Lindsay Clancy's mom says daughter thought about hurting her children weeks before killings—legal fundraiser hits $835,000

Lindsay Clancy’s mother testified that her daughter told her she was having thoughts of harming her children weeks before the former nurse allegedly killed them at their Massachusetts home.

Paula Musgrove took the stand during Clancy’s murder trial and described a December 2022 conversation in which her daughter became nervous and told her and Patrick Clancy that she had thoughts of harming the children. Clancy is accused of killing her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan at the family’s home in Duxbury in January 2023. She has admitted killing the children but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. 

Musgrove told jurors that she began noticing changes in her daughter around October 2022 and said Clancy's condition did not appear to improve over the following months. In one October text exchange, Clancy asked her mother to stay with her, writing: "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." Clancy continued: "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."

Weeks later, prosecutors say Clancy strangled her three children using exercise bands before attempting to take her own life. The attempt left her paralyzed and permanently wheelchair bound. The prosecution rested in its case after spending the first three weeks of trial arguing that the killings were intentional and planned rather than the result of Clancy losing control. 

The defense has maintained that Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings. She is also suing former healthcare providers over alleged medical malpractice and negligence. If convicted of murder, Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If she is found not criminally responsible because of mental illness, she would instead be committed to a state mental health facility. The victim's ages at the time of the killings were 5, 3 and eight months.

It comes as a fundraiser for her surpasses $800,000. The fundraiser was launched in order to support Mosgrove and her family, as she says the family's funds have gone towards a defense for Lindsay.