5 Stunning Facts About Massachusetts Mother Who Allegedly Killed Her Kids and Tried to Take Her Own Life

The Lindsay Clancy story continues to shock the nation. The labor and delivery nurse was on leave from her job at Massachusetts General Hospital when she was accused of killing her daughter Cora, 5, son Dawson, 3, and son Callan, seven months, before attempting to kill herself by jumping off the top floor of the home she shared with her husband. On Tuesday, the 32-year-old was arraigned from her hospital bed, where she lay with a mask on her face, as prosecutors revealed stunning details about the case and the defense attempted to prove his client was simply a victim of a medical system gone wrong. Here is everything we learned about the case from the arraignment.

Her Attorney Claims That She Was "Destroyed" By Postpartum Medication

Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, claims that his client was a victim of a healthcare system that fails women with "postpartum depression– and even postpartum psychosis." He told the judge that Clancy was prescribed a "dozen" drugs– including Prozac and Seroquel– that ultimately led to homicidal ideation as a side effect. "[Clancy] was…a beautiful person who was destroyed by this medication," he said. "This continued even up until the week before when her husband went to the doctor and asked her for help and said, 'Please, you're turning her into a zombie,'" he said.

She Said a Man's Voice Told Her to Murder Her Children

According to the arraignment, Clancy told a psychologist that she heard a man's voice telling her to kill her children. The prosecution maintains she "created" a plan to get her husband to leave the home for 20 minutes, which is when she strangled them with exercise ropes. 

Her Husband Discovered the Kids with the Ropes Around Their Necks

After returning from errands requested by Clancy, her husband, Patrick, returned home to "silence." He then found his wife in the yard and his children in their finished basement, later telling 911 dispatchers they reportedly still had exercise ropes around their "little necks." All three died of "ligature strangulation," per the prosecution, adding that it requires acute applied pressure to the neck and takes several minutes for victims to lose consciousness and die.

Her Physical State Is Being Debated

According to the defense, Clancy suffered spinal cord injuries and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Her lawyer requested that she should be allowed to stay in a rehab facility while awaiting trial. "She can't walk…she can't even go to the bathroom," he said. He also added that her emotional state was "not well at all." However, an attorney for the DAs office argued that "She can move," and "She is not paralyzed. She can move her legs. She can move her arms. She has been writing and being able to verbally communicate."

During the hearing, the judge agreed that she would remain in her current hospital until her transfer to a rehabilitation facility.