PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy triple murder trial heard extensive testimony Friday morning about the Duxbury mother’s mental health treatment at McLean Hospital as her murder trial entered its ninth day.
Dr. Alia Goodheart, a psychiatrist who treated Clancy during her stay at McLean, testified about the Duxbury mother’s condition and treatment plan in the weeks before her three children were killed.
According to Goodheart, Clancy began reporting intrusive and suicidal thoughts in early December 2022, which she believed were linked to medications she had been prescribed.
When Clancy was admitted to McLean Hospital on New Year’s Day 2023, doctors initially continued her existing medications while evaluating her condition. Goodheart testified that Clancy’s provisional diagnosis at the time was major depressive disorder, severe, without psychotic features.
Jurors heard that during an initial psychiatric evaluation on Jan. 1, Clancy denied feeling depressed and denied having passive death wishes or suicidal thoughts. However, Goodheart said Clancy described feeling emotionally numb.
Goodheart testified that one of her treatment goals was to reduce Clancy’s use of Seroquel and closely monitor her symptoms and sleep patterns.
“She did not want to be dependent on an antipsychotic medication,” Goodheart testified, explaining that Clancy wanted to see whether she could sleep without relying on Seroquel.
The psychiatrist told jurors she also tracked Clancy’s sleep as part of an effort to determine whether bipolar disorder could be contributing to her symptoms.
Goodheart testified that Clancy’s risk of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis were serious considerations as doctors worked to understand her mental health struggles following the birth of her youngest child.
The jury also learned that Clancy’s stay at McLean ended earlier than planned after she expressed anxiety about remaining hospitalized and said she wanted to return home to her husband and children.
Clancy is charged with killing her three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, at the family’s Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023, before attempting to take her own life.
Prosecutors allege she was criminally responsible for her actions, while the defense argues she was suffering from severe postpartum mental illness, was overmedicated, and did not receive appropriate treatment.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, at any time for free and confidential support.
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