A Heartbreaking Pain That Shattered Her: Hospital Chaplain Sheila Cavanaugh Reveals the One Detail Lindsay Repeatedly Spoke About During More Than 200 Visits
LINDSAY Clancy’s feelings about her kids in the years since she strangled them have been revealed by a psychologist who visited her dozens of times.
The 36-year-old has sought an insanity defense in her murder trial after not denying that she strangled her three kids with exercise bands in January 2023.
Lindsay Clancy (pictured August 19) is on trial after she strangled her three kids with exercise bands in January 2023Credit: AP
Psychologist Paul Zeizel (pictured on August 19) testified about his visits with Lindsay after the killingsCredit: AP
Since 2023, Lindsay has been held at Tewksbury Hospital in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where she receives constant one-on-one monitoring after she tried to kill herself.
Lindsay crushed up pills, cut her wrists and neck with a knife from the kitchen and jumped from the second floor of her home after strangling her kids Cora, Dawson and Callan, which ultimately left her paralyzed from the waist down.
On Wednesday, Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham read daily medical reports from Tewksbury about Lindsay’s stay at the state psychiatric hospital, including on the anniversary of the killings and her children’s birthdays.
On January 24, 2026, just months before she would stand trial, Lindsay spent time taking part in a coffee group at the hospital, used her phone and was visited by her parents, Paula and Mike Musgrove.
Lindsay Clancy’s 2-word phrase for day she killed her 3 children revealed
On the second anniversary of the killings, hospital records revealed Lindsay had a treatment goal “to work on my mental health and to feel better.”
The prosecution appeared to suggest Lindsay acted normally on anniversaries and birthdays over the years, where she engaged with staff and select peers, “was pleasant during interactions,” and spent time in the TV room, group activities and using her electronic devices.
The medical reports were revealed while psychologist Dr. Paul Zeizel was on the stand, who talked about his approximately 60 visits with Lindsay.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington, who got a court order for Zeizel to visit Lindsay, questioned him on Wednesday, “I didn’t hear that she is laughing and partying and having a good time while in the Tewksbury Hospital, did you see anything like that?”
“No, Lindsay Clancy has bad days and worse days,” Zeizel said.
The psychologist also revealed Lindsay frequently talks about her three children, who were just five, three and eight-months-old at the time of their deaths.
“She does speak about her children. She really loves them and misses them and thinks of them every single day, almost every moment of the day.”
Zeizel said that Lindsay is also “extremely well-regarded and well-liked” at Tewksbury Hospital, which is a roughly hour and a half drive from the courthouse in Plymouth where she is being tried.
Lindsay has admitted to killing her three kids, Cora, Callan and Dawson, but is seeking an insanity defenseCredit: Instagram/heardwithlove
Zeizel said that Lindsay talked about her three children oftenCredit: Facebook
Chaplain Sheila Cavanaugh, who was the sole witness called to the stand on Thursday after a mysterious issue gripped the courtroom, also said Lindsay often talked about her kids in the over 200 visits she had with her.
“Lindsay talks frequently about her children; she loves them deeply. She carries immense grief,” she said, which was objected by the prosecution before the judge overruled.
Cavanaugh is a chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where Lindsay was treated in the ICU after she attempted to end her life.
Jhilam Biswas, a forensic and adult psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s, said on August 4 that Lindsay asked her and her team a series of questions on January 26, 2023.
Lindsay seen with her then-husband Patrick Clancy, Cora, Dawson and Callan weeks before the killingsCredit: Plymouth Superior Court
At the time of their deaths, Cora was five, Callan was eight-months-old and Dawson was threeCredit: Plymouth Superior Court
When asked how she was feeling, Lindsay wrote she was “horrified,” as she remained intubated and unable to speak.
“She asked, ‘Is my body broken? Are my legs straight?’” Biswas said. “And she then asked about can she have visitors, and you know, where her family is.”
Lindsay also asked if she had an attorney as she sought to change her healthcare proxy from her then-husband Patrick Clancy to her parents, according to Dr. Sejal Shah, another psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who treated Lindsay.
Closing arguments are expected to come on Monday or Tuesday in Lindsay’s trial, according to Judge William Sullivan.
She has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges after Cora, Dawson and Callan were found in the basement of their Duxbury, Massachusetts home with exercise bands around their necks on January 24, 2023.
Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead at the hospital that night while the youngest, Callan, died three days later after being taken off life support.
Reddington has argued that Lindsay was not criminally responsible for murder because she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings.
The prosecution, who rested their case on Monday, has argued Lindsay acted deliberately and intentionally when killing her children.
On Wednesday, Zeizel testified that Lindsay didn’t appreciate the “wrongfulness” of her killing her kids because of her mental health issues.
In the four months leading up to the killings, Lindsay saw several medical providers and was prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications.
She also expressed having “intrusive thoughts” about harming the children to her family, reported having suicidal ideation and called a suicide hotline twice, but was turned away both times, according to Reddington.
“She was unable to conform her behavior to the rule of law. She had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act,” Zeizel argued, adding Lindsay had a “mental disease or a defect.”
Buckingham said in her opening statements on July 20 that Lindsay “coldly and efficiently executed,” her kids and that she was “not a woman in the throes of psychosis.”
The prosecutor argued Lindsay “gave herself the time and privacy needed to commit the murders” by sending Patrick out of the house to pick up medicine for Cora and takeout for him and Lindsay.
If convicted, Lindsay faces life in prison without parole, but if she is found not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, she will be committed to a state mental health facility.
If you or someone you know needs help or support for their mental health, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected with a certified crisis counselor.
SOURCE: THE SUN
https://www.the-sun.com/news/16870574/lindsay-clancy-feelings-after-killing-kids-psychologist-paul-zeizel/
