PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — Lindsay Clancy’s former father-in-law took the stand on Thursday and revealed that he and his wife were invited to have dinner at the defendant’s house on the night her children were killed, but they declined.
Lindsay Clancy sits in court on Aug. 6, 2026. (Court TV)
Lindsay Clancy, 35, has pleaded not guilty to charges that she murdered her three young children. She does not deny strangling Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, with exercise bands in the family’s basement, but has claimed through her attorney that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
On Thursday, Christopher Clancy, the father of Lindsay Clancy’s now-ex-husband and the grandfather of the three children, testified that the defendant had seemed to be in good spirits around the holidays in the weeks leading up to the children’s deaths. He did note that Lindsay Clancy seemed “distracted” and quiet at times around Thanksgiving in 2022.
On Jan. 24, 2023, the children were killed in the family’s home while Patrick Clancy, their father, had gone out to pick up dinner from a restaurant and stop at CVS. Christopher Clancy revealed that his son and the defendant had invited the grandparents over for dinner that night, but they already had plans. Christopher Clancy said the group planned to meet that Friday.
Hours later, prosecutors say, Lindsay Clancy carried out a plot to kill her children.
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While Lindsay Clancy’s defense has argued that she was in the throes of psychosis on Jan. 24, prosecutors brought in several witnesses who described the mother’s behavior as normal in the days and weeks before. One of the defendant’s friends, Bethany DeCollibus, testified that she never noticed any extreme changes, but did note that Lindsay Clancy was increasingly tired. “I think for a period of time, it felt normal,” she said. “But after it seemed to continue and not let up for her, I definitely worried about her and was concerned.”
Amy Bevins, another friend, said that in the days before Jan. 24, Lindsay Clancy told her that “she had been taking a medication that caused her to have some dark thoughts, but that she was going to, or had been weaning, like tapering off that medication, and was trialing new ones.” Bevins said that the defendant never specified what those dark thoughts were.
Lindsay Clancy sobs in court on Aug. 6, 2026. (Court TV)
Months later, in March 2023, Bevins went to visit her friend at the rehabilitation hospital where she was recovering from the injuries she inflicted on herself after killing her children. “At any point in time did she mention the death of her children?” Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague asked Bevins. “No,” she said. “At any point in time did she break down in tears and cry about her children?” Sprague pushed. “No,” Bevins said.
Lindsay Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, urged the witness to clarify that the subject of the kids’ deaths was never brought up at the visit. “I remember also being told not to bring that up specifically,” Bevins said. “I figured that could be due to the recommendation of mental health providers.”
Lindsay Clancy sat largely silent during Thursday’s testimony. At one point, a court officer escorted her out of the room, sobbing, after a medical examiner testified to the injuries her youngest son suffered.
