Coverage spread: 2 sources — 1 left · 1 right
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Former nanny Elaine Rossi testified that Lindsay Clancy was a loving, attentive “wonderful mother” who showed no signs of endangering her children.
- Rossi described 8-month-old Callan as “the happiest, sweetest, easiest baby” and recounted warm details about all three children.
- Rossi confirmed Clancy disclosed postpartum depression, sleep problems and medication use, and that prescription bottles were visible in the home.
- Clancy visibly sobbed and shook during the nanny’s testimony in the Plymouth, Massachusetts courtroom.
Where they differ
- CBS News provides fuller trial context, noting this was witness 45 and detailing forensic toxicologist Dr. Justin Brower’s testimony that drug levels were “therapeutic,” not suicidal.
- The New York Post focuses more heavily on emotional details of Clancy’s courtroom reaction and includes diary excerpts about her guilt over sleep training Callan.
- CBS News includes cross-examination details about Rossi’s personal relationship with Clancy (“I love my Lindsay”), which the Post omits.
- The Post gives more background on Rossi’s hiring timeline and abrupt dismissal after Thanksgiving 2022, while CBS keeps that section brief.
At the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the family’s former nanny testified that Clancy was a loving, attentive mother who showed no signs of endangering her children, even as she struggled with postpartum depression. Clancy, 35, of Duxbury, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — and has admitted to killing them in the family’s basement on Jan. 24, 2023.
What did the nanny say on the stand?
Elaine Rossi, a Kingston, Massachusetts nanny with 15 years of experience, was the prosecution’s 45th witness on day seven of testimony. She said she was hired after responding to a Facebook post from Clancy in July 2022 and worked for the family from September through early December 2022, three days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., caring mainly for baby Callan while also doing food prep, light housekeeping and laundry. She described Callan as “the happiest, sweetest, easiest baby … just a love,” Cora as a “girly girl,” and Dawson as “full of energy, rambunctious, silly, funny.” The children reportedly called her “Lainey.” Jurors were also shown a brief video Rossi recorded of Callan drinking a bottle, which she had sent to Clancy on Sept. 9, 2022.
Rossi said Clancy, a former labor-and-delivery nurse, left her detailed written instructions in a notebook and texted her as needed about Callan’s care. She testified she never once worried about the safety of the children. “I observed a wonderful mom who loved her kids,” Rossi said under cross-examination by defense attorney Kevin Reddington. “She was very concerned with their safety. She was very concerned with Callan’s eating and sleeping. She was a wonderful mother.” Asked about a statement she’d given police — “I love my Lindsay” — Rossi confirmed she did love Clancy.
What did the nanny know about Clancy’s mental health?
Rossi testified that in early December 2022, Clancy told her she was suffering from postpartum depression, was having trouble sleeping, and was spending nights in the basement because of it. Clancy also told Rossi she planned to stop nursing Callan because she was starting a new medication. Rossi said she saw prescription bottles in a kitchen cabinet in the home. Despite this, Rossi maintained she had no concerns about how Clancy interacted with her children.
Rossi was originally brought on a few months early, in September, so the family could adjust to a routine before Clancy returned to work around Thanksgiving 2022 as a labor-and-delivery nurse. Shortly after Thanksgiving, however, Clancy and her husband, Patrick Clancy, told Rossi that Lindsay would not be returning to work after all, and let her go.
What else came up at trial that day?
Forensic toxicologist Dr. Justin Brower testified about drug levels found in Clancy’s blood, describing them as consistent with therapeutic use rather than a suicide attempt. He said people attempting to take their own lives typically ingest much larger quantities of medication than what was found in her system, though he agreed with the defense that toxicology numbers alone don’t tell the full story of what happened. Testimony was briefly interrupted when Judge William Sullivan called an abrupt break during Brower’s testimony.
Earlier in the trial, on the previous court day, jurors heard excerpts from Clancy’s personal diary describing her guilt over decisions to stop breastfeeding Callan and to sleep-train him, as well as guilt that caring for the baby was pulling attention from her older two children. She wrote of “horrible PTSD from sleep training Callan,” saying that listening to him cry for over an hour without intervening was agonizing.
How did Clancy react in court?
Clancy sobbed during Rossi’s testimony, covering her face with her hand as her shoulders and body shook; she was also seen wiping her nose with a tissue. Her visible distress was noted by observers in the courtroom as the nanny described her son’s personality and praised her parenting.
Why this testimony matters for the case
The trial centers on whether Clancy, who has admitted to killing her children, can be found not guilty by reason of mental illness — a defense her attorneys appear to be building through evidence of severe postpartum depression, sleep deprivation, and medication use. Testimony from witnesses like Rossi, who saw Clancy regularly in the months before the killings and described her as devoted and safety-conscious, could support the defense’s argument that Clancy’s actions were the product of a mental health crisis rather than intent, even as prosecutors press the first-degree murder charges.
Sources
Featured photo: SpicyMilkBoy via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)