Closing arguments are set to begin in Lindsay Clancy’s trial in the killings of her 3 children

Closing arguments are set to begin in Lindsay Clancy’s trial in the killings of her 3 children 0 seconds of 1 minute, 4 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Massachusetts woman suspected in officer's death believed found dead 01:03 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% 00:00 01:04 01:04 More Videos 01:03 Massachusetts woman suspected in officer's death believed found dead 00:47 Moscow’s Tsaritsyno park opens festival of historical gardens 00:45 Iranian parliament speaker hails shared history with Iraq during visit to Karbala 00:40 US sends 20 deportees to Liberia, part of 1,200 migrants the country will receive under new deal 01:19 Provincial leader says Trump is a ‘bad person’ as Canada weighs concessions for trade deal 00:59 AP Top Stories August 21 00:38 Migrant caravan sets out from southern Mexico amid asylum delays and unemployment 00:41 Lula tired of Putin waging war and Trump "saying he has the biggest ship" during campaign rally Close 1 of 6 | Testimony concluded Wednesday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a mother accused of strangling her three young children in a case that has drawn attention to postpartum mental health. 2 of 6 | CORRECTS SPELLING TO LINDSAY - Lindsay Clancy listens to the testimony of Dr. Gregory Saathoff during her murder trial in Plymouth-superior-court" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="172188" data-entity-type="location">Plymouth Superior Court, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026 in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr /The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) 3 of 6 | Judge William Sullivan tells the jury they will have the case to decide a verdict as soon as Thursday afternoon during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth-superior-court" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="172188" data-entity-type="location">Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass. on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) 4 of 6 | Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague rests her case as defense attorney Kevin Reddington gets in one last question to rebuttal witness Dr. Gregory Saathoff during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth-superior-court" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="172188" data-entity-type="location">Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass. on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) 5 of 6 | Defense attorney Kevin Reddington questions Dr. Gregory Saathoff about drugs found in a nightstand in the Clancy home during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth-superior-court" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="172188" data-entity-type="location">Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass. on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) 6 of 6 | Michael Musgrove, the father of Lindsay Clancy listens to testimony in his daughters murder trial in Plymouth-superior-court" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="172188" data-entity-type="location">Plymouth Superior Court, on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026 in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr /The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) By MICHAEL CASEY and LEAH WILLINGHAM Updated 6:01 AM MESZ, August 27, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Plymouth, Mass. (AP) — Closing arguments are set for Thursday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of strangling her three young children in a case that has drawn attention to postpartum mental health. Proceedings are expected to resume around 9 a.m. in Plymouth-superior-court" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="172188" data-entity-type="location">Plymouth Superior Court. The prosecution and defense will each have an hour to make their final case before the jury receives instructions and begins deliberating. Clancy did not testify during the trial, which is in its fifth week. Prosecutors called more than 70 witnesses, including Clancy’s then-husband, while the defense called 10 witnesses, including some of Clancy’s friends and relatives. Multiple psychologists and psychiatrists also testified about Clancy’s mental health, which is the central issue in the case. EDITOR’S 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. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, with her lawyers arguing she was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan Clancy at the family’s home in coastal Duxbury in January 2023 before attempting suicide. Postpartum psychosis is a rare mental illness that is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. Prosecutors say Clancy planned the killings and understood her actions were wrong. Lindsay Clancy trial spotlights psychiatric hospital stay before she killed her 3 children 3 MIN READ 34 Prosecution’s final witnesses at Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial challenge postpartum psychosis claim 3 MIN READ 67 Testimony concludes in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial. Jury to hear closing arguments Thursday 3 MIN READ 67 If convicted of murder, Clancy faces a mandatory life prison sentence. If jurors find her not guilty because she lacked criminal responsibility, she would not face prison time but could be committed to a psychiatric facility. Testifying Wednesday as the final rebuttal witness for the prosecution, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of Virginia and a senior psychiatrist for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit said he did not believe Clancy’s account that a voice ordered her to kill the children. Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague asked Dr. Gregory Saathoff a series of questions about Clancy’s account: Did the voice tell her where to kill the children? How to kill them? What to use? In what order? Saathoff answered no each time. All three children were strangled with exercise bands in the family’s basement before Clancy jumped from a second-floor window while her husband went to pick up takeout and medication on Jan. 24, 2023. Saathoff said her ability to accomplish everything she did without direction indicated Clancy “had control, control of the sequence of what she was doing throughout.” Defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Saathoff about Clancy’s attempts to search online for information about postpartum depression, her visits to multiple maternal and mental health providers, disclosures to her mother and then-husband that she was suicidal and feared that she would harm her children, and calls to a suicide hotline — all attempts that Reddington contends establish that Clancy realized something was seriously wrong and made a sincere effort over time to get help. Reddington, referencing the prosecutor’s opening statement, asked whether Saathoff believes that Clancy decided to kill her children because she “no longer liked the life she thought she wanted” and was making “a selfish choice” to “manipulate her providers, seek out a quick and easy fix when she was feeling depressed and anxious.” “I think that statement that you read really minimizes what she was going through,” Saathoff responded. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto