Over the last few months, a murder trial in Massachusetts has become a national obsession and a cultural Rorschach test.
asserted
trial → become → Massachusetts
The story of Lindsay Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse who killed her three children and then attempted suicide, has created a vortex of online theorizing and suspicion, and generated furious arguments about the relationship between mental illness and criminal fault, the ways in which the medical system fails mothers and how men and women understand one another.
asserted
men → kill → one
Tonight you'll hear from the father, Patrick Clancy, for the first time since the trial – talking about how he tried to rebuild a life in the shadow of unbearable grief, and why he wants to put the focus back on the memory of his children, Cora, Dawson and Callan.
asserted
he → hear → children
In the fall of 2022, when Callan was 5 months old, Patrick noticed that Lindsay was struggling.
asserted
Lindsay → notice → 2022
It was October and-- she went a few nights without sleeping.
asserted
she → go → ?
Ross Douthat: What did she tell you that she was experiencing then?
asserted
she → tell → that
She came downstairs one morning, and she said-- "I didn't sleep at all last night."
asserted
I → come → ?
And so I said-- you know, "That's awful.
asserted
That → said-- → ?
And-- I'll-- I'll take the kids to school.
asserted
I → take → school
You just focus on-- getting caught up on sleep."
asserted
You → focus → sleep
Did you know anything about postpartum mental illness before this experience started?
asserted
experience → know → illness
I could piece together what it was like to be really, really anxious or depressed, but I didn't know how to manage a postpartum illness.
uncertain
I → piece → illness
I think mental illness has this ability to be tragically deceptive.
asserted
illness → think → ability
So I'm-- I'm sure there are things that I didn't see.
asserted
I → be → that
Patrick and Lindsay Clancy were living in the seaside town of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
asserted
Clancy → live → Duxbury
They were married six years.
asserted
They → marry → ?
Months after the birth of their third child, Lindsay made repeated emergency room visits.
asserted
Lindsay → make → visits
She admitted herself to a program for patients with postpartum depression and was discharged after a day of treatment.
asserted
She → admit → treatment
She was also prescribed an escalating number of prescription drugs.
asserted
She → prescribe → drugs
Patrick said he struggled to help his wife navigate the medical system.
asserted
wife → say → system
Patrick Clancy: I think December.
asserted
I → think → ?
December was-- it was a big struggle for her-- just a huge lack of sleep, deep, deep depression, intrusive thoughts, and-- at the end of that month she went to the hospital.
asserted
she → was-- → hospital
It was New Year's Eve when Lindsay checked herself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital.
asserted
Lindsay → check → Hospital
She was treated for depression, and days later she was released.
asserted
she → treat → depression
The family celebrated Cora's birthday on January 7th.
asserted
family → celebrate → 7th
She told you she wanted to come home.
asserted
she → tell → you
She did.
asserted
She → do → ?
After taking Cora to a doctor's appointment earlier in the day, Lindsay asked Patrick to run an errand and pick up dinner - and when he returned home, he said he found her lying in the backyard, her throat and wrists cut, paralyzed after jumping from an upstairs window.
asserted
throat → take → window
In the basement he said he found his children strangled.
asserted
children → say → basement
Callan somehow survived and was airlifted to Boston Children's Hospital.
asserted
Callan → survive → Hospital
So, I didn't have all the details of Callan's condition.
asserted
I → have → condition
I just knew that they got a heartbeat back.
asserted
they → know → heartbeat
So I remember-- (SIGH) that night, I-- I-- I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live.
asserted
Callan → sigh → ?
And I-- I remember just thinking, "Just gimme one.
asserted
I → think → one
Just gimme one kid, and I would raise him as best I could, and I would give him the best life I possibly could.
uncertain
I → gimme → life
I'd tell him about his brother and sister."
asserted
I → tell → brother
And I was holdin' out hope for that.
asserted
I → holdin → that
And then when I got to the hospital, I saw the doctor.
asserted
I → get → doctor
I saw the look on her face, and-- and I knew that it-- it wasn't gonna be-- a good prognosis.
asserted
it → see → prognosis
Callan's heart kept beating for four days.
asserted
heart → keep → days
…and 98 more, not listed.
The Aporia
