A mother to six children has raised concerns that the tragedy of Lindsay Clancy’s three young victims has been overshadowed by the growing public support for the mother now facing murder charges.
Lindsay Clancy, aged 36, stands accused of three first-degree murder charges related to the deaths of her three children—Cora, Dawson, and Callan—all under the age of six. They were found strangled at the family home in January 2023. As the prosecution concluded its case on Monday morning, Clancy’s defense began to argue that she suffered from postpartum psychosis when the tragic incident occurred.
Bethany Mandel, a conservative columnist and mother of six herself, expressed in an interview that she feels the focus has shifted away from the deceased children of Lindsay Clancy. She lamented that the names of Cora, Dawson, and Callan seem to be lost in the larger narrative.
Lindsay Clancy’s tragic story unfolded in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where Cora, Dawson, and Callan, her three children, were killed inside their family residence in January 2023.
“We all recognize her name,” Mandel highlighted, alluding to Lindsay Clancy. “But very few people remember the names of her children.”
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Particularly, Mandel was disturbed by the hundreds of people who stood outside the Plymouth Superior Court on Thursday in support of Lindsay Clancy. Those who have gathered in pink say the show of support is not an endorsement of what happened, but a stand for maternal mental health awareness and for mothers suffering from postpartum conditions.
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Lindsay Clancy, who is on trial for killing her three children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, in a family photo entered as evidence. (Plymouth Superior Court)
“We don’t see any of them standing out there with a button with the three children’s faces on them. When you listen to interviews with all of the women who are standing out, they almost never mention the three child victims,” Mandel said.
A not-guilty verdict by reason of insanity would not result in Clancy’s release; instead, she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital and subject to periodic reviews.
Two of the three Clancy children in a family photo shown as evidence at their mother’s murder trial. Cora, Dawson and Callan were killed in January 2023. (Plymouth Superior Court)
Just days after Lindsay Clancy killed her kids in January 2023, Patrick wrote on a GoFundMe page, “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.”
(L) Lindsay and Patrick Clancy with two of their three children in this undated photo and (R) Lindsay Clancy listens to testimony from her former mother in law at her murder trial in Plymouth Mass., Tuesday Aug. 18, 2026 in Plymouth, Mass. (Lindsay Marie Clancy facebook and Pool)
Jonathan Hatami, deputy district attorney in the complex child abuse section in the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney also agreed that much of the conversation has been surrounding how Lindsay Clancy has conducted herself during the trial, not on her children who were killed.
A photo of one of Lindsay Clancy’s three children, shown as evidence at her murder trial in the 2023 deaths of Cora, Dawson and Callan. (Plymouth Superior Court)
“This shouldn’t be about the defendant even though it’s become that, it’s became this entire show about her, really should be about the victims and what the defendant did to those victims. And we try to do that in our trials and in our cases. And it seems like that’s gotten lost. In this specific case, and it’s really disappointing, and people don’t realize these children matter,” Hatami told News Media.
“These children died,” he added.
Callan, left, Dawson and Cora Clancy. The three children were killed at their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023. (Lindsay Marie Clancy/Facebook)
Expert witnesses called by both the defense and prosecution focused their Friday testimony on Lindsay Clancy’s mental state at the time she killed her children, specifically whether she was experiencing psychosis.
Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist and authority on filicide, said Lindsay Clancy was functioning for much of the day she killed her kids, even making a snowman with her children, until she suffered the hallucination and what he called a “delusion of influence,” feeling her body was taken over and out of her control and was feeling like a “puppet.”
Dr. Avram Mack, a child and forensic psychiatrist, a prosecution expert, said Lindsay Clancy’s actions on the day her children died were methodical and organized, stating she should be found criminally responsible for their deaths, directly rebutting the defense.
“My opinion is that she retained the capacity required for having criminal responsibility for these actions,” Mack testified.
Closing arguments could begin as soon as Monday or Tuesday before jurors begin deliberating in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial.