{"id":5597,"date":"2026-08-19T22:10:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597"},"modified":"2026-08-19T22:10:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:10:54","slug":"lindsay-clancy-was-begging-for-help-and-feared-drug-dependence-in-weeks-before-her-children-died-ex-mother-in-law-testifies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597","title":{"rendered":"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5595\">Pentagon pushes \u2018zero tolerance\u2019 audit on foreign university partnerships that \u2018compromise our national security\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLindsay was struggling \u2014 we were all concerned,\u201d said Susan Clancy. Her son, Patrick Clancy, found the Massachusetts couple\u2019s children after they had been strangled in the family basement in January 2023. Lindsay Clancy also attempted to take her own life that night and was left paralyzed. Lindsay and Patrick Clancy are now divorced.<\/p>\n<p>The trial centers not on whether Lindsay Clancy killed her children on Jan. 24, 2023, which her lawyers do not dispute, but on her state of mind at the time. Her attorney argues she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from\u00a0postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.<\/p>\n<h4>Former mother-in-law says Lindsay was open about her struggles<\/h4>\n<p>Susan Clancy\u2019s testimony echoed emotional accounts the day before from\u00a0Lindsay Clancy\u2019s mother and sister, who recounted for jurors how they saw her become increasingly anxious, paranoid and suicidal starting in the fall of 2022.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Susan Clancy, who, like Lindsay, worked as a labor and delivery nurse, said in Plymouth Superior Court that she and her former daughter-in-law were close and described Lindsay as a \u201cwonderful mother\u201d who was \u201cvery nurturing, very loving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan Clancy said that Lindsay was open with her about struggling and asked for her mother-in-law\u2019s support. The jury was shown texts between Lindsay and Susan Clancy in which Lindsay spoke about fears that she had developed a dependence on benzodiazepines, but couldn\u2019t sleep without taking them.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not okay and I\u2019m terrified of taking meds tonight,\u201d Lindsay texted her mother-in-law on Nov. 30, 2022, two months before the killings.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Monday, Lindsay Clancy\u2019s mother, Paula Musgrove, said her daughter was scared of sleeping alone, became increasingly paranoid and believed the medications she was taking \u201cwere destroying her mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That December, Lindsay Clancy told her mother and her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, that \u201cshe had thoughts of harming the children,\u201d Musgrove said. Lindsay Clancy\u2019s sister Allison Ozga testified that at the end of December, Lindsay told her she had experienced suicidal thoughts every day for a month.<\/p>\n<h4>Psychologist who visited Lindsay in the hospital said there\u2019s no evidence she\u2019s lying<\/h4>\n<p>Prosecutors argue that Lindsay Clancy planned the killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him out on errands. They have pointed to normal activities she performed that day, including taking her children to the doctor and playing with them in the snow.<\/p>\n<p>Lindsay Clancy\u2019s attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued that in addition to suffering from postpartum psychosis, she had bipolar disorder and that antidepressants prescribed after the birth of her third child worsened her condition.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5593\">Geopolitical risk needs to move away from the \u2018after-dinner speaker\u2019: Eurasia Group and Rio Tinto\u2019s Dominic Barton<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist who visited Lindsay Clancy in the hospital in early February 2023, described seeing her handcuffed to a hospital bed and unable to move below her sternum. Her memory of what had happened was \u201cfuzzy and foggy,\u201d he said, and she was taking medication for significant pain following surgery.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Zeizel said Clancy knew who she was but didn\u2019t know where she was and wasn\u2019t sure of the time. She asked about Patrick, how he was doing and whether she could speak to him. Two days later, she spoke to Patrick using Zeizel\u2019s cellphone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told Patrick that she loved him very much,\u201d Zeizel testified. He said Lindsay Clancy then told Patrick \u201cthat she heard a male voice ordering her,\u201d telling her she had no choice but to kill her children and then herself.<\/p>\n<p>Zeizel has met with Lindsay Clancy dozens of times since then. He testified that psychological testing administered by a government doctor found no evidence she was faking or exaggerating psychiatric symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>Zeizel also testified that before the killings, Lindsay Clancy described having \u201chorrible thoughts\u201d and believing her thoughts were so loud other people could hear them.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He testified that psychotic symptoms can come and go, and that a person experiencing psychosis can still perform ordinary activities such as making a phone call or driving a car.<\/p>\n<h4>If convicted of murder, Lindsay faces life without parole<\/h4>\n<p>Clancy\u2019s livestreamed trial has generated intense public interest. Over the prior weeks, jurors\u00a0visited the home\u00a0where she killed her children, and heard emotional testimony from Patrick Clancy.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At the start of the trial, Patrick Clancy described the horror of returning home to find his dead children. Prosecutors played a seven-minute 911 call in which he can be heard finding the bodies and telling a dispatcher, \u201cShe killed the kids!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If convicted of murder, Lindsay Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty because of a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>This story was first published on Aug. 18, 2026. It was updated on Aug. 19, 2026 to correct the spelling of the name of a clinical and forensic psychologist who testified for the defense. The correct spelling is Dr. Paul Zeizel, not Zeisel.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5591\">Trump threatens to bomb Oman, widening the war that crippled the global economy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Susan Clancy told jurors her former daughter-in-law was &#8220;struggling&#8221; for months as the defense builds its postpartum psychosis case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[578],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-women"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Susan Clancy told jurors her former daughter-in-law was &quot;struggling&quot; for months as the defense builds its postpartum psychosis case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T22:10:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-19T22:10:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597\"},\"wordCount\":925,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Women\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597\",\"name\":\"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-19T22:10:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5597#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Susan Clancy told jurors her former daughter-in-law was \"struggling\" for months as the defense builds its postpartum psychosis case","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-08-19T22:10:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies","datePublished":"2026-08-19T22:10:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597"},"wordCount":925,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp","articleSection":["Women"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597","name":"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-19T22:10:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f961df3b9f14ef51e08decb1c1dd213.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5597#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lindsay Clancy was \u2018begging for help\u2019 and feared drug dependence in weeks before her children died, ex-mother-in-law testifies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}