LINDSAY Clancy’s insanity defense that she heard a voice telling her to kill her children and herself could backfire, an expert has told The U.S. Sun.

Lindsay, 36, has not denied strangling her three children to death and instead looks to argue she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis at the time.

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Lindsay Clancy (pictured August 25) is on trial after she strangled her three children to death in January 2023Credit: AP

Lindsay’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington is seeking an insanity defense, arguing his client was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosisCredit: Adam Gray for The U.S. Sun

Cora, Dawson and Callan were found in the basement of their Mᴀssachusetts home by their father Patrick ClancyCredit: Facebook

Jean Cirillo, a psychologist and attorney, spoke with The U.S. Sun about how the insanity defense could unfold in Lindsay’s caseCredit: The U.S. Sun
Lindsay used exercise bands to strangle her children – five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan – in the basement of their Duxbury, Mᴀssachusetts home on January 24, 2023.

Cora and Dawson were pronounced ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at the hospital that night after their father Patrick Clancy found them, while Callan died three days later after being taken off life support.

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Lindsay crushed up pills, cut herself with a knife from her kitchen and jumped from her second-story bedroom window in an attempt to end her life after strangling her children.

Lindsay claimed afterward that she heard a persistent male voice tell her, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself.”

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In Mᴀssachusetts, the insanity defense deals with a lack of criminal responsibility, where the prosecution must prove that a defendant did not have a mental disease or defect at the time of the alleged crime.

The prosecution could instead try to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant had the capacity to “appreciate the wrongfulness or criminality of their conduct,” according to state law.

Jean Cirillo, a psychologist and attorney from New York, spoke exclusively with The U.S. Sun about how the insanity defense could go two ways:

Either Lindsay legitimately had auditory hallucinations and was suffering from psychosis, or the voice was part of a “cover” that could help the prosecution prove that Lindsay planned out her actions, she speculated.