Defense concludes in Lindsay Clancy trial as jurors hear testimony from mental health experts about her state of mind during the murders of her three children.

Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 16:57:51 IST

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The defense concluded its case in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in Massachusetts on Friday. Jurors listened to testimony from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick, who was a significant witness in the Andrea Yates case following the tragic deaths of her five children in Texas in 2001.

He stated that Clancy reported experiencing an “external force" that overtook her body prior to the murders.

Clancy, 36, has entered a plea of not guilty to first-degree murder concerning the deaths of her three children: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, which occurred in their Duxbury residence on January 24, 2023.

Lindsay Clancy trial: Dr Avram Mack testifies

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The prosecution commenced calling rebuttal witnesses before the closing arguments of the trial, following the established protocol for cases involving an insanity defense.

Dr Avram Mack, who is also a forensic psychiatrist, testified that Clancy remembered instructing the children to “go to God” while she was in the act of strangling them.

Clancy informed him that she heard a "loud" voice repeatedly instructing her to "kill" the children "so you can kill yourself," as per Mack. Subsequently, she killed Dawson while uttering, "go to God," a phrase she repeated during all three murders, he stated.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said that the prosecution plans to present three rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments are anticipated to take place early next week.

Dr. Phillip Resnick says Lindsay Clancy ‘was just following the command’

Resnick provided testimony for the defense during the 2006 trial of Andrea Yates, who was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity. Resnick stated that Yates experienced severe postpartum psychosis.

Resnick, who provided his testimony via virtual means, stated that he conducted interviews with Clancy and her parents in May 2023.

The psychiatrist noted that Lindsay seemed “somewhat matter-of-fact, but she was still grieving” the loss of her children.

In the course of the interview, Resnick noted that Clancy seemed to downplay her symptoms instead of amplifying them, which he characterized as severe depression, signs indicative of bipolar disorder, and auditory hallucinations instructing her to harm her children.

Resnick contended that at the time of the tragic events, the mother fulfilled the criteria for postpartum psychosis. “She was clearly psychotic on that day,” he stated.

He maintained that Clancy should not be held criminally accountable as she was unable to regulate the commanding hallucinations that persuaded her the murders were “morally right.”

“She felt that she had to obey the instructions,” Resnick testified. “It was a matter where she was just following the command, rather than being able to make any decision to do this or not.”

“In her mind,” he continued, “she believed that she would be doing her children a favor by having them go to heaven with her, rather than remain on earth without her doing the mothering.”

Judge William Sullivan intervened

During Resnick's testimony, Judge William Sullivan directed the jurors to disregard any statements made by Clancy to medical professionals as substantive evidence.

Following the tragic incident, Clancy attempted to take her own life and subsequently became paralyzed due to a fall from a second-story window in the family's residence in Duxbury.

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