Can postpartum psychosis affect whether Lindsay Clancy is found criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children? That’s the central question in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, now beginning with jury selection in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and it’s drawing comparisons to another infamous case of a postpartum psychosis defense: Andrea Yates. Today, we’re speaking with an expert who had firsthand experience with the Yates trial, to learn what we could expect as the Clancy trial begins.
Prosecutors allege that Lindsay Clancy deliberately strangled her three children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan—on January 24th, 2023, after sending her husband, Patrick Clancy, out to run errands. Her defense argues that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should not be found criminally responsible for her actions. Prosecutors argue that she planned the killings and understood what she was doing.
In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, Anne Emerson speaks with courtroom sketch artist and licensed therapist Pat Lopez, who has spent decades documenting some of America's most infamous criminal cases, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the Branch Davidian siege at Waco, the Susan Smith trial, the Karmelo Anthony trial, and Andrea Yates' trials. In a heartbreaking parallel to the Clancy case, Andrea Yates confessed to drowning her five children in 2001 in the bathtub of their Texas home amid postpartum psychosis. After initially being convicted of capital murder in 2002, she appealed and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2006.
We compare the Lindsay Clancy case with the Andrea Yates case, and hear what we should be looking for as the Clancy murder trial gets underway.
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