Lindsay Clancy's Case Proves THIS About Mental Illness

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brueski and Robin Drake.

**Tony Brueski** (0:08)
As we continue to break down the public understanding of the Lindsay Clancy trial, what's going on in it, what was going on in her mind, what was going on in the family and the provider and all of this, the cornucopia that made the Lindsay Clancy case what it is today. Shavaun Scott, psychotherapist and author, is with us to talk about it, along with Robin Drake, retired FBI special agent. The facts in this case are not in dispute. Lindsay Clancy did take the lives of her three children. She admits it. Her defense admits it. Her husband admits it. The question is whether she's a murderer or a casualty. Almost nobody watching this can sit long enough to consider that both might be true. Actually, a lot of you can. A lot of you are very good critical thinkers and thank God you are here.
The purpose of us talking about this is to help enlighten others on this topic. The prosecution says Lindsay sent Patrick out and then checked the map on her phone to see how long he'd be gone on the GPS tracking. They're saying, and this is where the prosecution really hangs their hat, premeditation. She looked up how long he was gone. That means it was premeditated. That means she's a monster. That means she's decided to do these horrible things to her children and then jump out a window. Never mind the 13 medications that she was just jacked around on for the last however many months and every doctor not taking her seriously. The suicide prevention hotline saying, sorry, you're not serious enough for us. Never mind all of that. It's just you check GPS. You must be this maniacal, horrible human being. The defense says she checked because she was terrified to be alone. Same fact, opposite conclusions.
Why is it that people sit with or can't sit with the possibility that both readings might be partially right here?

**Shavaun Scott** (1:57)
I think people like easy stories.
And sometimes when there's been a horrendous case like this, it's emotionally satisfying to look for who do we blame? You know, who is the monster? And people, I think, can sometimes misread it just because they don't understand it. And certainly this was a monstrous thing that happened. But it doesn't fit with who this woman was. You know, a compassionate person, a loving mother, a labor and delivery nurse, she helped people. This was her goal in life. So it just does not fit that this was coming from a rational place, you know? And even if she did do this in a way that, well, I have time now because he's not gonna be here, it was driven by these command hallucinations. And so, yes, all of that can be true.

**Robin Drake** (2:57)
Yeah, and besides, you keep saying, you know, we want someone easy to blame, and we keep pointing out here, the easiest thing to blame, and I know we don't like doing it, is the friggin system, the healthcare system for mental health is failing. And we keep coming across in so many things.

**Tony Brueski** (3:12)
I mean, is that why we see so much, I mean, I don't know, to me on this case, but we're fairly enlightened on mental health in our circle here.
Is it because people just really don't get it, and it's much easier to go and say, she's just a bad person, and come up with really simple explanations for this, because facing the reality of how broken our system is, that's an overwhelming thought. And if you're not dealing with the system, or never have had to deal with the system, you probably don't necessarily care all that much, unless it actually affects you. So this is somebody else's problem. They're all complaining about, until then you get in there, and you're like, oh, this is a monstrous, horrific system that doesn't function very well. So if you can tell yourself, ah, not a problem, it's this over here. Not a problem, this should have happened. I mean, it's the simplicity of not facing something that's broken and dealing with it. Is that really why it seems so easy for people to jump in this room that she's this monster? I mean, her own damn husband, who lost all of his children, is standing behind her.
Why is Karen in Kentucky's voice, why does Karen in Kentucky think her opinion is so much more valuable than those who actually were there?

**Shavaun Scott** (4:33)
Yeah, people like having a villain. They like an easy narrative. It's emotionally satisfying to them to just be able to say, you know, hang her high because she's a monster.