In a dramatic courtroom moment on Tuesday, prosecutors sought to leverage religious beliefs in their case against Lindsay Clancy, questioning her Catholic mother-in-law about the sinfulness of murder. Their line of inquiry aimed to establish that Clancy comprehended her actions when she tragically took the lives of her children, countering the defense’s narrative of postpartum psychosis.
Lindsay Clancy, aged 36, faces charges of first-degree murder following the deaths of her young children—Cora, Dawson, and Callan—all under the age of six. They were found strangled in their home in Duxbury in 2023. The prosecution wrapped up their arguments on Monday morning.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham posed a pointed question to Susan Clancy, Lindsay’s devout mother-in-law, asking if she believed murder to be a “mortal sin.”
Dramatic Moment in Court as Postpartum Mother Lindsay Clancy’s Trial is Disrupted by Emotional Breakdown
In a scene marked by tension, Susan Clancy, the mother-in-law of the accused, delivered her testimony during the high-profile murder trial in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. (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.”
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.
Paula Musgrove, mother of Lindsay Clancy, enters the courtroom to take the witness stand during her daughter’s murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Paula Musgrove, Lindsay Clancy’s mother, also told jurors about the mental health problems. In an Oct. 20, 2022 text message, Lindsay Clancy asked her mother for help.
A copy of a text Lindsay Clancy sent to her mother is displayed during Clancy’s murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
“Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I’m really sick. Something is wrong. I had horrible insomnia all night, and I just don’t know how I am going to get through the day… It’s just really scary, and I don’t want to be alone,” the text read.
Musgrove said she wasn’t concerned about the children’s safety.
Lindsay Clancy’s defense team will continue presenting its case Wednesday morning as her defense team seeks to convince jurors that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis when she killed her children.