Editor’s Note: This article contains discussions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can find resources in your area on the National Crisis Line website or by calling 988.

(NewsNation) — Patrick Clancy, the former husband of Lindsay Clancy, took the stand as the prosecution’s first witness, offering crucial testimony about her mental state and treatment in the months before their three children were killed.

As the trial ended its third week, his testimony provided a key timeline of what happened before their deaths and what Patrick Clancy knew about his ex-wife and her deteriorating mental health in the months before the killings.

Lindsay Clancy is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan. Prosecutors allege she strangled the children with exercise bands before attempting suicide by jumping from a second-story window.

Her attorneys say the fall left her paralyzed from the waist down and argue she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Here is what Patrick Clancy knew about his wife’s condition, his involvement in her treatment and what he told jurors about the months leading up to the killings:

Lindsay Clancy got ‘worse and worse’ in months before the children’s deaths

Sep. to Nov. 2022: Patrick Clancy spent much of his testimony describing Lindsay Clancy as a devoted mother who began struggling significantly with her mental health in the fall of 2022.

After each maternity leave with their first two kids, Lindsay Clancy became anxious about returning to work, but those struggles intensified after Callan was born, he told jurors.

Patrick Clancy said he worked from home in the basement and would come upstairs a few times a day to eat and say hello.

He said Lindsay Clancy began taking Zoloft in September 2022, telling him, “I think it’s really going to help with my anxiety and with going back to work.”

Instead, he testified, she “just kept getting worse and worse,” battling severe insomnia, including nearly 48 hours without sleep.

“I just wanted her to get sleep and feel better,” he told jurors.

Patrick Clancy took a two-day work trip to New York in November, leaving Lindsay Clancy at home with all three children. The morning after he returned, he testified that he traveled to San Francisco with Cora while Lindsay stayed home with Dawson and Callan.

He told jurors he had no concerns about leaving the children in her care at the time.

“Nothing bad happened,” he said, but he also said he could see a change. “I would say her anxiety and depression was starting to pick up.”

Lindsay Clancy’s ‘big spiral’ started in December 2022

Dec. 2022: Patrick Clancy testified Lindsay Clancy’s “big spiral” started around the time she began taking Seroquel in early December 2022. Seroquel is an antipsycH๏τic prescription medication used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Patrick Clancy said they canceled going out for their anniversary on Dec.3  and got takeout instead.

During this time, he said she lost significant weight, became deeply depressed and, for the first time in their relationship, told him she was having suicidal thoughts.

He testified Lindsay also disclosed “intrusive thoughts,” including “thoughts of hurting the kids.”

Patrick Clancy said he asked her, “Do you feel like you need to be kept away from them?” but Lindsay replied “no.”

He told jurors the responses were “very confusing because the next minute she was making them lunch or putting them to bed.”

Patrick Clancy testified that Lindsay Clancy never described a plan or method to harm the children or said she was hearing voices telling her to do so. He said he did not believe she showed an intention of acting on the thoughts.

Dec. 6-15: Patrick Clancy attended an in-person appointment with Lindsay Clancy and psychiatric nurse pracтιтioner Rebecca Jollotta at South Shore Health, according to Jollotta’s testimony.

Jollotta raised the possibility that Lindsay could have bipolar disorder. She testified that Patrick Clancy responded, “My wife is not bipolar.”

Jollotta testified she had a phone call with Lindsay Clancy and Patrick Clancy about Lindsay Clancy’s sleep, panic symptoms, suicidal thoughts and medication plan.

Dec. 15: Patrick Clancy and Lindsay Clancy contacted Jollotta and reported that it was Lindsay’s “worst day,” with “persistent and intrusive thoughts of suicide.” Jollotta told them to get an emergency room evaluation.

Patrick Clancy drove her to Mᴀssachusetts General Hospital for an evaluation before she entered a postpartum program at Women & Infants Hospital in Rhode Island.

He testified that he drove Lindsay Clancy to the program, dropped her off and then left with their son Dawson.

Lindsay later called and told him he needed to return to speak with the treatment team. Patrick returned and was told the program was not the “right fit.” He then took her home.

Dec. 30: Jollotta testified that Patrick Clancy contacted South Shore about Lindsay Clancy wanting to go to McLean Hospital for inpatient treatment.

Dec. 31: When her suicidal thoughts persisted, Patrick Clancy said he returned with her to Mᴀssachusetts General hoping she could be transferred to McLean Hospital because “we didn’t have a diagnosis” and “didn’t really know what was wrong.”

Lindsay Clancy seemed better shortly before the deaths

Jan. 1, 2023: Lindsay Clancy was admitted to McLean Hospital.

“She was scared, she didn’t want to go. I said, ‘You have to go,’” Patrick Clancy testified.

She spent five days at the facility, and Patrick Clancy visited her during her treatment there.

Patrick Clancy testified Lindsay Clancy later told him she was not receiving much treatment at McLean and had not seen a doctor for several days. He said he had the same observations, saying, “It didn’t really seem like she was getting any treatment,” he testified. “It looked like mainly nurses.”

On cross-examination, he acknowledged that he did not know Lindsay Clancy was being seen by medical providers daily and was unaware that she had declined additional group therapy.

He also said he “would have paid anything” if insurance had refused to cover her hospitalization.

Despite his concerns about the hospitalization, Patrick testified that Lindsay appeared significantly better after leaving McLean:

“I was hopeful. She seemed much better.”

Jan. 7-23: Patrick Clancy described several family outings in the weeks before the killings that he said gave him no reason for concern.

He and Lindsay Clancy threw a birthday party for their daughter on January 7.

They went to a museum on January 8. On January 15, the family took a trip to Cape Cod where they played at a waterpark.

“Her mood seemed better. She was more active, and she was able to partake in more things,” he said.

He testified that during this time, he checked in with Lindsay Clancy daily, saying, “I would ask her in the morning how she’s feeling, how she slept.”

She was “maybe a little bit better, but she was still struggling,” Patrick said, adding when asked that Lindsay said she didn’t have suicidal thoughts and never said she had thoughts of harming their kids.

Jan. 16:  Patrick Clancy took Cora skiing, and said there were no issues with their other kids staying home with Lindsay Clancy.

“She seemed to be doing a lot better,” Patrick said, explaining, “her mood seemed better, she was more active and was able to partake in more things.”

Jan. 24, Day of the killings: Patrick Clancy testified that that morning began like a normal day for the family. Lindsay Clancy took their daughter to a scheduled pediatrician appointment while Patrick stayed home with younger kids.

“She was having one of her best days,” he told jurors.

Patrick Clancy testified that around 4:50 p.m., Lindsay texted asking if he wanted takeout because she “didn’t cook anything” and it had “been a long day.”

She suggested getting takeout from a restaurant called ThreeV. He told jurors that after placing the takeout order, he came upstairs, briefly held and rocked Callan, kissed Cora on the head and told the children, “I’ll be right back.”

He said his ex-wife was standing in the doorway near the basement stairs holding Callan when he left. Asked to describe her demeanor, he responded that she appeared “normal.”

Evidence presented in the case indicates Patrick Clancy left around 5:15 p.m. to pick up medication at CVS and takeout from ThreeV restaurant and returned around 6:09 p.m., less than an hour later.

Finding Lindsay Clancy and the kids

Patrick Clancy testified that he called out for Lindsay Clancy and their three children after picking up food but got no response.

He went upstairs and found the bedroom door locked.

“That’s when I knew something was wrong,” he told jurors.

After getting inside, Patrick Clancy testified that he saw blood and an open window.

“I just saw blood everywhere, and the window was open,” he said. “It looked like it was sprayed, almost like with a hose. There was a huge puddle in the middle of the room … I remember it was on the doorknob.”

Looking out the second-story bedroom window, Patrick Clancy said he saw Lindsay Clancy lying face up in the backyard beneath the window. He rushed outside and noticed deep cuts on her wrists and what appeared to be a wound across her neck.

He went to his ex-wife and testified that Lindsay Clancy told him, “I tried to kill myself.” When he asked where the children were, she replied, “They’re in the basement.”

Patrick Clancy said she did not tell him what condition the children were in and described her as “in and out of consciousness.”

Patrick Clancy remained with Lindsay Clancy until first responders arrived. While still connected to 911, he then went inside to check on the children.

He found them in the basement. A responding officer separately testified that Patrick screamed: “She killed the f—ing kids.”

Jan. 28: Four days after the killings, Patrick Clancy said he had forgiven his ex-wife in a public statement on a GoFundMe page launched for his family.

“I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,” he said. “Our marriage was wonderful and diametrically grew stronger as her condition rapidly worsened. I took as much pride in being her husband as I did in being a father and felt persistently lucky to have her in my life. I promise I’ll put all my energy into healing and rediscovering my purpose.”

About one week after the killings: Patrick Clancy testified that Lindsay Clancy called him from the hospital.

“She didn’t talk about our kids. She talked about what she went through,” he testified. “She said she heard a man’s voice telling her if she didn’t do it now, she would lose her chance, or something like that.”

Patrick Clancy said it was the first time he had heard his ex-wife describe hearing voices. He also testified that before the killings, he had never heard the term “psychosis” and that his then-wife never used the term.

SOURCE: https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/patrick-clancy-lindsay-clancy-killings-what-did-he-know/