Key points from the first day of testimony in Lindsay Clancy’s triple-murder trial

By Nicki Brown

(CNN) — The former husband of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her three young children, took the stand Monday as the prosecution’s first witness in her triple-murder trial.

His testimony – expected to continue when court resumes on Wednesday – followed opening statements from both parties, who previewed some of the evidence jurors could see in the coming weeks.

Lindsay Clancy does not deny she killed their children, but she has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, arguing she should not be held criminally responsible for fatally strangling them. Her attorney has said she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and extreme mental illness when she killed them on January 24, 2023.

The trial is expected to focus heavily on testimony from dueling psychiatric and medical experts.

She faces life in prison if convicted.

CNN will stream the trial live on CNN All Access.

Here are some of the key points from Monday:

Ex-husband’s testimony:

Patrick Clancy testified his former wife struggled after the birth of their third child, and that she told him in the months before the January 2023 killings she was having thoughts of suicide and harming their kids.

• Patrick Clancy appeared to get emotional on the stand, taking deep breaths as he described each of his three young children – 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan.
• Between September 2022 and January 2023, Lindsay Clancy was prescribed several medications by at least three different providers, her former husband said. Through their questioning of Patrick Clancy, prosecutors noted it appeared his ex-wife had taken only a fraction of the many pills she had been prescribed; Patrick Clancy testified he was not aware of how much medication his then-wife had or had not taken.
• Lindsay Clancy’s “big spiral” started around early December 2022, when she began taking a new medication, her former husband said. Lindsay Clancy told her then-husband she was suicidal and had “intrusive thoughts” about hurting their children, Patrick Clancy testified. He was not concerned for their safety at that time because she didn’t show “any intention” of harming them, he said.
• Lindsay Clancy spent multiple days in psychiatric hospitals in late December 2022 and early January 2023 because she was still having thoughts of suicide, Patrick Clancy said. After she was discharged, she seemed “much better” and said she was no longer having suicidal thoughts, he said.
• Hours before the killings, Lindsay Clancy built a snowman and played with her three kids, her ex-husband testified. “She was having one of her best days,” Patrick Clancy said. Before the father of three left their home to pick up dinner, he said he kissed one of his children on the head and told his family he would “be right back.”

Opening statements:

The prosecution and the defense delivered opening statements Monday morning, with both parties warning jurors some of the testimony in the case could be difficult to hear.

• Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham said Lindsay Clancy “deliberately and meticulously” killed her children. Although she acknowledged Clancy had mental health issues, the prosecutor said she was “not in the throes of psychosis” when she fatally strangled her children in the basement of their family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home. “This was a woman who acted intentionally, rationally and swiftly to accomplish a very specific goal – to kill,” the prosecutor said.
• Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said Lindsay Clancy was “suffering from psychosis” when she killed her children and attempted suicide after, which left her partially paralyzed. Clancy suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth, Reddington told jurors, and was prescribed a cocktail of medications in the months leading up to the killings. “This is a young woman who, with her husband, tried very hard to get the help she needed,” the defense attorney said.

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CNN’s Andi Babineau and Elise Hammond contributed to this report.