Each night after work, from her home in the Midwest, she would go online to follow the latest developments.
More than 1,000 miles away in Massachusetts, a trial was unfolding involving a young mother accused of killing her three children. Her attorney argued that the tragedy was rooted in her worsening mental health, repeated pleas for help that went unanswered, and breakdowns within the medical system.
Her own life bore little resemblance to the woman at the center of the case — she is a business executive in her 40s and has no children — but she acknowledged being deeply drawn to the story.
Moved by what she saw as the mother’s suffering, she contributed several thousand dollars to a GoFundMe campaign created to support the family.
‘I was just trying to do something nice, and I have no regrets,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘But it definitely took a turn.’
Today this donor is speaking on condition of anonymity and for good reason. Within hours of making her donation strangers began requesting money from her on Venmo and on her social media. And they attacked her generosity: ‘They would say things like, why are you helping a baby killer?’
The question hangs over the Lindsay Clancy case.
And it overshadows the outpouring of support for her.
Lindsay Clancy, a nurse, admitted to strangling her three children in January 2023. Pictured on September 4
Clancy’s lawyers blamed her spiraling mental health and failures in the medical system for the 36-year-old killing her three children. Her husband Patrick says he has forgiven Lindsay
Clancy, a 36-year-old nurse, has admitted to strangling her three children in January 2023 – five-year-old Cora; Dawson, aged three; and eight-month-old Callan.
A jury was tasked with debating whether she murdered the three, or was not guilty by reason of postpartum psychosis.
But more than 30,000 people had already made up their minds and put their money where their mouths are: donating to the GoFundMe set up to support her family. In a little over two weeks the campaign has raised more than $1.05 million, with the funds going to Lindsay’s parents – Michael Musgrove, 70, recently retired from his sales job at a student portrait company, and his wife Paula, 73, who worked for Weight Watchers before her retirement.
The generosity is remarkable, but it has also raised questions. What will the cash be used for?
A GoFundMe created by the brother of George Floyd, murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, in May 2020, raised a record-breaking $13 million. Some of the cash has been distributed to community funds, and some will be bequeathed to his young daughter.
Who are the people behind the Lindsay Clancy parental campaign? And why are strangers from around the world opening their wallets for the parents of a child killer?
Perhaps most surprising is that the woman who launched the GoFundMe, declaring daily her passionate support for the Musgroves, has never actually met them.
‘I don’t know them,’ said Brandee Mulligan, a 42-year-old mother of three from the Wisconsin town of Oconomowoc, 30 miles west of Milwaukee.
‘I just was one of the millions of people watching the case, and I was like, what can we do? And so, I put it together and the response has been overwhelming. There’s so many people that want to support it and it’s been incredible.’
Mulligan told the Daily Mail that she initially wanted to help pay for the lawyer directly but learnt that since 2021 GoFundMe’s terms have prohibited ‘the legal defense of financial and violent crimes, including those related to money laundering, murder, robbery, assault, battery, sex crimes or crimes against minors.’
GoFundMe has taken down fundraisers set up for Luigi Mangione, who pled guilty to interstate stalking leading to death in the December 2024 shooting of healthcare executive Brian Thompson and Karmelo Anthony, the Texas teenager found guilty of stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death during an April 2025 high school track meet in Frisco.
They also removed fundraisers for Kyle Rittenhouse, accused but ultimately acquitted of killing two Black Lives Matter protesters and wounding a third in Kenosha in 2020, and Daniel Penny, also acquitted of killing a restive homeless man on a New York City subway in 2023.
Supporters of Mangione, Anthony, Rittenhouse and others circumvented the rules by turning to GiveSendGo – an alternative platform, which allows donations up until the point an accused person is convicted.
So Mulligan, instead of paying for Clancy’s legal fees, decided to help the Musgroves with their expenses – whatever they may be.
Why are strangers from around the world opening their wallets for the parents of a child killer?
Michael and Paula Musgrove were in court every day of Clancy’s trial. They relocated from Connecticut to Massachusetts to be nearer to her, living out of hotels
‘I’m an impulsive person and I use TikTok and I’m like, here’s my idea, OK, I’ll just do it,’ she said. ‘I don’t have any contact with them. I did it without even asking permission and it was just kind of an, “Oh my God, I hope this works out,” kind of thing.’
Clancy is represented by Kevin Reddington, a well-known criminal defense attorney who has worked on over 100 murder cases, famously representing the girlfriend of mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger.
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The 75-year-old, known for his passion for martial arts, usually commands $550 an hour and in 2002 was named the state’s best criminal defense attorney by Boston Magazine.
He has won praise from Clancy’s supporters for his compassionate gestures – rubbing her shoulders or holding her hand at times of tension and wearing a pink tie in a show of support.
Mulligan began commenting on the case on August 6 – opening statements were on July 27 – and by August 7 she was telling her 115,000 followers on TikTok: ‘We’re setting up a GoFundMe for Lindsay Clancy’s attorney, right? Like, that’s what’s happening. So, tell me what to do, or someone else needs to set it up. This needs to be done.’
On August 11 she announced: ‘All right, I did it. I set up a GoFundMe – it’s linked and it’s all listed, and I’m not accessing any of the money – and they are fully aware that I am not able to reach any of the family to do this. So, I’m not doing it on their behalf. Once we make contact, they are going to be the beneficiaries, and it goes to them – everything goes to them. It’s for Lindsay Clancy’s parents and they use it however they need to use it.’
On August 15, when $400,000 had been added in the previous 24 hours, Mulligan said: ‘Mike Musgrove reached out to me this morning to extend their heartfelt appreciation to everyone that is a part of this. And trust me when I say they mean it.’
Two days later, on August 17, Paula Musgrove took the stand in her daughter’s defense and talked the jury through the toll the case has taken on their family.
Immediately after the killings, the Musgroves relocated 150 miles from their Wallingford, Connecticut home to their daughter’s coastal hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
Paula testified that they had been staying in a series of hotels.
Patrick said Lindsay was not responsible for her actions by virtue of insanity
The Musgroves were not wealthy before the tragedy – they bought the three-bedroom home where they raised Lindsay and her social worker sister Allison, 38, for $172,000 in 1996.
‘They’re good people – good, hard-working, regular, middle-class people,’ said John Roarke, their neighbor and a retired New Haven firefighter, speaking to CT Insider earlier this month. ‘They took good care of their kids.’
Lindsay’s ex-husband Patrick sold their marital home in Duxbury 12 months after the tragedy, with the property selling for $675,000.
A month after the sale was finalized, Patrick filed for divorce. It is not known how the proceeds of the house were divided.
He now lives in New York City and has remarried.
A relative of Patrick’s launched a GoFundMe in the immediate aftermath of the children’s death, to support Patrick with ‘medical bills, funeral services and legal help.’ The effort raised $1.08 million.
He has since launched The Heard Foundation, dedicated ‘to reimagine perinatal mental-health care, to build a dedicated treatment center where parents can heal with dignity and support, and to foster a culture of kindness and connection so no one struggles alone.’
The organization is currently working to create Massachusetts’ first dedicated postpartum treatment center, according to the website.
Mulligan and her supporters, however, are focused on helping the Musgrove family.
Lindsay was left paralyzed from the waist down when, having killed her children, she jumped out of a second-story window in an apparent suicide bid. Prosecutors contend that the attempt was staged and her injuries the result of misjudging the hardness of the frozen ground.
‘They’re good people – good, hard-working, regular, middle-class people,’ said John Roarke, the Musgroves’s neighbor
Lindsay was left paralyzed from the waist down when, having killed her children, she jumped out of a second-story window in an apparent suicide bid
Her medical needs have so far been covered by the state, but if she is ever released she will require specialized care and a modified home for her wheelchair.
Under Massachusetts law, detention for psychiatric reasons is reviewed regularly: if found not guilty, she could be freed in a matter of years.
‘Her parents have had literally their whole lives uprooted,’ said Mulligan. ‘The support is to Paula and Mike, but in some ways it’s because they’re supporting Lindsay.’
The midwestern donor who spoke with the Daily Mail said she doesn’t mind what the money is spent on, and trusts it will be used wisely, for whatever need is most pressing.
‘I feel in no way that those funds will be mismanaged,’ she said. ‘I’m happy to help in any way.’
Not everyone is so trusting, or so inclined to help. For some, however sincere Mulligan’s intentions, it is simply impossible to square the fact that the accumulation of a fortune should follow on from the death of three little children.