Forensic analyst shares haunting note Lindsay Clancy wrote in her phone days before killing her children

A note written on Lindsay Clancy’s phone, and allegedly modified the day before she killed her three children, referenced the effects she claims prescription medication was having on her.

The 35-year-old mother from Massachusetts is currently on trial in the US, accused of killing her three children - Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan - in January 2023.

While her legal team do not dispute that she killed the children, they have said in their defence that she should not be held criminally responsible as she was overmedicated, and also was suffering from postpartum psychosis and severe mental illness at the time.

During the trial being held at the Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts, friends and medical experts have testified, as well as her now-former husband Patrick.

Patrick said in his testimony that on January 24 in 2023 he had left the family home and gone to pick up a takeaway and also a prescription at a pharmacy. He returned to find the children unresponsive in the basement of their family home in Duxbury, having been strangled to death with exercise bands and Lindsay herself had tried to take her own life.

Lindsay Clancy is currently on trial over the deaths of her three children (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

What was shared in court from Lindsay’s phone?

Prosecutors say that a note on Lindsay’s phone said: “Medication stole my motherhood and my life.” They claim it was created in December 2022, but allege it was modified the day before she killed her three children.

According to CNN, the note said: “I was the healthiest, happiest mom. I worked out every morning, meditated, and took care of myself so I could be the best for my kids. Until prescription medication stole me from my own body. It began with a touch of post partum anxiety.”

The notes were presented in court on Thursday as part of the testimony of a cellphone forensic analyst.

Another note is reported to have referenced her youngest child Callan, with CNN saying it read: “I feel not as connected with Cal now. I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby. And I know that’s not fair to them.”

She could face life in prison without parole if she is convicted, but, as ABC News reports, if she is found not guilty due to “a lack of criminal responsibility” then she could likely be put in a psychiatric hospital.

Timeline of Lindsay Clancy case

May 2022

Lindsay gives birth to her third child, Callan.

She’s open about her postpartum struggles with her other two kids on social media. Six weeks after Callan’s birth, she posts that she’s feeling ‘dialed in’ while focusing on exercise, nutrition, and mindset, and ‘it has made all the difference’.

September 2022

As the end of her maternity leave nears, Lindsay, who works as a labour and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, starts to experience anxiety about returning to work.

She visits two different psychiatrists and receives a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.

Lindsay is prescribed several different psychiatric medications.

October 2022

According to court docs, she writes in a note on her phone: “I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby. And I know that’s not fair to them. I know that. I was feeling so depressed last evening when Cora and Dawson came home from school, I know it runs off on them, so we had a pretty rough evening, I want to feel love and connection with all my kids.”

December 2022

Lindsay undergoes an evaluation at the Women and Infants Hospital Center for Women’s Behavioral Health. She is not diagnosed with postpartum depression, prosecutors say.

Lindsay’s husband Patrick tells police she is having suicidal thoughts and thoughts of harming their children, according to his testimony in court.

1-5 January, 2023

Lindsay admits herself to McLean Hospital for psychiatric treatment. She is discharged after five days as clinicians do not believe she poses an imminent danger to herself or others, prosecutors say.

22 January, 2023

Lindsay, Patrick, Cora and Dawson have dinner at family friend Kyle Carney’s home. Kyle later tells police that Lindsay ‘seemed fairly normal’.

23 January, 2023

According to prosecutors, Lindsay pens a note on her phone which says she has ‘a touch of postpartum anxiety’ about going back to work.

24 January, 2023

Prosecutors allege the following took place this day:

Morning: Lindsay takes Cora to a scheduled pediatrician appointment. After returning home, they play in the snow with Dawson. She sends photos of the kids to Patrick and her mom.

4:02pm: Lindsay searches for ‘kids Miralax’ (a laxative) on her phone, and 11 minutes later looks up ‘take out 3v’, referring to restaurant ThreeV in Plymouth. She uses Apple Maps to calculate how long it would take to drive from the family’s home to ThreeV.

4:47pm: Lindsay rings a CVS in Kingston to ask if they have any Miralax in stock. A manager tells her they don’t, but they do have similar medications.

The manager later tells authorities that she did not slur her words or sound impaired during the call.

4:35pm: Lindsay texts Patrick, who is working from home: “Any chance you want to do takeout from 3V … I didn’t cook anything … It’s been a long day.”

Patrick says yes, and Lindsay asks him to ‘check the menu when you can’.

5:10pm: Lindsay calls ThreeV to place the order.

5:15pm: Lindsay allegedly texts Patrick: “Pedialax liquid stool softener.” He then leaves to pick up the medication.

5:33pm: When Patrick arrives at CVS, he rings Lindsay, but she doesn’t pick up. She rings back one minute later and confirms the medication.

5:54pm: Patrick gets to ThreeV, pays for the food and leaves.

6:09pm: Patrick returns home. “The first thing he noticed was the silence,” prosecutors say. “He did not see or hear the defendant or the children.”

Patrick calls for his wife but gets no response. He discovers their second-floor bedroom is locked. Patrick eventually manages to get in the room but sees blood on the floor. He runs outside and finds Lindsay lying on the ground, according to prosecutors.

6:11pm: Prosecutors say that Patrick rings 911 and Lindsay is saying: “I tried to kill myself.”

He is then said to ask Lindsay: “Where are the kids?” She responds: “In the basement.”

While on the call, Patrick goes down to the basement and is heard ‘screaming in agony’,

Cora and Callan are discovered on the floor of the den. Dawson is found in his dad’s home office.

When officers arrive at the scene, Patrick alleges: “She killed the kids.”

Lindsay is taken to hospital, where she is treated for injuries that leave her paralysed below the waist. The three children are also rushed to hospital.

7:28pm: Cora and Dawson are pronounced dead. Callan is medically flown to another children’s hospital.

25 January, 2023

Police issue Lindsay an arrest warrant, charging her with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation or suffocation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

27 January, 2023

Callan is pronounced dead at 11.18am.

According to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, Lindsay later wakes up and uses a whiteboard to ask: “Do I need an attorney?”

6 February, 2023

While in the presence of a psychologist hired by her lawyer, Lindsay calls Patrick and tells him she had a ‘moment of psychosis’ and heard ‘a man’s voice telling her to kill the kids and kill herself’ after he left on January 24.

7 February, 2023

On the day of her arraignment, Lindsay’s attorney says that she’s still suicidal. She pleads not guilty to three counts of murder.

October 2024

Patrick asks the public to forgive Lindsay, telling The New Yorker: “I wasn’t married to a monster - I was married to someone who got sick.”

January 2026

Lindsay and Patrick file a civil lawsuit, accusing medical providers of not properly diagnosing, treating and monitoring her for a ‘severe postpartum psychiatric condition’.

9 July, 2026

The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says the three counts of strangulation would be subsumed into the murder charges.

27 July, 2026

Lindsay’s murder trial begins.