Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother who had been struggling with serious mental health symptoms after the birth of her third child, admitted to strangling her three young children with exercise bands while her husband was out picking up dinner and medication. She then jumped from a second-story window, survived, and was left paralyzed. Her first trial ended in a mistrial, leaving major questions about what happens next.

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum welcomes back board-certified forensic pathologist Dr. Priya Banerjee to talk through the Lindsay Clancy case and what the medical evidence can help explain. Dr. Priya describes what the children’s injuries can tell us about how they died and why Lindsay’s mental state that night remains one of the central questions in the case. They also discuss the difficult months leading up to it, from Lindsay’s sleepless nights to changing prescriptions and the challenges of coordinating care across multiple providers, and consider what could change if the case goes to trial again.

Highlights:

(0:00) Sheryl and Dr. Priya address misinformation surrounding the Lindsay Clancy case and the questions following the mistrial

(4:45) Why the repeated ligature strangulation of three children raises difficult medical and psychiatric questions

(7:00) The Clancy children and the significance of different exercise bands being used to strangle each child●

(8:15) Dr. Priya explains how ligature strangulation causes asphyxia, loss of consciousness, and irreversible brain injury

(11:15) Lindsay Clancy’s injuries after jumping from a second-story window and Dr. Priya’s assessment of the suicide attempt

(13:30) Postpartum anxiety, hormonal changes, severe sleep deprivation, and why recovery does not follow a simple timeline

(17:15) Why psychiatric medications can take weeks to work and the complications of starting, stopping, or changing prescriptions

(21:30) How mental illness, multiple providers, telehealth, and incomplete communication can complicate psychiatric care

(23:45) Speculation about Patrick Clancy and what the defense stipulated at trial

(25:45) What prescription drug monitoring programs can and cannot tell doctors about a patient's medication

(29:30) Why another Lindsay Clancy trial could become a battle between psychiatric experts

(33:00) The emotional toll that graphic child-death evidence can place on jurors asked to decide a difficult case

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Dr. Priya Banerjee is a board-certified forensic pathologist and former Rhode Island state medical examiner. She previously co-hosted Pathology with Dr. Priya on Zone 7 and uses her forensic experience to help explain complex medical evidence and death investigations.

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an active crime scene investigator for a metro Atlanta police department and the director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, which partners with colleges and universities nationwide. With more than four decades of experience, she has worked on thousands of cold cases using her investigative system, The Last 24/361, which integrates evidence, media, and advanced forensic testing.

Her work on high-profile cases, including The Boston Strangler, Natalie Holloway, Tupac Shakur and the Moore’s Ford Bridge lynching, led to her Emmy Award for CSI: Atlanta and induction into the National Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2023.

Social Links:

Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com

X: @ColdCaseTips

Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

Instagram: @officialzone7podcast

TikTok: @Sheryl.McCollum

Sheryl’s new book, Swans Don’t Swim in a Sewer: Solving the Cold Case of the Flint River Killer’s Daughter, is available now wherever books are sold.