murder, by reason of insanity or, under Massachusetts statutes, a lack of criminal responsibility.
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she → deny → responsibility
If convicted of first-degree murder Lindsay faces life in prison without parole.
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Lindsay → convict → parole
If jurors find her not guilty, due to lack of criminal responsibility or by reason of insanity, she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital.
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she → find → hospital
Allison Ozga, Lindsay’s sister, testified that in the months leading up to the killings she had learned that her sister was having suicidal thoughts.
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sister → testify → thoughts
“She’s feeling numb, she’s feeling hopeless,” Ozga said.
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Ozga → feel → ?
Earlier on Monday, the prosecution rested after calling Ian Whiffin, a digital forensic expert tasked with examining Lindsay’s cellphone to look at her search history, calls, text messages and health data.
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prosecution → rest → history
Whiffin said that at 5pm on the night of the killings, Lindsay had climbed two flights of stairs and spoken by phone with her husband, who was then at a pharmacy collecting constipation medication and going to pick up a takeout.
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who → say → takeout
In the days prior, Whiffin testified, Lindsay searched online for “how quickly does Wellbutrin work for depression”, giving a brand name for a medication used to treat major depression, and “ketamine for suicidal ideation”.
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Wellbutrin → testify → ideation
Five days before killing the children, on 19 January, she searched “symptoms of postpartum psychosis” and “psychosis symptoms”.
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she → kill → psychosis
