Lindsay Clancy suffering 'command hallucination' when she killed children, court hears

What the report says

Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial in Massachusetts heard from the defence’s final witness, a forensic psychiatrist, who told jurors that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and a “command hallucination” when her three children were killed. The defence does not dispute that Clancy carried out the killings, but argues she was not legally responsible because of her mental state at the time.

Psychiatrist Phillip Resnick testified that, in his view, Clancy’s condition meant she could not conform her conduct to the law and may not have been able to tell right from wrong on the day in January 2023 when prosecutors say she strangled Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, in the family’s home before jumping from a second-floor window. He also said she believed she was doing her children a favour by taking them to heaven with her.

Prosecutors have portrayed the case as a deliberate killing, and the trial has included testimony from Clancy’s mother and former mother-in-law about a sharp decline in her mental health after the birth of her youngest child. The case is expected to go to the jury early next week after nearly a month of evidence. Postpartum psychosis is a rare but serious mental illness that can occur after childbirth and is treated as a medical emergency, according to the NHS, which provides general background context on the condition.