Inside hospital holding wheelchair-bound Lindsay Clancy where cops are called 1,000 times a year after security scandal

 Lindsay Clancy was left in a wheelchair following a spinal injury she suffered after jumping from her bedroom window soon after strangling her children Credit: AP

Lindsay has been accused of strangling her three children to death with exercise bands Credit: Facebook 

Lindsay has been held at the Tewksbury State Hospital in Massachusetts since May 2023 as her medical providers believe she required extended mental health care Credit: Getty

Lindsay pictured in court on Tuesday Credit: AP

Five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan were found in the basement by Lindsay’s now ex-husband Patrick Clancy, who was briefly out of the home running errands when the killings occurred on January 24, 2023.

Shortly after their deaths, Lindsay crushed up pills, cut her wrists and neck and jumped from her second-story bedroom window. 

After the fall, she suffered a spine injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair.

As her murder trial continues, more details about the immediate medical treatment she received was revealed, including how she suffered a “code blue.”

Lindsay was intubated at one point to protect her airway due to the extent of her spinal injuries and was communicating with her medical team via a white board.

Immediately after the killings, she was taken to South Shore Hospital, but later transferred to Brigham and Women’s for advanced care.

She was then transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in March 2023 and then taken to Tewksbury State Hospital in May 2023 for extended mental health care.

The hospital sits on over 800 acres in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, 58 miles from Duxbury, where Lindsay had been living at the time of her kids’ deaths.

The hospital has 370 beds and provides “comprehensive treatment, care, and comfort to adults with medical and/or mental illnesses,” according to Mass.gov.

The hospital offers a variety of services, including a Neurologic Rehabilitation Unit for those relearning daily functions, services for those with developmental disabilities, psychiatric, psychological and neurobehavioral care and behavioral challenges.

The hospital was built in 1854 and was first an almshouse before it was converted into a hospital.  It is now run by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, but in recent years has struggled with “overcrowding and dangerous conditions,” according to the History of Massachusetts.

The Saunders Building at Tewksbury State Hospital, where patients receive medical, psychiatric and psychological treatment Credit: Getty

Lindsay seen attending her arraignment on February 7, 2023 from another hospital in the state Credit: AP

Several cases of violence have been reported in recent years, including in August 2021 when a nurse was nearly strangled by a patient because there wasn’t enough staff around to help subdue the patient.

A 2023 CBS News report revealed that the Tewksbury Police Department was responding to roughly 1,000 calls for help each year at the hospital.

A significant amount of calls were asking for assistance in locating escaped patients. In 2025, the department responded to 26 assaults at the hospital, and the Tewksbury State Hospital Public Safety Department responded to 478 assaults, according to the Boston Globe.

A report from 2024 from the Boston Globe also revealed that water at the hospital was rendered undrinkable for years because of manganese contamination, which made the water brown and taste like metal.

Information from the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services reviewed by the Globe suggested that the incident rate at Tewksbury is similar to other inpatient facilities in the state.

More reports of violent encounters emerged earlier in 2026, including a visitor assaulting a pregnant staff member, a patient allegedly acting erratically striking a worker, one patient assaulting another with a sharp object, and a patient hitting a worker in the face twice.

New safety protocols were introduced to the hospital in 2025 to address violence concerns, which appeared to be working before the state banned security staff from using handcuffs, batons and pepper gel on patients, according to the Boston Globe.

Lindsay Clancy pictured in court on July 20 for the start of her murder trial where she has pled not guilty to three murder charges Credit: AP

Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial

Lindsay Clancy is accused of strangling her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, with exercise bands inside their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home on January 24, 2023.

The former labor and delivery nurse does not deny killing them, but has pleaded not guilty and claims she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

 Prosecutors argue Clancy deliberately sent her then-husband Patrick out to collect medicine and dinner so she could be left alone with the children.

The trial began with Patrick on the witness stand, describing Clancy’s declining mental health before recounting how he returned home, found her injured outside and discovered the children in the basement. Jurors have since heard his harrowing 911 call, seen the bands that were removed from the children’s necks and viewed their pajamas and other evidence from the home.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

• Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks, meaning testimony could continue well into September.
• Proceedings are scheduled to begin at around 9am ET on sitting days and normally continue through the afternoon, with morning, lunch and afternoon breaks.
• Prosecutors will present their case first, calling first responders, police officers, investigators, medical professionals and other witnesses connected to the killings.
• The state listed more than 180 potential witnesses, although prosecutors are not expected to call everyone named.
• Jurors are also expected to visit the Clancy family’s former Duxbury home with the judge and lawyers to see the scene for themselves.
• Once prosecutors rest, Clancy’s defense will begin calling its own witnesses, including people who knew her and experts expected to testify about her medication, mental health and alleged postpartum psychosis.
• The defense listed more than 60 possible witnesses, but some overlap with the prosecution’s list and may not be called twice.
• After both sides finish presenting evidence, lawyers will deliver closing arguments before the judge instructs jurors on the law.
• The jury will then decide whether Clancy is guilty of murder or was not criminally responsible because of her mental state when she killed her children. Other hospitals run by state health care agencies don’t allow these tools to be used, which raised concerns in the state.

  Lindsay was transported to the Tewksbury Hospital in 2023 after her health care providers believed she needed extended mental health care.

  Since she has been held there, she has made court appearances over Zoom and been wheeled into a Plymouth courtroom with nurses in tow.

  As her trial continues, the prosecution will argue that Lindsay acted deliberately in killing her children, while the defense argues she was not criminally responsible for murder because she was suffering fromundiagnosedpostpartum psychosis.

  Over two dozen witnesses have been called, including Patrick, paramedics, firefighters and police officers who responded to her home and medical professionals who treated Lindsay and the Clancy children.

  Experts are also expected to testify in the trial, but no postpartum witnesses will be called due to the judge’s order.

  Lindsay’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington wanted to put women on the stand who suffered from postpartum depression and psychosis and experienced hearing “these command voices,” similar to Lindsay.

  Patrick talked about a voice that Lindsay heard, and in a wrongful death lawsuit he filed, it noted she began “hearing a compelling and unrecognizable singular male voice that told her ‘this is your last chance’ and that she had to ‘take them’ with [her].”

  Reddington’s motion was denied as Judge William Sullivan said “There’s not a question of whether postpartum depression or psychosis is real.”

  Sullivan said experts could testify to the conditions.

  If you missed day one of the trial or day two, you can catch up with a recap on our YouTube Channel. Catch up on day three of the trial from our live blog.

  If you or someone you know needs help or support for their mental health, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected with a certified crisis counselor.