Judge denies mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after testimony on Catholic doctrine

Remarks about Catholic doctrine were at the center of a charged dispute on Aug. 24 in the ongoing high-profile murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, who stands accused of strangling her three children before she attempted to take her own life.

The trial in Plymouth Superior Court has ignited a national debate around mental health and postpartum psychosis. Supporters have argued that Clancy — who strangled her three small children on Jan. 24, 2023, at her Duxbury, Massachusetts, home — was suffering from postpartum mental conditions that mitigated her alleged responsibility in the killings.

Her legal team has conceded that she killed the children but has argued that she was not responsible for her actions. Clancy tried to take her own life just after she allegedly carried out the murders.

On Aug. 24 Kirk Heilbrun, a professor of psychology at Drexel University, appeared as a witness for the prosecution at the trial. During his testimony he said Clancy claimed to have told her children “Go to God, baby” as she was strangling them.

“That was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in heaven with God,” Heilbrun said. “She was raised as a Catholic, and…