Haunting self help book found in Lindsay Clancy's home revealed her mental state months before she killed her three children in 'America's saddest murder trial': Live updates

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and RACHEL SHARP, CRIME CORRESPONDENT and KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS Testimony in the murder trial of a Massachusetts woman who strangled her three children, then tried to kill herself, continues today after her ex-husband’s 911 call brought the courtroom to tears. Lindsay Clancy, 35, is accused of murdering her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at her home in Duxbury in January 2023. Although Clancy does not deny killing her children, she has pleaded not guilty and claimed she is not responsible for her actions because she was suffering postpartum psychosis. On Wednesday, her defense lawyer maintained that Clancy was struggling with her mental health for months before the tragic killings by entering into evidence a book that she had titled 'Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts.' Patrick Clancy also returned to the stand to recount the harrowing night he discovered his ex-wife sprawled out on the lawn, paralyzed, and his children strangled with exercise bands in the basement. Clancy sobbed uncontrollably, and several jurors began to cry as they heard the audio from Patrick’s 911 call. Members of the jury were also shown the clothes that the kids wore shortly before they were strangled to death by their mother, including a pink robe and dinosaur pajamas, and the three exercise bands used in the tragic killing that were tied around their necks at the time they were found. Follow the Daily Mail for the latest updates… Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney pointed to her post-partum mental health struggles by introducing into evidence a book she owned titled 'Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts.' The book, written by Karen Kleiman, is a 'healing guide to the secret fears of new mothers,' and retails for $13 on Amazon. It contains guidance, exercises and 'stigma-busting' cartoons to 'help new moms validate their feelings, share their fears, and start feeling better.' Over two days of testimony, Patrick Clancy described Lindsay's mental health leading up to their children's murders. He said that after the births of their first two children, Cora and Dawson, Lindsay experienced anxiety about going back to work and 'had a really hard time being separated' from their kids. After the birth of their youngest son Callan, Lindsay started showing signs of anxiety in September 2022, about a month before she was supposed to return to work. In September 2022, Patrick testified that Lindsay informed him she wanted to start taking Zoloft. However, Patrick said, 'She kept getting worse and worse,' and had trouble sleeping. In December 2022, Patrick said she started taking a new medication, and she began to spiral. 'That was really where her big spiral started. She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed. She was having a really hard time,' Patrick said. That is also when Patrick said Lindsay told him she started experiencing thoughts of hurting their children and herself. He added that around that same time Lindsay told him she was starting to experience intrusive thoughts about harming their children. 'She described thoughts of hurting the kids or them having some sort of ailment,' Patrick said. Lindsay was hospitalized on December 31, 2022, for experiencing thoughts of suicide. She killed the children 19 days after she was discharged. If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org. Patrick Clancy's roughly seven-minute 911 call was played for the court on Wednesday. He told the dispatcher that his wife tried to commit suicide and is heard speaking with her as she lay on the lawn after she jumped from the home's second-story window. Patrick spoke in a panicked voice, speaking over the dispatcher as he told Lindsay to stay awake. 'Look at me,' he said as she sobbed in the background. 'Say my name.' When the first responders arrived, Patrick told them, 'Right here.' 'I need you to stay here while I go check on my kids,' Patrick told the responder. Moments later, he howled and cried after finding his strangled children in the basement. The confused dispatcher repeatedly asks what happened. 'She killed the kids!' he yelled. On Wednesday, prosecutors showed the court the clothes the children were wearing when they were killed at the family's Duxbury home in January 2023. The court also saw the three exercise bands used in the tragic killings, and as they were shown, Clancy tightly gripped her lawyer, Kevin Reddington's, hand. On Monday, the prosecution questioned Patrick Clancy about various prescription bottles of Lindsay's he kept in his car. The prosecution pointed out that many of the bottles had many pills left in them and implied Lindsay had not taken her medications as prescribed. On Wednesday, Lindsay's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, asked Patrick to explain why he had the pill bottles. 'The reason I had them in a bag is because sometimes a provider would adjust medications,' Patrick said. 'So for example, I do remember Lindsay had a prescription of Ativan, and then a few days later they wanted to increase the dosage because it wasn't effective. So they would say, "Give that old prescription to your husband and then he'll discard it." 'Without that context, it paints a different picture.' Reddington then presented a drawer from the bedroom that had several empty pill bottles. Lindsay Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, asked her ex-husband to describe the kind of mother she was. Patrick Clancy said she was 'very dedicated' and 'did everything' for their children. Lindsay read the kids books, made up songs for them and took hundreds of pictures, Patrick said. 'She used to make green eggs and ham for Cora because she liked that book,' Patrick told the court. Patrick also said that Lindsay loved Dawson very much and did not resent him. The court was also shown pictures of stickers in the children's rooms. Lindsay Clancy's defense has argued she was overmedicated and was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time, and as a result she should be found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. To bolster their point, the defense on Wednesday entered into evidence a log that the mother-of-three kept about her mental health while she was taking prescription medication. Many of the logs noted had 'horrible thoughts,' with one saying she had 'no motivation,' alongside the medication she took and the dosage. Lindsay Clancy hyperventilated and covered her face as she broke down in tears during the second day of 'America's saddest murder trial' on Wednesday. The call itself was silenced from live feeds on the orders of a judge, but everyone in the courtroom heard it. Patrick, Clancy's now ex-husband, called 911 and reported that his wife tried to commit suicide. This entire case is beyond sad for everyone involv...