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  • Julie Mattson
  • September 2, 2026September 2, 2026
  • Podcast

The Lindsay Clancy Trial: The Case Is Now in the Jury’s Hands

The Lindsay Clancy trial has reached one of its most important moments. The witnesses are finished, both sides have made their closing arguments, and now twelve jurors are left to decide what happened inside that home on January 24, 2023, and whether Lindsay was criminally responsible when Cora, Dawson, and Callan died. In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m taking you through the final stretch of testimony without making you sit through every minute of psychiatrists and psychologists arguing over diagnoses. Because, y’all, even I recorded that version, and decided I wasn’t going to do that to you.  Instead, I want to focus on what actually matters. The Commonwealth brought in its final three experts, and while none of them suggested Lindsay was well or that her suicide attempt wasn’t real, they disagreed with the defense over two critical issues: whether she was psychotic and whether she still had the capacity to understand that what she was doing was wrong. We’ll also talk about the moment religion entered the testimony and the defense asked for a mistrial, what happened during closing arguments, and the five possible decisions the jury can reach for each child, including what a finding of lack of criminal responsibility would actually mean.  As a forensic nurse death investigator, I keep coming back to something I learned working scenes: evidence doesn’t narrate itself. Phones, medications, searches, timelines, medical records and witness statements give us pieces. It’s investigators, experts, attorneys, and ultimately jurors, who have to determine what those pieces mean. And that is exactly where this case now sits. The jury doesn’t have to decide whether Lindsay suffered. Every expert agreed that she did. Their job is to determine whether the Commonwealth proved criminal responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt. And while we talk about mental illness, diagnoses, criminal responsibility and everything surrounding this trial, I don’t want us to lose sight of the reason that courtroom exists in the first place: Cora, Dawson, and Callan. I’ll continue following the case and bring you an update when something moves. Content Note: This episode discusses the deaths of children, strangulation, suicide, self-harm, and serious mental illness. 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, it’s Julie with Pushing Up Lilies. I wanted to tell y’all that I actually went to the North Texas Overdose Awareness Day last night.  00:41 I love that people were getting together and discussing, like, their history of abuse and recovery, and it was just heartwarming to hear their stories.  00:56 And there were a lot of recovery facilities there to provide support.  01:02 And I had a couple of stickers made for the event, and these are gonna be available on my website, but this one is like a Narcan sticker, and this one is overdose awareness, and those are gonna be available on the website.  01:16 I have a ton of cute stickers, y’all. I’m super excited because I designed them all, and so most of them have our website on them. I only have one that have a QR code, but they’re just fun.  01:30 They’re fun. And then also, I don’t know if y’all have seen the tumblers. I’ve got so much stuff on my desk here. The tumblers. So, these super cute Pushing Up Lilies tumblers.  01:41 I believe they’re 16 ounce and lots of fun. Those are also available.  01:47 Now, these are in my store at the Mercantile in Crumb, but they’re also gonna be available at the Murder Mystery Dinner, which again is October 10th at Studio 141 in Crumb, catered by Our Blended Table, my friend Tiana.  02:05 And it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be exciting. It’s put on by murdermysterytexas.com. So, I’m looking forward to the actors being there. Very interactive, great meal.  02:18 You’ll get to visit with Jan Bonham. Again, she’s the mother of Kelly Ann Cox, who is the UNT student that was abducted back in 1997 and found murdered in the Houston area.  02:29 So, it’s gonna be a lot of fun. It’s gonna be a fun night, and we’ll get to talk with Jan, and she has been gracious enough to come down from Houston to be my guest.  02:41 And looking forward to that and looking forward to meeting her. Also, I will be at the Day of the Dead Festival, October 24th, as a vendor, and all my merch will be there.  02:52 I will have the comic books. I’ll have all the stickers. I’ll have the T-shirts, and I have a special giveaway sticker. I only have 200 of them, so get to my booth quick.  03:01 But it is a Day of the Dead sticker that I had designed, so I think y’all will love it. Also, I am attending as an exhibitor the Texas EMS Conference.  03:14 Gonna be in Fort Worth in the end of July, at the Omni Hotel. I think I missed out on getting a hotel room at the Omni, which is not good, but I’m not happy about that. But anyway, I’ll get one close by.  03:26 We’ll figure it out. But lots of events coming up. I’m just already looking forward to and looking for events for 2027, and I feel like 2027 we’re gonna blow up, y’all.  03:41 So, if you will share this podcast with your friends, I would so appreciate it. I am so stinking close to 100,000 downloads.  03:50 Like, it’s amazing, and never ever would I have thought that I would be there. I mean, it’s just, it’s nuts to me. I love it, though. I absolutely love it. Also, I’m just trying to think.  04:03 I feel like there’s something else

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  • Julie Mattson
  • August 26, 2026August 26, 2026
  • Podcast

The Lindsay Clancy Trial: New Testimony, New Questions

The Lindsay Clancy trial continues, and with each new day of testimony, the questions surrounding this case seem to become even more complicated. In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m continuing my coverage as the defense presents its case and the jury hears from family members, mental health professionals, and forensic experts offering very different perspectives on Lindsay’s state of mind. As a forensic nurse death investigator, I’m especially interested in what happens when experts examine the same evidence and reach very different conclusions. What does the testimony tell us? What questions remain unanswered? And how will the jury ultimately determine where severe mental illness ends and criminal responsibility begins? I’ll also take you inside some of the more unexpected moments in the courtroom and share my perspective on what stood out to me as the trial moves closer to its conclusion. There is a lot to unpack in this week’s testimony, and some of it may change the way you look at this case. Through it all, I’ll continue to keep Cora, Dawson, and Callan at the center of this story as we follow the evidence and wait to see what comes next. Content Note: This episode discusses the deaths of children, suicide, self-harm, postpartum mental illness, and other subjects that may be difficult for some listeners. 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. I’m coming to you today from my med spa, so it’s a little bit different.  00:36 I think I was here last week, and I feel like I’m here all the time.  00:41 So many of you know that I have a med spa in Denton, Texas, and I do a lot of behind-the-scenes work, and then I also work as an injector three days a week.  00:52 So, I’m typically here on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and then I… See my new little fella right here. He’s so cute. I need to name him. 01:01 But going to be adding more when I finish my nurse practitioner degree. School starts back in about three weeks, and I have a quick little four-day trip to Mexico planned between now and then.  01:12 So that ought to be fun. I need a trip where I don’t have to do homework. Seem like every time I travel, I’ve got homework to do, and it’s not very relaxing, as many of you who are in school know.  01:24 Anyway, I wanna cover a little bit about what has happened in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial since August seventeenth.  01:32 So, August seventeenth through August twenty-fourth, I’m speaking as a forensic nurse death investigator, and I followed every day of this case.  01:39 I haven’t been able to watch every minute of it, but I follow it the same way I review a scene or a medical chart: evidence first, clinical pattern second, and the human cost, especially the three children, always at the center.  01:56 So, my voice is not here to root for a verdict.  01:59 It’s here to lay out what the record actually shows so that anyone listening can understand where this trial stands and why it matters just beyond one courtroom.  02:11 Now, on August seventeenth, the prosecution rested, so that was after nearly seventy witnesses, and then the defense began.  02:21 What followed was five intense days of family testimony, competing forensic experts, a rejected TikTok witness, early jury dismissals, a mid-trial motion for a mistrial, and the clearest statements about yet what was happening inside Lindsay Clancy’s mind on January twenty-fourth of twenty-twenty-three.  02:44 Lindsay has not taken the stand. Closing arguments are expected as early as tomorrow. Now, the jury has not yet begun to deliberate.  02:55 Let’s walk a little bit through it carefully day by day, and we’re gonna go a little bit through, like, what each witness said and what happened.  03:05 So, on August seventeenth, the prosecution rested, and the defense opened with family members.  03:13 The Commonwealth’s final witness was digital forensics specialist Ian Wiffin of Cellebrite, and he actually detailed data from Lindsay’s iPhone and her Apple Watch.  03:25 Searches in the days before the killings for symptoms of postpartum psychosis, psychosis symptoms, and ketamine for suicidal ideation.  03:36 Apple Maps queries for the restaurant and CVS on the afternoon of January twenty-fourth went over heart rate readings ending at fifty-seven beats per minute at around five twenty-three PM and stair climbing data around five thirty-three PM.  03:53 Now, the defense challenged the gaps in the data after those times and what could reliably be inferred from them. Now, with that, the prosecution rested.  04:05 Now, the defense began immediately as you would assume that it would, and a former coworker got on the stand and described Lindsay as kind, compassionate, very dedicated as a nurse, and a very devoted mother, again, who constantly sought parenting advice from her coworkers.  04:25 And then Lindsay’s sister came on, Allison Ozga, and she is a licensed social worker.  04:30 She testified that by December of twenty-twenty-two, Lindsay was reporting daily suicidal ideations, feeling numb and hopeless.  04:40 And after leaving McLean Hospital in early January, Lindsay told her that she was starting to feel a little better, so she was a little more optimistic.  04:50 Now, Lindsay’s mother, Paula Musgrove, testified through tears that she loved her grandchildren with all of her heart, and she described texts from Lindsay in the fall of twenty-twenty-two.  05:03 One of those texts said, “I’m really sick. Something’s wrong. I’m afraid to be alone.” And she recalled Lindsay saying that the medications were basically destroying her mind.  05:15 In December, she expressed thoughts of harming the children. And now these

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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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The Death of Aria Talathi: When a Drowning Scene Tells a Different Story
byJulie Mattson

Sometimes a death scene seems to tell you exactly what happened. A child is found submerged in a swimming pool, and the immediate assumption is drowning.

But as a death investigator, I’ve learned that where someone is found doesn’t necessarily tell us where, or how, they died.

In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m taking you through the case of four-year-old Aria Talathi, who was found in the deep end of a swimming pool at a short-term rental in Florida while traveling with her mother, Dr. Neha Gupta. What initially appeared to be a devastating childhood drowning became something very different when investigators began looking more closely at the physical evidence.

According to the arrest affidavit discussed in this episode, investigators said Aria’s lungs and stomach were considered dry, while the examination also documented cuts inside her mouth and bruising along the insides of her cheeks. Authorities alleged those injuries raised the possibility that she had been smothered and was already dead before being placed in the pool.

I’ll take you behind the scenes of how I would approach a death investigation like this, including what I would photograph, what questions I would ask, how I would build the timeline, and why something as simple as a door latch, an undisturbed bed, a phone record, or the contents of a stomach can become important.

And there’s something I don’t want us to lose in all of the forensic details: Aria was four years old. Before her name appeared in an arrest affidavit or became part of a murder case, she was a little girl who went to the beach, rode jet skis, and traveled with her mother. Her life deserves to remain at the center of this story.

I also begin this episode with a brief update on the Lindsay Clancy case following the September 4 mistrial and what may happen next.

Content Note: This episode discusses the death of a child, possible smothering/asphyxiation, drowning, and alleged homicide.

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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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Recent Episodes

The Death of Aria Talathi: When a Drowning Scene Tells a Different Story

The Lindsay Clancy Trial: The Case Is Now in the Jury’s Hands

The Lindsay Clancy Trial: New Testimony, New Questions

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

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