Treating Lindsay Clancy

**Erin Moriarty** (0:00)
As a warning, some of this content contains graphic and disturbing details, including discussions of suicide and the killing of children. So please listen or watch with care. We'll have resources at the end of the episode.

**Dr. Jennifer Tufts** (0:18)
I'm willing to try anything. I just keep coming back to the feeling that I'm dependent on Ativan after my two and a half weeks of taking it daily with Benadryl, following the bad reaction to Zoloft. I feel addicted to it, and I feel like I'm not being heard, that that is a possibility. I feel like we are throwing all these different meds at my insomnia when the root cause is Ativan dependence. I don't feel any of the anxious thoughts I had before. I feel completely numb.

**Erin Moriarty** (0:46)
That is one of the prosecutors reading what Lindsay Clancy wrote to a South Shore hospital nurse, sending her a message on the patient portal, MyChart.
We are nearly at the end of the third week of testimony in the case known as Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Lindsay Clancy. Lindsay is currently on trial for three counts of first degree murder. The now 36-year-old mother spent her birthday on Tuesday, August 11th in the courtroom. She's charged with killing her three young children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan. In our last episode on the trial, we got an inside look at the Clancy family through Lindsay's journals and from testimony of a former nanny. The jury got even more with a trip known as a jury view to locations crucial to the events of January 24th, 2023
This week, we're getting a glimpse into Lindsay's possible state of mind through the mental health providers who treated her.
The prosecution continues to present evidence that they say proves that Lindsay Clancy deliberately killed her children. They called Lindsay psychiatrist to the stand, as well as friends of the Clancy family and the children's preschool teachers. The defense doesn't deny that Lindsay killed her children, but says she shouldn't be held criminally responsible because she experienced post-partum psychosis that took away her ability to control her actions. A psychosis, the defense says, was exacerbated by the medications she had been prescribed. We have continually seen this argument laid out by the defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, as he cross-examines the state's witnesses. What seems to be unusual in this case is that prosecutors and Lindsay's defense appear to be using some of the very same evidence to try to prove their very different arguments. It appears that this could be a very tough case for jurors.
I'm 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty, and this is Case by Case. As you know, I've been doing this for a while, and I've watched gavel to gavel coverage on many trials. And usually as the state presents its case, viewers watching the trial online are supportive of the prosecution in their comments. But there seems to be something very different with this case. If the comments online are any indication, viewers are deeply divided. Now, we've been following this case closely and covered the second week of the trial in our last episode. For our continuing coverage, you can check the Case by Case feed wherever you find your podcast. You can also watch episodes of Case by Case on the 48 Hours YouTube channel, or by searching Case by Case on Paramount Plus. Returning this week is friend of the show and CBS News correspondent, Shanelle Kaul, who has been covering the trial for the network. Thanks for being with us today, Shanelle. First, I want to ask how you are.

**Shanelle Kaul** (4:08)
You know, I think as journalists, Erin, the story obviously is never about us. This one is a hard one, I think, as a woman.
I'm not a mother yet, but I can imagine for any mother out there who is watching this happen or covering the trial inside the courtroom, it's definitely a hard time.

**Erin Moriarty** (4:25)
Well, Shanelle, it's week three, and this trial has been taking a toll on everyone in the courtroom. I think most visibly, Lindsay Clancy, when her children's autopsy photos were presented as evidence. On Wednesday, two medical examiners, as you know, took the stand to speak to the injuries that were sustained by Cora, Dawson and Callan. This was such an intense moment. I'm going to play some of that for you.
You could actually hear Lindsay breaking down at one point saying, I can't do it.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:57)
What do you mean by your furrow?

**SPEAKER_5** (5:00)
So again, the furrow is, a ligature is when you have external compression by an object on the neck, and a furrow is simply a pattern of injury that occurs beneath it. It can be an imprint, it could be a pattern, or it could be more developed types of injuries such as bruising or abrasions.