About This Episode
"Xtra: Why did Lindsay Clancy kill her three children?" is a bonus episode of Mørkeland, a Danish true crime podcast in which three journalists dig into the darkest criminal cases. The episode centres on Lindsay Clancy, whose three children – five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan – were found dead in the basement of the family home in January 2023, after their father had briefly left the house. Clancy herself was found outside, bleeding on the paving stones in the winter cold, after attempting to take her own life.
The episode establishes that Clancy does not dispute that she killed her children. What the case and the subsequent trial have turned on instead is the intent behind the killings: whether she acted in cold blood because she wanted to be rid of her children, or whether she was in a state of psychosis and heard voices ordering her to kill.
Over the course of the episode, the hosts go through the details of the night of the killings, Lindsay Clancy's life and mental condition in the period leading up to the events, and the alternative theories that circulate about the case. They also cover the 22-day trial, which ended in being declared a mistrial, and set out what is expected to happen next in the case.
The episode contains references to suicide. Listeners who need help are directed to emergency assistance on 112 and to Livslinien, a Danish suicide prevention helpline, on 70 201 201.
For this bonus episode, Thea Pedersen contributed as assisting researcher and Anders Eske as assisting editor, with music supplied by Bensound. The episode runs 152 minutes and is number 397 in the series.
