Lindsay Clancy trial live updates: ‘Psychotic’ killer mom told son Dawson, 3, to ‘go to God’ as she strangled him, then 2 siblings, doctors say

Nypost · Aug 21, 2026 · 860 words · By Priscilla DeGregory

Criminal Responsibility vs. Mental Illness Postpartum Psychosis

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What to know about Criminal Responsibility vs. Mental Illness

Lindsay Clancy trial live updates: ‘Psychotic’ killer mom told son Dawson, 3, to ‘go to God’ as she strangled him, then 2 siblings, doctors say See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 2

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left20%

Center60%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on Google Editor’s note: Coverage of this case is disturbing.

Common ground

Horrific new details about “clearly psychotic” Lindsay Clancy‘s heinous act — and state of mind — the night she strangled her three kids are coming to light at her murder trial Friday, as Massachusetts prosecutors call their final witnesses to rebut her…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Criminal Responsibility vs. Mental Illness story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack, a prosecution rebuttal witness, testified about what Lindsay Clancy told him a male voice said to her before she killed her kids?
How does this story connect Criminal Responsibility vs. Mental Illness with Postpartum Psychosis over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/21/us-news/lindsay-clancy-trial-august-21/

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 95% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Name Calling / Labeling 80% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

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Claim 1: “psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack, a prosecution rebuttal witness, testified about what Lindsay Clancy told him a male voice said to her before she killed her kids.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results (TikTok/News, YouTube, AOL) confirm that Dr. Avram Mack testified as a prosecution rebuttal witness in the Lindsay Clancy trial.

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web search NEUTRAL — Lindsay Clancy Trial: Prosecution Rebuttal witness Dr. Avram Mack testifies he does not agree with a bipolar diagnosis and Lindsay was “feeling depressed” when he evaluated her #lindsayclancy #trial #…
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/witness-avram-mack

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web search NEUTRAL — Prosecution rebuttal witness Dr. Avram Mack testified that Lindsay Clancy’s mental status did not appear abnormal during his April interview and disputed a bipolar disorder diagnosis. After reviewing …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S23krxcyodA

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web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Avram Mack, a psychiatrist called by the prosecution as a rebuttal witness, testified Clancy had a major depressive episode but did not show signs of psychosis at the time. Tensions rose during cr…
https://www.aol.com/articles/lindsay-clancy-lawyer-snaps-pro…

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Claim 2: “The Catholic killer mom told her middle child Dawson, 3, to “go to God” as she killed him — then his sister Cora, 5, and baby brother Callan, 8 months”

CORROBORATED

The names and ages of the children (Cora 5, Dawson 3, Callan 8 months) are consistently reported across Nypost, Krdo, and Wikipedia. Note: The specific quote 'go to God' is not explicitly in the provided evidence, but the identity of the children is fully corroborated.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On January 24, 2023, Lindsay Clancy fatally strangled her three children—five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan—at the family's home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, United St…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_the_Clancy_children

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Following is a list of teams that competed during the 2022–23 curling season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_teams_in_the_2022–23_c…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of American films released in 2008.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_films_of_2008

+ 5 more evidence sources

info

Claim 3: “Lindsay Clancy "methodically" killed her kids and tried to kill herself”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are completely irrelevant, discussing seafood and tinnitus, and contain no information regarding the Lindsay Clancy trial or Dr. Mack's testimony.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Nov 13, 2024 · Dabei fanden die Forscher heraus, dass das Essen verschiedener Fisch-Sorten das Risiko für dauerhaften Tinnitus um fast 30 Prozent senkte, gegenüber jener Gruppe, die gar keinen bis wen…
https://www.heidelberg24.de/verbraucher/neue-studie-zeigt-we…

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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 1, 2024 · Diet has been implicated in tinnitus etiology, but studies are inconsistent, and longitudinal data are scarce. Seafood intake is associated with a lower risk of hearing loss, but the lon…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000291652…

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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 19, 2024 · Die neue Studie hat nun errechnet, dass ein höherer Verzehr von Thunfisch, hellem Fisch und Schalentieren mit einem geringeren Tinnitus-Risiko verbunden war. Dieser beobachtete Zusammen…
https://de.headtopics.com/news/fisch-gegen-tinnitus-neue-stu…

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Claim 4: “"The voice said, 'You should kill the kids. This is your last chance so you can kill yourself,'" Mack told the 18-person jury.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Dr. Avram Mack testified that Clancy reported hearing a voice commanding her to kill her children and then herself.

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web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Avram Mack also told jurors Clancy described hearing a voice telling her to kill her children before taking her own life, but concluded she retained the capacity to understand right from wrong and…
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/lindsay-clancey-telling-psyc…

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web search NEUTRAL — Dr Avram Mack answers questions from the witness stand during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, Friday, Aug.He said she suffered from severe depression, showed evidence consistent with bipolar disorder…
https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2026/08/21/lindsey-cl…

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web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Avram Mack, chief of psychiatry at Nemours Children's Health in Delaware since 2023, is "no longer employed" at the hospital system, according to CT Insider. His patients have been reassigned.
https://dissenter.com/crime/clancy-trial-prosecution-expert-…

info

Claim 5: “Mack said in his entire career he'd worked with "roughly 10" women who had experienced the rare phenomenon of postpartum psychosis.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are generic AOL homepages and sign-in screens; they contain no information regarding Dr. Avram Mack's career or the number of patients he treated.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Don’t miss our daily roundup. Stay informed with a handpicked selection of the day's top AOL stories, delivered to your inbox.
https://www.aol.com/homepage/

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web search NEUTRAL — Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
https://mail.aol.com/m

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web search NEUTRAL — AOL Sign in with Google Sign in with Yahoo Create account
https://login.aol.com/?src=fp-us&cli

info

Claim 6: “The labor and delivery nurse, 36, faces life in prison without parole if convicted on the three counts of first-degree murder.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While Wikipedia confirms the event and the identity of the children, the specific details regarding her age (36), profession (labor and delivery nurse), and the specific legal penalty (life without parole) are not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets, though the Nypost snippet mentions her age as 36.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Postpartum psychosis (PPP), also known as puerperal psychosis or peripartum psychosis, involves the abrupt onset of psychotic symptoms shortly following childbirth, typically within two weeks of deliv…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpartum_psychosis

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kevin Reddington (born February 9, 1951) is a criminal defense attorney based in Brockton, Massachusetts, who has appeared in a number of high-profile cases. He received his law degree from Suffolk Un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Reddington

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Claim 7: “Clancy’s defense argues she is not criminally responsible for strangling her young kids with exercise bands because she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder, exacerbated by a dangerous cocktail of 13 powerful psychiatric medications.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Wikipedia, news reports) confirm the defense's argument regarding postpartum psychosis, bipolar disorder, and the use of 13 psychiatric medications.

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web search NEUTRAL — Although she did not dispute killing her children, her defense argued that she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder and therefore lacked criminal responsibility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_the_Clancy_children

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web search NEUTRAL — Clancy does not deny killing her children, but her defense argues postpartum psychosis warped her sense of reality and that she is not criminally liable for their deaths.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/09/lindsay-clan…

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web search NEUTRAL — Her defense maintains she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis and severe overmedication, having been prescribed a complex cocktail of 13 different psychiatric drugs—including antipsych…
https://www.unilad.com/news/crime/lindsay-clancy-breaks-down…

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Claim 8: “Lindsay Clancy strangled her three kids... with exercise bands in the basement of the family’s Duxbury, Mass., home in January 2023”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (Krdo, Nypost, and Wikipedia) confirm that Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children with exercise bands in the basement of her Duxbury, Mass. home in January 2023.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of events of the year 2026 in Massachusetts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Massachusetts

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Duxbury (alternative older spellings: "Duxborough" and "Duxboro") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately 35 miles (56 km) to the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duxbury,_Massachusetts

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.