Lindsay Clancy's diary excerpts read at trial: "I feel like I'm drowning"

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Riley, N., Rex, K., & Kmitt, P. (2026, August 4). Lindsay Clancy's diary excerpts read at trial: "I feel like I'm drowning". CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/watch-live-lindsay-clancy-trial-day-5/

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

CBS News · collected 2026-08-04 · by Neal Riley, Kristina Rex, Penny Kmitt

Quick Summary

Plymouth Superior Court is hearing testimony from doctors who treated Lindsay Clancy and her children on the night of their murder. Clancy's diary excerpts were read in court, showing that she felt overwhelmed and desperate for a mental break before killing her three children. In one entry, she wrote "I feel like I'm drowning every day" due to the pressure of caring for them. The prosecution alleges Clancy made a calculated decision to strangle her 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and 8-month-old on January 24, 2023.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-21, 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, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children, Cora (5), Dawson (3), and Callan (8 months), has been defending herself in court by arguing that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the murders. Her defense team presented a psychiatric expert who testified that someone experiencing psychosis can still communicate and make plans, despite being mentally unwell. The prosecution, on the other hand, alleges that Clancy made a deliberate decision to kill her children, contradicting her claim of insanity. Excerpts from Clancy's diary, which were read aloud in court, show that she was feeling overwhelmed and struggling with her infant son's sleep schedule, writing "I feel like I'm drowning every day." The trial is ongoing in Plymouth Superior Court.

Written for “Lindsay Clancy Trial Developments” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lindsay Clancy Trial Developments
Crime & Law · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 40 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles report on the same trial, specifically the reading of diary excerpts from Lindsay Clancy's case on August 4, 2026, with a focus on her defense and prosecution.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
88
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
5 of 88 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
2
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-04 · 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 · 3021 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Neal Riley
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 After testimony ended, the prosecutors and defense met with the judge to discuss final instructions for the jury and exactly what will appear on their verdict slips.
🔮 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"
🔮 She also wrote down "Is my body broken?" and "Are my legs straight?" and asked Dr. Biswas if she could have visitors, and where her family was.
Also by Neal Riley
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
Kristina Rex
8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Judge William Sullivan denied a request from Lindsay Clancy's attorney to find her not guilty of murder in the 2023 deaths of her three children following her mistrial last month.
🔮 "I would suggest to you that the entire record is voluminous as to information supporting the fact that she did this."
🔮 "I would suggest to you that the entire record is voluminous as to information supporting the fact that she did this."
🔮 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.
🔮 A judge indicated the Lindsay Clancy murder trial would end in a mistrial Friday, then granted the defense a one-hour delay in order to make a plea to the state's highest court.
🔮 The hung jury could not reach a verdict in Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
🔮 After testimony ended, the prosecutors and defense met with the judge to discuss final instructions for the jury and exactly what will appear on their verdict slips.
🔮 She also wrote down "Is my body broken?" and "Are my legs straight?" and asked Dr. Biswas if she could have visitors, and where her family was.
Also by Kristina Rex
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 8 articles by Kristina Rex →
Penny Kmitt
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 She also wrote down "Is my body broken?" and "Are my legs straight?" and asked Dr. Biswas if she could have visitors, and where her family was.
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Boston Brigham & Women's Hospital Duxbury Massachusetts Plymouth Superior Court

Subjects

Clancy PERSON · 18× Shah PERSON · 6× Biswas PERSON · 4× Lindsay Clancy PERSON · 3× Boston GPE · 2× Brigham & Women's Hospital ORG · 2× Pat PERSON · 2× Reddington PERSON · 2× Duxbury GPE · 1× Plymouth Superior Court ORG · 1×

Narrative

The defense says she was overmedicated and committed the killings during an episode of extreme .Lindsay Clancy's diary read in court Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham read aloud from Lindsay Clancy's diary, which police seized with a search warrant.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-04
🔮 She also wrote down "Is my body broken?" and "Are my legs straight?" and asked Dr. Biswas if she could have visitors, and where her family was.

Claims (88 extracted, 5 hedged)

The resumed in Plymouth Superior Court on Monday after a week of emotional testimony in the case of the Duxbury, Massachusetts, mother who admitted to killing her three children. asserted
who → resume → children
The day started with doctors who treated Clancy and her children on the night of the murders taking the stand, and finished with the jury hearing excerpts from her diary. asserted
jury → start → diary
Prosecutors allege that she made a calculated decision to strangle 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan on Jan. 24, 2023. asserted
she → allege → Jan.
The defense says she was overmedicated and committed the killings during an episode of extreme .Lindsay Clancy's diary read in court Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham read aloud from Lindsay Clancy's diary, which police seized with a search warrant. asserted
police → say → warrant
Clancy wrote that she was obsessed with her infant son's sleep schedule. asserted
she → write → schedule
"Hearing him cry for one-plus hours and not intervening just about killed me. asserted
him → hear → me
I even said the words 'I want to die' to Pat while he was crying," Clancy wrote. asserted
Clancy → say → Pat
Clancy also said she was "completely overwhelmed" trying to take care of her three kids. asserted
she → say → kids
"I feel like I'm drowning every day," she wrote. asserted
she → feel → ?
In an entry dated Nov. 18, 2022, Clancy wrote, "It's like I'm so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me." asserted
mind → date → me
On cross-examination, defense attorney Kevin Reddington also read aloud some diary passages for the jury. asserted
Reddington → read → jury
"I now have horrible insomnia and anxiety which is causing depression," Clancy wrote. asserted
Clancy → have → depression
"I have no appetite, I don't know what's wrong with me. asserted
what → have → me
I want help. asserted
I → want → help
I want to be well." asserted
I → want → ?
Clancy also wrote that she had "crazy brain fog" and worried about not being able to function when she returned to work, Reddington noted. asserted
Reddington → write → work
"I feel completely disconnected with my baby. asserted
I → feel → baby
I feel like I'm going through the motions every day," Clancy wrote. asserted
Clancy → feel → motions
Clancy also said she felt "horribly guilty" about her marriage with her now ex-husband Patrick. asserted
she → say → husband
"I want to connect with Pat again," she said. asserted
she → want → Pat
"I know he needs it, I need it." asserted
I → know → it
Lindsay Clancy wrote she was "horrified" after murders Dr. Jhilam Biswas, a forensic psychiatrist at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, described visiting her for 20 to 30 minutes on Jan. 26, 2023. asserted
Biswas → write → Jan.
Clancy had just recently arrived at the Boston hospital after being transferred from South Shore Hospital. asserted
Clancy → arrive → Hospital
Clancy was still intubated, partially paralyzed from jumping out of her second-story bedroom window, and Dr. Biswas gave her paper to answer questions. asserted
Biswas → intubate → questions
She asked Clancy how her mood was that day. asserted
mood → ask → Clancy
"She wrote, 'horrified,'" Dr. Biswas testified. asserted
Biswas → write → ?
"She seemed very anxious." asserted
She → seem → ?
Dr. Biswas said one of the first questions Clancy asked was whether she had an attorney. asserted
she → say → attorney
She also wrote down "Is my body broken?" and "Are my legs straight?" and asked Dr. Biswas if she could have visitors, and where her family was. uncertain
family → write → visitors
Psychiatrists evaluated Lindsay Clancy in hospital after murders asserted
Psychiatrists → evaluate → murders
The 26th witness called by the prosecution was Brigham & Women's Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Sejal Shah, who first met Clancy on Jan. 29, 2023, five days after the murders. asserted
who → call → murders
Lindsay Clancy told her she wanted to change her healthcare proxy from her ex-husband Patrick Clancy to her parents. asserted
she → tell → parents
According to Dr. Shah, Clancy said she was initially delirious and experiencing some visual hallucinations in the hospital. uncertain
she → accord → hospital
Dr. Shah said that could have been due to anesthesia and a lack of oxygen. uncertain
that → say → oxygen
Dr. Shah spoke to Clancy on Feb. 21, 2023, before she was transferred out of the Brigham to a rehabilitation hospital. asserted
she → speak → hospital
Clancy reported feeling "down" about her current situation. asserted
Clancy → report → situation
"She said her thoughts about what she had done were not constant throughout the day, correct?" prosecutor Jennifer Sprague asked. asserted
Sprague → say → day
"Correct," Dr. Shah replied. asserted
Shah → reply → ?
"So she wasn't thinking about killing her children throughout the day, every day, correct?" Sprague asked. asserted
Sprague → think → day
"Correct," Dr. Shah said. asserted
Shah → say → ?
…and 48 more, not listed.
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support