Lindsay Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, gave evidence in her daughter’s murder trial this week.
Clancy’s murder trial has also heard from a former colleague who recalled her becoming emotional during a conversation about Andrea Yates. Yates confessed to drowning her five children in 2001.
Margaret Hamp, who worked with Clancy as a labour and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, told the court that Clancy had asked: “How could a mother hurt her children?”
Her evidence came as the defence began calling witnesses on Monday, August 17, after the prosecution rested its case. Clancy’s mother, Paula, and sister, Allison Ozga, also gave evidence.
What do the prosecution and defence claim?
Prosecutors allege that Clancy intentionally killed her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023.
The court has heard that she then attempted to take her own life by cutting her wrists and jumping from a second-floor window.
Lindsay, 36, has pleaded not guilty. Her lawyers claim she was overmedicated and experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time of the children’s deaths. They argue that she should therefore not be held criminally responsible.
Lindsay Clancy’s mother gives evidence
Paula fought back tears on the stand while speaking about her late grandchildren. She also described Clancy as a “loving mother”.
She told the court that her daughter had confided in her about her declining mental health and concerns over medication side effects.
Recalling a stay with her daughter and Clancy’s then-husband, Patrick, in December 2022, Paula testified: “She told us she had thoughts of harming the children.”
On the stand, Paula also recalled a text message she received from Clancy in October 2022.
The text read: “Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I’m really sick. Something is wrong. I had horrible insomnia all night and I just don’t know how I’m going to get through the day. I started taking the medicine my doctor prescribed for anxiety and I think it’s made things worse.
“It’s just really scary and I don’t want to be alone.”
Paula told the court: “She would say to me, ‘This isn’t me, I’ve never been like this before.’ And I would agree, because she wasn’t.
She also testified that Clancy had told her that she believed her medication was “destroying her mind”.
Defence lawyer Kevin Reddington called Paula as a witness after the prosecution concluded its case. The court also heard evidence from Clancy’s sister and former colleague.
Andrea Yates mentioned in court
Hamp said Lindsay brought up Andrea Yates while at work. Yates admitted drowning her five children in Texas in 2001 and had a history of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.
Yates was convicted of capital murder in 2002 and received a life sentence. That conviction was later overturned. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a retrial four years later. She is currently in a state mental health hospital.
Hamp’s recollection is among the evidence being heard as Lindsay’s lawyers focus on her mental health and treatment before the children’s deaths.
Read more: Tragedy that rocked actress Hayden Panettiere’s family’s lives years before her death at 36