Lindsay Clancy’s close friends have broken their silence to insist the accused “killer” mom is not a monster as her haunting posts about struggling with her children emerged.
The former nurse’s pals described her as a caring and devoted mother who had spent her life looking after others before her three young children were found strangled.
But in a May 2021 Facebook post, Clancy apparently called her then-19-month-old son Dawson “the most difficult human I have ever encountered.”
“I mean that with all the love in my heart, but I honestly cannot make it through a day without getting so frustrated with him,” she wrote while asking other parents for “solidarity/advice/anything.”
Clancy, 35, is now on trial in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts over the 24 January 2023 deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan.
She admitted killing the children at the family’s Duxbury home but pleaded not guilty to murder.
Haunting pic of bloody knife Lindsay Clancy used after killing 3 kids
Her lawyers claim she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible for her actions.
However, prosecutors allege Clancy carefully planned the killings before sending her husband Patrick out to collect medicine and takeout.
Her longtime friends have now spoken out against the image of Clancy as a cold and calculating murderer.
“I just want there to be truth put out about her, since everything so far has been painting her like a monster,” one friend told the New York Post.
The woman, who remained anonymous because of fears of online abuse, said watching Clancy be publicly vilified had been “awful.”
“The system failed her, and she doesn’t deserve what happened,” she said.
“Her family didn’t deserve to be ripped apart. And I truly believe this tragedy could have been prevented had she received the proper care.”
Another close friend remembered Clancy as someone fun and outgoing around people she trusted.
“We were always laughing about something stupid and having fun,” she said.
Clancy grew up in Wallingford, Connecticut, where she was a competitive cheerleader, National Honor Society student and part of a close group of friends.
Her pal Samantha said becoming a nurse and mother had always appeared to be Clancy’s calling.
“Being a nurse and a mother was her life plan since high school and that always made perfect sense to me because taking care of people just came naturally to her,” Samantha said.
She recalled how Clancy would quietly share her lunch with her when she was struggling with food as a teenager.
“She would always say she was full after half her sandwich and encourage me to have the rest so it wouldn’t go to waste,” she said.
Clancy later studied biology at Quinnipiac University before pursuing nursing and meeting Patrick in 2016.
A friend who was present when they met said the pair had an “immediate connection” and that Clancy appeared “smitten.”
After becoming a mother, friend said Clancy was often the first person they contacted for parenting advice or reassurance.
But posts attributed to her show she was privately battling frustration, anxiety and worsening mental health problems.
In November 2022, an account apparently belonging to Clancy posted in a Facebook group called “I Am Not Alone: Postpartum Depression/Anxiety & Rage.”
She wrote that she had “extreme insomnia” and that her depression had worsened while taking Zoloft.
Clancy said Ativan had made her “feel like herself again” but acknowledged that she could not take it long term because it was addictive.
“Any advice on an alternative that has a similar effect?” she asked.
Patrick first told investigators that his wife’s struggles became apparent in September 2022, when she grew anxious about returning to work.
She began moving between psychiatrists and medications and was eventually admitted to a psychiatric unit.
Prosecutors say Clancy also kept “meticulous” journals and phone notes recording her medications, dosages and the difficulties she experienced while taking them.
Her writings allegedly documented suicidal thoughts and resentment over the attention her older children required while she cared for baby Callan.
“I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby,” she wrote.
“And I know that’s not fair to them. I know that.”
Clancy added that she wanted to “feel love and connection” with all three children.
She was evaluated at the Women and Infants Center for Women’s Behavioral Health in Providence, Rhode Island, in December 2022.
Court records state doctors at the clinic found she had “no symptoms” of postpartum depression.
Later that month, Clancy allegedly wrote that she was experiencing suicidal ideation and told Patrick she had thoughts of killing herself and the children.
She voluntarily admitted herself to McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, on New Year’s Day 2023 and remained there until January 5.
“The hospital did not file any paperwork attempting to have her committed as a danger to herself or others,” the indictment states.
When she was discharged, Clancy denied experiencing hallucinations or having homicidal or suicidal thoughts, according to prosecutors.
She returned home and continued journaling before searching “can you treat a sociopath?” on January 20.
Four days later, Patrick left the house after Clancy suggested ordering dinner and asked him to collect medicine and takeout.
Prosecutors allege she used exercise bands to strangle the children before cutting her wrists and neck and jumping from a second-floor window.
The fall damaged her spine and left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Patrick testified that he returned to a silent home and found Clancy badly injured outside before discovering the children in the basement.
He told jurors he removed bands from their necks and desperately moved between them while attempting to help.
Prosecutors argue Clancy deliberately created the time and privacy needed to carry out the killings.
Her defense claims she was overwhelmed by severe psychiatric illness and heard a male voice ordering her to kill the children.
Clancy’s friends maintain that the loving mother they knew repeatedly sought help but was failed by a mental health system that did not recognize the danger.
