The question for Susan Clancy, aimed at whether Lindsay Clancy understood the wrongfulness of her actions, prompted the judge to call an immediate sidebar. (Credit: Pool)
Prosecutors played the faith card Tuesday, asking Lindsay Clancy's Catholic mother-in-law if she knew murder is a mortal sin, part of their push to show Clancy knew what she was doing when she killed her three children, not that she was in a postpartum psychosis as the defense claims.
Lindsay Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under 6 years old, who were found strangled in the family's Duxbury home in 2023. Prosecutors concluded their case Monday morning.
On Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham asked Susan Clancy, Lindsay's mother-in-law and a Catholic, if she knew murder was a "mortal sin."
POSTPARTUM MOM LINDSAY CLANCY ON TRIAL FOR MURDER BRINGS COURT TO A HALT WITH SUDDEN BREAKDOWN
Susan Clancy, the former mother in law of Lindsay Clancy, testifies during Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in Plymouth Mass., Tuesday Aug. 18, 2026 in Plymouth, Mass. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
Susan Clancy didn't answer the question, and Judge William Sullivan immediately called a sidebar and struck the remark from the record.
Susan Clancy told jurors Tuesday that she had concerns about Lindsay's mental health during the 2022 holiday season, though she described her as a devoted mother.
Lindsay Clancy listens to her mother Paula Musgrove on the witness stand during her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
"Lindsay was struggling. We were all very concerned," Susan Clancy said. "She was very nurturing, very loving. She was a wonderful mother. Wonderful."
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Susan Clancy said she began seeing a decline in Lindsay's mental health in November 2022.
"She reached out to me in November and told me that she felt unwell," Susan Clancy said. "She felt… Mostly she had insomnia. She was losing her appetite. She was very anxious and sad."
"She was begging for help," Susan Clancy said.
LINDSAY CLANCY’S HUSBAND COULD TESTIFY FOR HER AT TRIAL OVER DEATHS OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN
