Home Scandal and Gossip Duxbury mom strangles 2 kids to death, injures baby in botched murder...

Duxbury mom strangles 2 kids to death, injures baby in botched murder suicide

SHARE
Lindsay Clancy, Duxbury Mass mom was overmedicated on 12 prescription drugs defense lawyer says
Lindsay Clancy, Duxbury Mass mom was overmedicated on 12 prescription drugs defense lawyer says causing her to lash out.
Lindsay Clancy, Duxbury Mass mom postpartum psychosis murder two young children
Lindsay Clancy, Duxbury Mass mom postpartum psychosis episode.

Lindsay Clancy, Duxbury, Massachusetts mom strangles her two young children, injures baby and self in botched murder suicide in suspected postpartum psychosis episode. Mom was in a very intensive five day a week program for PPD. 

A Massachusetts mom is accused of strangling her two young children to death and attempting to kill her baby as she tried jumping to her death in a botched murder-suicide.

Lindsay Marie Clancy, 32, of Plymouth, was charged with two counts of homicide and three counts of strangulation for killing her 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, according to District Attorney Tim Cruz.

Clancy is recovering in at a Boston hospital but is in police custody.

Police responded to the family’s home in Duxbury — a town about 35 miles southeast of Boston — Tuesday early evening, after Clancy’s husband returned to the family home and discovered the mayhem.

The dad called 911 just on 6pm to report that his midwife wife had jumped from a window in the house, according to Cruz.

‘unimaginable, senseless tragedy…’ 

‘First Responders subsequently located three children in the home under the age of five unconscious, with obvious signs of severe trauma,’ Cruz said.

Five-year-old Cora and 3-year-old Dawson were rushed to the hospital, where they were declared dead.

A 7-month-old baby boy is still fighting for his life, officials say. He was flown to Boston Children’s Hospital and remains in treatment.

Clancy appears to have strangled her children, Cruz said, though the medical examiner will issue an official cause of death in the coming days.

Clancy was treated at the scene and taken to a nearby hospital.

‘This is an unimaginable, senseless tragedy, and it is an ongoing investigation,’ Cruz said.

Clancy’s Facebook profile portrays a proud mother who frequently shared photos of her young, smiling family.

Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis

In one post in 2020 she wrote: ‘So unbelievably thankful for this family and life’.

In 2019, she captioned a photo of the two oldest kids at Christmas by writing, ‘I feel like the luckiest mama in the whole wide world.’

Investigators are considering the possibility that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she allegedly carried out the attempted murder-suicide, sources told CBS Boston.

According to science and medical journals, it is not uncommon for women to get the ‘baby blues’ after giving birth. A mother might feel down, sad, anxious, overwhelmed, or depressed. Half or more of new mothers might go through such emotions.But in very rare cases, changes surrounding giving birth can bring on a very serious mental disorder called postpartum psychosis. Postpartum means after childbirth. Psychosis means you’ve lost touch with reality.

Some women who get postpartum psychosis had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses before. But most have no previous psychiatric problems.Postpartum psychosis can come within a couple of weeks after childbirth. Usually, it happens suddenly according to webmd.

A mother’s chances for postpartum psychosis are higher if the mother or a close family member has bipolar disorder, or if the mother has had previous episodes of psychosis.

Doctors believe that the big hormonal changes before and after childbirth may help trigger postpartum psychosis. Of note, The Boston Globe reported Clancy, in July, having ‘spoken openly in a Facebook post about her previous struggles with postpartum anxiety.’

At the time of the episode, the mother had been on leave from her position as a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The children’s great-grandmother, Rita Musgrove, told NBC Boston that nothing seemed out of the ordinary when she spoke to their mother last week.

‘It’s a pretty shocking thing, and it is heartbreaking,’ Musgrove said. 

Mom was in a very intensive five day a week program for PPD. 

The kids’ aunt Donna Jesse added that, ‘they were just beautiful, beautiful children. Well cared for — they were just beautiful, that’s it. They had a beautiful life.’

The tragedy has left the entire community reeling, including the first responders who came across the horrific scene.

‘I want to further commend the professionalism and the work of the Duxbury first responders and the Mass State Police,’ Cruz said. ‘I’m sure many of them will not forget what they saw last evening.’

Authorities continue to investigate.

SHARE