Patrick Clancy’s since-deleted Reddit posts map Lindsay Clancy’s rapid decline after antidepressants, weeks before she strangled their three children and jumped from a bedroom window.
The posts, recovered and detailed in New York Post reporting, show a husband searching online forums for medical answers while his wife’s sleep, mood, and stability unraveled in late 2022 and early 2023.
Lindsay Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, strangled Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, eight months, with exercise bands on Jan. 24 after sending Patrick on errands. She then cut her wrists and neck and jumped from a bedroom window in a failed suicide attempt.
She later admitted the killings but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The case has drawn national attention, including calls for severe punishment from elected officials who reject any soft framing of the crime.
Patrick’s Reddit account, active from 2017 until last year and later deleted, carried the couple’s private crisis into public view. One post was prefaced as “posting for my wife.” Another included the same email address later read aloud in Plymouth court by cell phone forensics expert Timothy Chiappini.
After the birth of their third child, Lindsay faced return-to-work anxiety. Zoloft entered the picture. Patrick wrote that the antidepressant was his own idea.
On Dec. 7, 2022, seven weeks before the killings, he posted in an Ask Docs forum describing what followed.
Patrick wrote on Reddit:
"I suspect this medication was never needed in the first place (Zoloft was my own idea), but my psychiatrist is saying I’m exhibiting signs of bipolar disorder,"
He described severe insomnia after a week on Zoloft, including one stretch of 48 hours without sleep. For weeks she managed only three or four hours a night. “Oddly, I don’t feel tired, but I know I need more sleep,” the post said.
Weight dropped. Lindsay lost 15 pounds in two months, down to 115. Later medications included Ativan, other benzodiazepines, sleeping pills, and a switch to Prozac.
On Dec. 9 he asked strangers whether medication side effects had ever produced thoughts of hurting others, including loved ones, and whether anyone had come close to acting on them.
Those questions sat online while the couple still tried to manage the crisis at home.
Patrick took Lindsay to the Massachusetts General Hospital emergency room on Dec. 15. Five days later, a Rhode Island postpartum treatment program turned her away. Doctors there said she needed broader psychiatric care, not a specialized postpartum track.
On Dec. 30 she was admitted to McLean Hospital. She stayed until Jan. 5, according to later court testimony from treating psychiatrists.
Patrick later testified she seemed much better after release. On Jan. 23, the day before the killings, his final Reddit post asked a tech forum about an app for real estate open houses. Ordinary life still appeared possible on the surface.
In earlier posts he had insisted her baseline anxiety had been mild. She had been eating well, sleeping normally, dancing at a wedding, and socializing. Similar postpartum stress after the first two children had eased with therapy and coping skills. He believed more time alone to decompress could have solved the overwhelm with three young kids.
Patrick wrote:
"I can’t stress enough that her anxiety was very mild going into this,"
He also described her as “severely depressed, numb, don’t really care about anything... even had suicidal thoughts.”
The gap between those earlier reassurances and the final collapse is now central to how the public reads the timeline.
At trial, psychiatric diagnosis remains contested. Medical experts on both sides have suggested possible bipolar disorder. The defense argued a manic phase spiraled into psychosis. Lindsay and Patrick are both suing the doctors who treated her, claiming a missed bipolar diagnosis.
National Review noted that Massachusetts law, unlike most states, requires prosecutors to prove the defendant was sane once an insanity plea is entered. The same coverage pointed to evidence of planning, including checks on how long her husband’s errands would take, as undercutting a pure break from reality.
As one assessment put it, actions that show forethought suggest recognition of likely consequences. None of the documented postpartum struggles, medication problems, or hospital gaps justifies murdering three children. Most women who face those same pressures do not kill their kids.
Jury deliberations have already produced a mistrial drama and juror second-guessing, with one juror later describing vote changes and lingering belief in guilt. A judge’s mistrial ruling prompted fresh predictions of a full retrial.
Patrick has moved forward in his own life. Coverage has noted he expects a new baby with his wife after the mistrial in the murder case. His lawyer did not return a request for comment on the newly surfaced posts.
Federal interest has stayed limited. Trump declined any pardon request and called the matter a state situation, keeping the focus on Massachusetts courts rather than national political rescue.
Separate reporting has also tracked expectations of another trial after the mistrial declaration, underscoring that the legal reckoning is not finished.
Cora, Dawson, and Callan never got a second chance. Their mother sent their father out of the house, used exercise bands as a weapon, then tried to end her own life. The Reddit record shows a husband who spent weeks asking strangers whether the medications and symptoms pointed to bipolar disorder, insomnia, or worse, and whether dangerous thoughts had ever turned into action for anyone else.
Doctors rotated medications. One specialty program turned her away. A short hospital stay ended with an apparent rebound that did not last. Online posts captured the fear in real time. Court testimony later tied the same email address from those posts to the phone evidence.
The insanity plea and the medical malpractice suits now compete for attention. One path seeks to explain the act as a break from reality. The other seeks to shift blame onto clinicians who allegedly missed a diagnosis. Neither path restores the three children.
When a mother kills her kids and the system then spends years arguing over labels, the first duty is still clear: name the crime, protect the record of the victims, and refuse to let medical complexity erase basic accountability.
