'She Expected To Die': FBI Psychiatrist Delivers Chilling Verdict on Lindsay Clancy as Murder Trial Nears End

An FBI forensic psychiatrist has told a Massachusetts jury that Lindsay Clancy 'expected to die' after killing her three young children, yet still had the capacity to understand right from wrong during the attacks.

Dr Gregory Saathoff, a forensic psychiatrist who has worked with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, gave evidence for the prosecution on Wednesday as the trial of Clancy, 36, approached closing arguments.

Saathoff told the jury Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths of five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan at the family's home in Duxbury on 24 January 2023.

The defence accepts that Clancy killed the children but argues she was suffering from bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis and therefore should not be held legally responsible.

FBI Psychiatrist Says Clancy Made Her Own Decisions Not 'Commanding' Voice

Prosecutors allege Clancy strangled the children with exercise bands in the basement while her husband, Patrick Clancy, was out collecting food and medication. She then jumped from a second-floor window in what prosecutors say was a suicide attempt, leaving her paralysed from the waist down.

Saathoff told jurors that Clancy described hearing a voice on the day of the killings during two interviews conducted in May and June. She said the voice began after a telephone conversation with her husband and continued until all three children had been strangled. But Saathoff said he did not accept that the voice had controlled her actions.

Under questioning from prosecutor Jennifer Sprague, he said the voice did not tell Clancy which child to kill, what method to use or the order in which the killings should occur. He said she appeared to make those decisions herself.

Saathoff described the killings as being carried out 'quickly, methodically and similarly', arguing that this indicated Clancy retained control over the sequence of events.

He also questioned the account because Clancy said the voice stopped after the killings. Saathoff told the jury he had never encountered a case in which a hallucination abruptly ended after a violent act had been completed.

He also pointed to medical records that did not document Clancy reporting auditory hallucinations to her healthcare providers before the killings. He said she had given different accounts to other evaluators about when the voice began.

Defence Says Mental Health Warning Signs Were Missed

Defence lawyer Kevin Reddington has focused on Clancy's deteriorating mental health in the months before the deaths and argued that warning signs were missed.

Saathoff acknowledged that Clancy repeatedly sought medical assistance and contacted a suicide prevention hotline twice.

He said records showed she had significant psychiatric symptoms, although he did not believe they removed her ability to understand the nature of her actions.

The jury also heard that Clancy recorded a score of 23 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, with Saathoff saying scores above 15 are considered concerning.

A message Clancy sent to her mother in October 2022 was also discussed, in which she said medication prescribed for anxiety had made things worse and that she was frightened and did not want to be alone.

Saathoff said Clancy's condition appeared to deteriorate during the latter part of 2022, after what he described as a relatively good period following Callan's birth. Reddington also questioned whether healthcare providers should have responded more aggressively when Clancy sought help.

Saathoff said he was not aware that clinicians had assessed her risk solely by asking whether she had a specific suicide plan. He further acknowledged that no thyroid testing had been ordered, despite thyroid disorders being capable of causing or worsening psychiatric symptoms.

Psychiatrist Cites Signs of Planning and Awareness

Despite accepting the severity of Clancy's mental illness, Saathoff maintained that it did not meet the legal threshold required to excuse her from criminal responsibility. He cited several actions that he said demonstrated awareness and planning, including Clancy's telephone conversation with her husband while he was away.

According to Saathoff, she reassured Patrick about the medication and did not tell him that she was in distress or needed immediate help. He also pointed to her ability to keep track of events, conceal the killings and respond to her husband after he returned home.

'It's my belief that she expected to die,' Saathoff told the court, saying he believed she expected to have killed herself before her husband returned. He concluded that, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, Clancy had the capacity to appreciate right from wrong when the children died.

The defence has challenged Saathoff's conclusions, including by questioning his professional background and experience with postpartum psychosis. Saathoff is expected to be the prosecution's final witness, with closing arguments potentially beginning as early as Thursday.

The jury must then decide whether Clancy is legally responsible for the deaths, with her mental state at the time of the killings at the centre of the case.