Mom accused of sending husband on errand to give her enough time to strangle their 3 kids in basement of home is indicted for murder

A Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children in the basement of her home and trying to take her own life by jumping out of a window on Jan. 24 was indicted by a grand jury Friday on charges of murder and strangulation, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz revealed.

Lindsay Clancy, a 32-year-old from Duxbury, was indicted on three charges each of murder and strangulation in the asphyxiation deaths of 5-year-old Cora Clancy, 3-year-old Dawson Clancy, and 8-month-old Callan Clancy. Authorities said that the day cops responded to the grisly scene it was clear the children were "unconscious and with obvious signs of severe trauma." Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead that day at the hospital, and Callan died days later.

"As a result of information gathered during the ongoing investigation, detectives developed probable cause, obtained an arrest warrant for Lindsay Clancy and she was taken into custody," the DA's office said.

Clancy appeared in court for the first time via Zoom from a hospital bed back in February.

When she was asked if she was present for the arraignment and understood what was taking place, Clancy replied: "Yes, your honor."

Since then, Plymouth County prosecutors and the defense have clashed on what the case is all about.

The defense maintained that Clancy was overmedicated on 13 different psychiatric drugs and that there was possibly "a component of post-partum depression" to the case.

The prosecution, on the other hand, alleged that Lindsey Clancy, in a calculated manner, asked her husband Patrick Clancy to go out for a time-consuming errand that she knew would give her enough time to annihilate her children in the basement of her home before jumping out of a window to take her own life.

In support of the argument that Clancy planned the murders, prosecutors said there was evidence that she searched how long it would take for her husband to pick up from the Plymouth restaurant ThreeV.

While running an errand at CVS, Patrick Clancy called his wife to make sure he had grabbed the product she wanted him to buy. Though he didn't think of anything of it at the time, he said it "seemed like she was in the middle of something."

When he got home, he immediately knew that something was wrong, as the house was completely silent. Prosecutors said Patrick Clancy "saw blood on the floor" and "the window open." When he ran downstairs, he found a seriously injured Lindsay Clancy outside and asked her: "What did you do?"

Lindsay Clancy allegedly replied that she tried to kill herself and told her husband that the children were "in the basement."

"Each child still had the exercise band that was used to strangle them around their necks when their father found them," Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague said. "She had to strangle each of them to unconscious and then make sure the bands were squeezing their little necks for several minutes."

Clancy's defense lawyer Kevin Reddington countered that his client was suicidal and that the slayings were "a product of mental illness."

Prosecutors said Clancy would be arraigned on the indictment in Plymouth Superior Court but they did not say when.

To this day, Lindsay Clancy is receiving treatment at a medical facility as she is held without bail, prosecutors said.

Days after his whole family was taken from him, Patrick Clancy said in a lengthy statement that he forgave his wife:

I want to share some thoughts about Lindsay. She's recently been portrayed largely by people who have never met her and never knew who the real Lindsay was. Our marriage was wonderful and diametrically grew stronger as her condition rapidly worsened. I took as much pride in being her husband as I did in being a father and felt persistently lucky to have her in my life. I still remember the very moment I first laid eyes on her and can recall how overcome I was with the kind of love at first sight you only see in movies. It really didn't take long before I was certain I wanted to marry her. We said "I love you" to each other multiple times daily, as if it were a reflex. We habitually started every morning with a passionate hug, yielding a sigh of relief like we had each received the perfect medicine. If too much time passed with out a hug, she'd look at me and ask, "did you forget?" We mutually understood the reality that people can have bad days, but we stuck to the rule that when one of us got lost, the other was always there to bring them home, always. She loved being a nurse, but nothing matched her intense love for our kids and dedication to being a mother. It was all she ever wanted. Her passion taught me how to be a better father.I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have. The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone – me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients. The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace.

Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.