Prosecutor says Clancy denied violent or suicidal plans to clinicians
The focus of Friday’s testimony was what the nearly five days the Massachusetts mother spent in the psychiatric hospital reveal about her state of mind in the weeks before the killings. Both the prosecution and the defense consider the stay a pivotal chapter in the case.
In questioning one of her McLean Hospital psychiatrists on Friday, a prosecutor underscored that Clancy denied to hospital clinicians that she wanted to hurt anyone else or planned to kill herself.
Clancy’s lawyer, meanwhile, aimed to flesh out the defense’s claim that she sought mental health help for months, wasn’t properly diagnosed as she went from provider to provider, and was put on a series of medications that left her worse off.
The two readings frame the central dispute of the trial over Clancy’s mental state when she strangled the children in their suburban home and then jumped out a second-story window.
Clancy is on trial for murder in the deaths of her three children. The case has centered on her mental health in the period before and at the time of the killings.
This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.