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  • Julie Mattson
  • August 19, 2026August 19, 2026
  • Podcast

The Lindsay Clancy Trial: Psychosis, Premeditation, or Both?

Last week, I took you through the devastating events of January 24, 2023, the night Lindsay Clancy’s three young children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, were fatally harmed inside their family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. This week, we move from the home to the courtroom. In The Lindsay Clancy Trial: Psychosis, Premeditation, or Both?, I take a closer look at one of the most complicated questions surrounding this case: What was happening in Lindsay Clancy’s mind when her children died? Lindsay’s mental health before the deaths has become a critical part of understanding the case. Her treatment, medications, reported symptoms, and concerns surrounding postpartum mental illness raise difficult questions about postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, and about how severe psychiatric illness affects criminal responsibility. But there is another side to this case. The circumstances surrounding that night also raise questions about planning and awareness. Lindsay’s husband, Patrick, left the home to run errands. During the relatively short period he was gone, the lives of all three children were changed forever. So how does the legal system distinguish between an intentional, premeditated act and an act committed by someone experiencing profound psychosis? Can a person appear organized or purposeful while simultaneously experiencing a severe break from reality? And where does mental illness end and legal responsibility begin? As a nurse and former forensic death investigator, I’m particularly interested in the intersection between the medical evidence and the investigative evidence. A case like this cannot be understood through one piece of information alone. We have to look at the timeline, behavior, medical and psychiatric history, physical evidence, statements, expert opinions, and what investigators were able to establish. We also have to remember why this trial is happening. Three young children lost their lives. Whatever conclusions are ultimately reached about Lindsay’s mental state and criminal responsibility, Cora, Dawson, and Callan remain at the center of this case. In this episode, I explore the competing questions surrounding the Lindsay Clancy trial and the challenge of evaluating a case in which mental illness and evidence of apparent planning may exist alongside one another. Was this postpartum psychosis? Was it premeditation? Or is the truth more complicated than either explanation alone? Join me for Part Two of the Lindsay Clancy case on Pushing Up Lilies: The Lindsay Clancy Trial: Psychosis, Premeditation, or Both? EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: 00:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson.  00:10 Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.  00:24 Do I have some stories for you. Are you ready? Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie. I’m recording today from my med spa.  00:40 I have to admit I love, love, love this microphone. I hope it sounds as good as it sounds in my headset.  00:48 But wanted to bring to your attention, and I know I may have mentioned it last week, but we are having our second annual Murder Mystery Dinner.  00:58 This year is gonna be on October 10th in Krum, Texas, at Studio 141, and we’re gonna have an amazing, immersive murder mystery dinner catered by Our Blended Table.  01:13 And if you haven’t had their food, let me just tell you, it’s amazing.  01:18 It’s gonna be very interactive, a great chance to meet people who love true crime, and also an opportunity to meet and speak with Ann Byrum.  01:30 Now, many of you may not know who Ann is, but Ann is the mother of Kelly Ann Cox, and Kelly was actually abducted in Denton back in 1997 from a gas station in- very near the Denton Police Department after a tour of the jail with her criminal justice class from UNT.  01:54 And Ann loves to remind us how important it is to kinda watch your back and always use the buddy system. This happened to Kelly Ann during the day.  02:09 I mean, it was daylight right in front of the police department with officers going in and out on a very busy road.  02:17 I’m so thankful and grateful that Ann has offered to come up from Houston and be my speaker, and so I’m very much looking forward to talking to her.  02:29 We’re gonna do an interview with her, and then we’re gonna open up the floor for questions. Now, I’m also going to have a booth at the Day of the Dead Festival. I’m not racing this year.  02:42 They went up a little bit on the cost, and I just decided that I would rather spend that money advocating, so I turned it around a little bit.  02:51 This year I’ll just have a merch booth, but we’re gonna have hoodies, we’ll have T-shirts, we’ll have pins, we’ll have plenty of stickers, and the comic book.  03:02 The comic book will be there, and I’ll be glad to sign those as well.  03:07 And we’ll also be at the Overdose Awareness event on the square in Denton, Texas, on August 31st, so that’s coming up right around the corner.  03:18 It’s so crazy to think that it’s already September or almost September. It makes me wanna go Christmas shopping.  03:24 It’s never too early, I think, to just go look around, see what you can find, and the Hobby Lobby already has their Christmas stuff out.  03:32 That kinda drives me crazy to think that really in July they started doing that. I don’t like it, because I like to just celebrate my seasons.  03:42 I wanna celebrate Thanksgiving without my Christmas tree up. So anyway, I don’t know if y’all feel the same way about it, but there’s my piece.  03:50 Wanna talk a little bit more about the Lindsay Clancy trial, and I know that many of you have been watching it, and I’m so upset that I haven’t been able to watch

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Pushing Up Lilies

Pushing Up Lilies
Pushing Up Lilies

Dissect the science behind some of the most spine-tingling, unusual and terrifyingly true crime stories with Julie Mattson, a seasoned Forensic Nurse Death Investigator in this gripping weekly podcast.

Julie’s unique approach to investigations is informed by her background in nursing, which allows her to provide an in-depth analysis of the medical intricacies and physiological aspects of each case.

With her compassionate storytelling and unwavering dedication to uncovering the truth, Julie takes you on a thrilling journey into the world of forensic science, shining a light on the intersection of medicine, justice and criminal investigation.

In “Pushing Up Lilies,” Julie’s expert medical analysis will captivate your imagination and challenge your understanding of the human body’s role in solving the most complex and enigmatic criminal case.

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Christa Pike: Failed Execution Mystery
byJulie Mattson

What happens when someone is sentenced to death, the execution goes forward, but the person doesn’t die?

This week on Pushing Up Lilies, I’m talking about Christa Pike, who was convicted of the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pike was just 18 years old when the murder occurred, and she has spent roughly three decades on death row.

I want to start by telling you about Colleen, what happened to her, and the evidence that ultimately led to Pike’s conviction. As a former death investigator, I look at cases like this through the physical evidence, the injuries, the witness statements, and what those findings tell us about a victim’s final moments.

But there’s another side to this story that raises some serious medical questions.

On September 30, 2026, Tennessee reportedly attempted to execute Pike using pentobarbital. According to the account discussed in this episode, she survived the procedure and was hospitalized in critical condition. As a nurse, I have a lot of questions about what happened inside that execution chamber.

We’ll look at how lethal injection is supposed to work, what could potentially go wrong, and the medical and ethical questions that arise when an execution fails.

This case is disturbing on so many levels, and while the latest developments have brought renewed attention to Christa Pike, I don’t want us to forget the young woman whose murder started this entire story.

Join me as we examine the evidence, the medicine, and the unanswered questions surrounding this case.

Christa Pike: Failed Execution Mystery
Christa Pike: Failed Execution Mystery
October 7, 2026
Julie Mattson
Tasia Fortune: The Hanging That Wasn’t The Cause of Death
September 30, 2026
Julie Mattson
Burger Avenue Mystery
September 23, 2026
Julie Mattson
The Death of Barrett Walsh: Psychosis, a Murder Charge, and the Lindsay Clancy Connection
September 16, 2026
Julie Mattson
The Death of Aria Talathi: When a Drowning Scene Tells a Different Story
September 9, 2026
Julie Mattson
The Lindsay Clancy Trial: The Case Is Now in the Jury’s Hands
September 2, 2026
Julie Mattson
The Lindsay Clancy Trial: New Testimony, New Questions
August 26, 2026
Julie Mattson
The Lindsay Clancy Trial: Psychosis, Premeditation, or Both?
August 19, 2026
Julie Mattson
The Lindsay Clancy Case: Three Children, One Unthinkable Night
August 12, 2026
Julie Mattson
Grand Haven: The Karolkiewicz Family
August 5, 2026
Julie Mattson
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Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, terrifyingly true stories with a forensic twist, hosted by Julie Mattson.

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Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, terrifyingly true stories with a forensic twist, hosted by Forensic Nurse Death Investigator, Julie Mattson.

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Christa Pike: Failed Execution Mystery

Dani After Dark: Julie Mattson Guest Appearance

Tasia Fortune: The Hanging That Wasn’t The Cause of Death

Burger Avenue Mystery

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