Communication Through Writing: Lindsay Clancy’s First Questions After Waking Up Revealed More About the Motherly Love Within Her
THE first questions Lindsay Clancy asked her nurses after she was hospitalized following a suicide attempt have been revealed.
Lindsay, a 35-year-old former labor and delivery room nurse, jumped from her bedroom window moments after strangling her three kids to death on January 24, 2023.
Lindsay Clancy seen in court on Tuesday for day six of her murder trialCredit: AP
Lindsay has been accused of strangling her three kids to death on the night of January 24, 2023Credit: Facebook
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After Lindsay strangled her children – five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan – with exercise bands, she crushed up pills, slit her wrists and neck with a knife she grabbed from the kitchen.
She then jumped from the second-story window of her bedroom, where she landed in her backyard.
After the attempt, Lindsay suffered from a spine injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair.
‘Murder’ mom Lindsay Clancy speaks in court for first time during trial
While in the hospital after the attempt, she was intubated to protect her airway due to the extent of her spinal injuries.
At that time she couldn’t speak, so she would communicate to her medical team by writing.
Jhilam Biswas, a forensic and adult psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said her team first began asking Lindsay a series of questions on January 26, 2023.
When asked how she was feeling, Lindsay said she was “horrified.”
Lindsay first asked if she had an attorney, which Biswas recalled telling her that her team was just getting to know her and the case and that they were not sure.
“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.”
Biswas said she was asked to speak with Lindsay for diagnostic clarity as officials believed there was a suicide attempt that occurred.
Dr. Jhilam Biswas, a forensic and adult psychologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, shared some of the questions Lindsay asked days after she was hospitalizedCredit: Reuters
Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial
Lindsay Clancy is accused of strangling her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, with exercise bands inside their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home on January 24, 2023.
The former labor and delivery nurse does not deny killing them, but has pleaded not guilty and claims she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Prosecutors argue Clancy deliberately sent her then-husband Patrick out to collect medicine and dinner so she could be left alone with the children.
The trial began with Patrick on the witness stand, describing Clancy’s declining mental health before recounting how he returned home, found her injured outside and discovered the children in the basement. Jurors have since heard his harrowing 911 call, seen the bands that were removed from the children’s necks and viewed their pajamas and other evidence from the home.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks, meaning testimony could continue well into September.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at around 9am ET on sitting days and normally continue through the afternoon, with morning, lunch and afternoon breaks.
Prosecutors will present their case first, calling first responders, police officers, investigators, medical professionals and other witnesses connected to the killings.
The state listed more than 180 potential witnesses, although prosecutors are not expected to call everyone named.
Jurors are also expected to visit the Clancy family’s former Duxbury home with the judge and lawyers to see the scene for themselves.
Once prosecutors rest, Clancy’s defense will begin calling its own witnesses, including people who knew her and experts expected to testify about her medication, mental health and alleged postpartum psychosis.
The defense listed more than 60 possible witnesses, but some overlap with the prosecution’s list and may not be called twice.
After both sides finish presenting evidence, lawyers will deliver closing arguments before the judge instructs jurors on the law.
The jury will then decide whether Clancy is guilty of murder or was not criminally responsible because of her mental state when she killed her children.
They also wanted to evaluate Lindsay’s safety before she went into surgery.
Biswas revealed at times Lindsay was anxious and needed breaks.
“We knew that she was really exhausted and anxious from the entire experience and the evaluation, and so we didn’t ask her all of the questions around orientation,” Biswas said.
Dr. Sejal Shah, another psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said she diagnosed Lindsay with delirium after she underwent major spinal surgery.
Brigham and Women Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Sejal Shah talked about Lindsay experiencing hallucinations after she underwent a major surgeryCredit: Reuters
Lindsay appears for her arraignment on February 7, 2023 from a hospital roomCredit: AP
After the surgery Lindsay was no longer intubated and overnight she wasn’t breathing as well and her heartrate became elevated.
“All of which led to her being what we call delirious,” Shah said in her testimony.
“She was confused overnight to the point where she asked her nurse, ‘Am I delirious?’”
Shah said that Lindsay began experiencing visual hallucinations, which was part of the reason why she was called in to evaluate Lindsay to see if she was in the condition to change her healthcare proxy from her husband Patrick Clancy to her parents.
The psychiatrist said Lindsay’s delirium cleared the next day, and she consistently made the decision that she wanted to change her healthcare proxy.
She also said there were several reasons why Lindsay could have been delirious after the surgery.
“Oxygen desaturation could be one of them. She had also just recently had anesthesia related to a surgery that was on her spine, so that could be another reason,” she said, adding her elevated heart rate could have also been a factor.
“It’s not that everybody does [suffer from hallucinations after surgery], but they can. Delirium can be quite common after surgery and particularly anesthesia.”
Lindsay has admitted to killing her three children while her now ex-husband was briefly out of the house on January 24, 2023.
Her defense attorney plans to argue Lindsay is not criminally responsible for the three murder charges she faces because she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis.
Since her trial began on July 20, the 18 jurors have heard testimonies from Patrick, first responders who responded to her home in Duxbury and medical professionals who treated Lindsay and the Clancy children.
Additional witnesses who have helped collect, document and examine evidence have also been called to the stand.
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On Tuesday, Lindsay also spoke for the first time in the trial, quietly answering, “Yes, your honor” when agreeing to stipulate some facts in the case.
SOURCE: THE SUN
https://www.the-sun.com/news/16793153/lindsay-clancy-icu-delirious-strangling-kids/
