The Lindsay Clancy murder trial took another dramatic turn as jurors were presented with evidence concerning text messages and Clancy’s communications in the period leading up to the deaths of her three children.

The courtroom has increasingly focused on what Clancy said to people around her, what she reported about her mental state, and how those communications fit into the larger timeline prosecutors and defense attorneys are presenting.

The messages shown or discussed in court are important because they can provide a contemporaneous record of what someone was saying and doing before a major event.

In Clancy’s case, prosecutors and defense attorneys have taken very different approaches to interpreting her communications.

The defense has argued that messages and conversations from the months before January 2023 demonstrate a woman experiencing a serious deterioration in her mental health.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, have challenged aspects of that narrative and have urged jurors to consider Clancy’s behavior and communications in the broader context of the case.

Earlier testimony from people who knew Clancy has described concerning changes in her behavior and mental state.

Jurors have heard evidence about insomnia, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and what witnesses described as increasingly troubling statements.

A former friend testified that Clancy had been experiencing what she described as “dark thoughts” before the deaths of her children.

Those communications are now being considered alongside testimony from mental-health professionals who treated Clancy during the same period.