The Lindsay Clancy story: How a mother killed her three children then raised nearly $1 million in public support

• In January 2023, Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children before attempting to kill herself.

• Her lawyers insist that she cannot be held criminally liable because she was suffering from a severe case of postpartum psychosis.

• The prosecution, however, argues that her actions were premeditated, calculated, and meticulously executed.

On August 14, 2026, the prosecutors closed their case in the prosecution of Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old former nurse from Duxbury, Massachusetts, who on January 24, 2023, strangled her three kids before attempting to kill herself.

Since the trial commenced in July 2026 after postponements, the chilling story is back making headlines, and among the most interesting parts of the story is how the defendant has been able to garner public sympathy and raise nearly $1 million in donations.

On 24 January 2023, one of the most shocking crimes in the state of Boston happened at Duxbury, where 36-year-old former obstetric nurse Lindsay Clancy strangled her three young children. Clancy, using an exercise band, strangled the three young children: Cora, aged 5; Dawson, aged 3; and 8-month-old Callan, at the family's house.

According to the police report, she committed the crime within the 25 minutes her husband Patrick stepped out to pick up the takeout food and medication he ordered.

After killing her three kids, she proceeded to cut her wrist and neck before throwing herself outside the window of their two-story building in an attempt to commit suicide. Her husband would later find her lying outside in a pool of blood and call 911 before going inside and discovering she had killed their three children.

The fall would leave her permanently paralysed from the waist down, which has since restricted her to a wheelchair.

After her arrest, Lindsay Clancy did not deny killing her children. However, her lawyer argues that she cannot be held criminally liable for the crime because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a severe and rare mental health crisis that causes delusions, hallucinations, and a break from reality. The defence further argued that she was overly medicated in the period leading up to her actions, and she had a documented history of seeking help for disturbing thoughts in the weeks before the killings.

Prosecutors, however, reject the defence claim that she cannot be held criminally liable. While the prosecution acknowledged her mental health issues, they insisted that she was not in the throes of psychosis when she carried out the killings, which is described as "meticulous and deliberate".

At the high-profile trial of national interest, which commenced in July 2026 at the Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts, prosecutors say digital evidence, including a search on Apple Maps, proves she plotted the killing in advance. Her cellphone notes were also presented as evidence of her calculated mindset in the period before the deaths. The prosecution rested its case on August 14, 2026, as all eyes turned on the defence to prove their case that she should not be held criminally liable.

While the prosecution rigorously pursues its case in court, a large number of sympathisers have sided with Lindsey Clancy, whom they consider the victim let down by the medical system during a mental health crisis.

The public sympathy, mostly from women, has culminated in financial support from donors who have contributed nearly $1 million to her $2 million legal support fund on crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.

So far, the public remains divided on the issue, with some considering her a victim while others side with the prosecution, who have adduced evidence to show the killings were premeditated. As the trial continues to unfold, the process and outcome have sparked conversations on postpartum mental illness and the possible romanticisation of such mental conditions.