Lindsay Clancy Trial: Cold-Blooded Murder or Mental Illness?

If you’ve been on any social media site, you have read something about the Lindsay Clancy trial.

A mother of three who has no history of violence brutally murders her three children with exercise bands while her husband is out doing errands. She then cuts herself and throws herself out of the second story bedroom window, only to survive and become paralyzed from the waist down.

Lindsay admitted she did it, her husband claims she did it, her lawyer agrees she did it.

So what’s the discourse about?

Hundreds of women have assembled to support her during the trial. Why, you may ask? Several arguments have been made in Lindsay’s defense.

Medication cocktail: Lindsay Clancy was on a plethora of pharmaceutical drugs for her mental state. She sought help from several doctors. In the four months prior to the murders, Lindsay was given thirteen different psychiatric medications. The 13 include the following:

Antidepressants: Zoloft, Prozac, Remeron, Amitriptyline, Trazodone
Anti-anxiety: Ativan, Valium, Klonopin, Buspirone
Sleep meds: Ambien, Hydroxyzine, Benadryl
Antipsychotic: Seroquel
Mood stabilizer: Lamictal

It is important to note that she was not taking all thirteen drugs at the same time. The argument is that she was not mentally fit enough, or too medicated, to take accountability for her actions. In other words, a severe case of psychosis.

Improper treatment of mental illness: Her lawyers are claiming she had undiagnosed Bipolar I with postpartum onset. Doctors treating her beforehand called it severe depression and anxiety, not psychosis or bipolar disorder. The psychosis and bipolar labels came later from the defense and from evaluations after the children were dead. The defense is arguing that the doctors failed to diagnose her, accusing them of malpractice. Supporters claim that society is not properly treating or diagnosing postpartum illnesses, and that she was failed by the system.

Conspiracy theory: Some claim that her husband killed the children and framed her. Others say he set her up to have an episode he knew would end in the murder of their children.

My knee-jerk reaction to this case was that I don’t care about any of that. She KILLED HER CHILDREN. But… as I do… I went and researched what these women were saying instead of automatically saying they were all insane. I believe most of the anger derives from women knowing how hard postpartum life really is. Your hormones are pissed, your body is releasing chemicals that completely alter your perception and judgment, and everyone is telling you how you are or aren’t a good mother. You also are not sleeping and listening to a crying baby daily. I am personally extremely familiar with this.

My Final Take: I end with this… The defense is arguing that she’s mentally ill… no one who has ever committed such an act was not mentally ill. There is no serial killer, child murderer, etc that would not be diagnosed with something if they were thoroughly evaluated. Mental illness could never and will never excuse murdering your own children. She reached out to several doctors. She had enough awareness to give her children to a family member or ask her husband to take them if she knew she was having these thoughts. She knew she was not fit to parent at that time. You are responsible as a parent to make sure your kids are safe, no matter the cost. If you are mentally capable of killing your own children you do not belong in society.

The women that are showing up to her trial are taking it too far. Why are we posting videos of ourselves on TikTok crying, throwing ice, and captioning with “Just like Lindsay”? It’s such a weird and childish attempt to gain recognition. Write a post about your experiences with postpartum, talk to others who may not understand postpartum, try to make a change in a logical manner…

Postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and postpartum psychosis are 100% real. It does not excuse killing your children.