The husband of a mother who took the l!ves of their three young children recalled her response when he inquired about the trag!c events. On January 24, 2023, Patrick Clancy was away from their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, for less than an hour. Upon returning, he found his wife, Lindsay, in their backyard.
Lindsay had jumped from their bedroom window after strangling their children: Cora, aged five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months old. Cora and Dawson were declared de*d that same day, and Callan passed away a few days later in the hospital. Although Lindsay survived her attempt to end her life, she was left paralyzed from the waist down and now faces charges of two counts of m*rder, three counts of str*ngulation, and three counts of ass*ult and battery with a d*ngerous weapon.
In the weeks before the trag*dy, Patrick noted that Lindsay suffered from anxiety, withdrew from social interactions, lost her appetite, and experienced sleep deprivation. Lindsay, who worked as a labor nurse, confessed to the k!llings but claimed she acted during a ‘moment of psychosis’ and pleaded not guilty.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Patrick detailed the events and his return to the devastating scene. Initially thinking Lindsay might be bathing their children, Patrick sensed something was amiss when he had to force open the master bedroom, which was locked. Inside, he found the window open, blo*d on the floor, and a blo*dy kn!fe on the nightstand.
Patrick discovered Lindsay outside, barely conscious, and asked her, “What did you do?” She replied, “I tried to k!ll myself.” When he inquired about the children, she responded, “In the basement.”
Patrick stayed with Lindsay until paramedics arrived, not realizing he was still on the phone with the emergency dispatcher. Once help arrived, he rushed to the basement to find their children. The call recording captured him shouting “Guys?” into the basement. Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague described how Patrick screamed in agony and shock when he discovered the children with exercise bands around their necks.
Later, after Lindsay was in custody, Patrick questioned her during phone calls. He recounted asking, “Did you plan this? Is that why you sent me out?” Lindsay allegedly emphasized that the deaths were not premeditated, saying, “No, it just was, like, a snap of the fingers.”
When confronted with the fact that Lindsay had searched ‘ways to k!ll’ online before the incident, she explained it was for herself, saying, “I was suic!dal for two months.”
Reflecting on his marriage, Patrick insisted he ‘wasn’t married to a m*nster’ but rather ‘someone who got sick.’ Although Lindsay’s case is still ongoing, Patrick believes that ‘it wasn’t her making those decisions.’