GoFundMe for Lindsay Clancy's Parents Tops $1 Million as Murder Trial Draws Polarized Public Reaction

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A GoFundMe fundraiser established to help the parents of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman on trial for killing her three children, has surpassed $1 million in donations, drawing support from more than 27,000 contributors even as the campaign has sparked significant public debate.

The fundraiser, titled "The Musgrove Family Fund," was created to support Mike and Paula Musgrove, Clancy's parents, who organizers say have depleted their savings while remaining close to their daughter throughout the more than three-year legal process following the January 2023 deaths of Clancy's three children in the family's Duxbury home. According to the campaign page, the fund is intended to cover "accumulated costs of travel, lodging, living expenses, and other family expenses" the Musgroves have absorbed while supporting their daughter through pretrial proceedings and her ongoing murder trial.

The fundraiser was started by Brandee Mulligan, who launched the campaign Aug. 14 with an initial goal of $500,000. According to Court TV, by Aug. 17 that goal had already been raised to $2 million after donors had contributed more than $849,000 within just a few days of the campaign's launch. As of the most recent update, the fund had raised $1,003,758, according to Fast Company.

Mulligan has been explicit in clarifying what the donated funds can and cannot be used for, given GoFundMe's policies regarding fundraising connected to individuals facing criminal charges. "You can't do that," Mulligan told her followers on social media, addressing questions about whether donations could go toward Clancy's legal defense. "You cannot make GoFundMes that support legal stuff." A GoFundMe representative confirmed to Fast Company that the campaign has been verified and that funds will go directly to Mike Musgrove as the designated beneficiary, though the platform did not offer detailed comment on how the fundraiser fits within its broader policy framework. GoFundMe maintains a policy against fundraising for the legal defense of anyone accused of a violent crime, though the platform's terms do not explicitly address fundraisers benefiting family members of accused individuals rather than the accused person directly.

The campaign page itself addresses the parents' continued support for their daughter directly, without asking donors to weigh in on the underlying criminal case. "They have not walked away from their daughter," the page states, "and they have never been unclear about why: they love her. Nothing about this fund asks anyone to share their view of Lindsay or the criminal case."

Among the fundraiser's notable contributions, a $10,000 gift was recently listed on the campaign page, according to Newsweek, part of a wave of both large and small donations that have continued arriving even as the fundraiser has drawn public scrutiny.

Reaction to the fundraiser has been sharply divided. According to Newsweek, supporters of the campaign argue that the Musgroves have endured significant emotional and financial hardship while remaining steadfastly committed to their daughter throughout the legal process, and that the fund simply provides practical relief for costs unrelated to Clancy's legal defense. Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the broader appropriateness of raising substantial sums of money for relatives of a woman who has admitted to killing her three children, even as she maintains a not-guilty plea based on her defense's argument that she was experiencing severe postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings.

Clancy, 36, has acknowledged in court documents that she strangled her children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and 8-month-old Callan — but has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, arguing she should not be held criminally responsible due to the severe mental illness her defense says she was experiencing at the time. Her trial, now well into its fourth week in Plymouth Superior Court, has drawn extensive national attention, with thousands of people following daily testimony and case developments across social media platforms.

Paula Musgrove is expected to provide testimony offering a family member's firsthand perspective on Clancy's mental state and the changes she observed in her daughter in the period leading up to the killings, as the defense continues building its case that Clancy's actions stemmed from a profound mental health crisis rather than deliberate intent.

The current fundraiser for Clancy's parents is not the only significant crowdfunding effort connected to the case. A separate GoFundMe campaign established shortly after the killings in 2023 to support Patrick Clancy, Lindsay's husband and the father of the three children who died, also surpassed $1 million in donations at the time, according to earlier reporting. That fund, created and managed by Matthew Glaser, drew contributions from more than 15,000 individuals, families, corporations and community groups, with donations ranging from as little as $15 to as much as $7,500. Organizers of that earlier fund said the money was intended to help Patrick Clancy cover medical bills, funeral services and legal expenses, given that he would be unable to work for an extended period following the tragedy. Donors to that campaign left messages of support and solidarity, including one from a group at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Lindsay Clancy had previously worked as a nurse, which contributed $5,125 to the fund.

As the current fundraiser for the Musgroves continues climbing toward its stated $2 million goal, the scale and speed of the donations reflect the broader intensity of public interest surrounding the Clancy case more than three years after the deaths first drew national attention. Whether the fundraiser continues its rapid pace toward its full fundraising target is likely to remain closely tied to ongoing developments in the trial itself, which continues in Plymouth Superior Court as jurors weigh extensive testimony regarding Clancy's mental state at the time of the killings against prosecutors' arguments that she bears full legal responsibility for her actions.