Lindsay Clancy murder trial: Defense nears end of its case as closing arguments loom
Follow live updates from Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial as her defense is expected to rest its case Wednesday. Prosecutors are set to call rebuttal witnesses, with closing arguments scheduled for Monday.
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Lindsay Clancy trial: Prosecutors argue mom acted with intent, not psychosis, as week comes to close
Prosecutors on Monday rested their case after building an alleged portrait of the killings being deliberate and methodical, which they anchored with digital forensic evidence that showed Lindsay Clancy moving through her home and searching the web in the hours surrounding her children's deaths.
The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy moved deeper into the defense's case this week as her attorney worked to convince jurors that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis when she killed her three kids, and shouldn't be held criminally responsible.
On Thursday, jurors were questioned to make sure supporters of Lindsay Clancy outside the courthouse didn't interfere or speak with them. Many who have gathered in pink say the show of support is not an endorsement of what happened, but a stand for maternal mental health awareness and for mothers suffering from postpartum conditions.
Lindsay Clancy also told her mother she was "doing better" in the weeks beforehand.
The defense then began calling their witnesses, which included family members, a forensic psychologist, and a hospital chaplain while the two sides clashed over a central question to the case: Lindsay Clancy's state of mind.
Dr. Paul Zeizel, a forensic psychologist testifying for the defense, said he administered a psychopathy checklist and a mental-status exam and found no evidence of antisocial personality disorder, concluding that Clancy is not a sociopath. He portrayed a woman whose psychotic symptoms grew more severe in the weeks leading up to the killings, among them a belief that others could hear her thoughts and voices directing her to harm herself.
Susan Clancy, Lindsay's mother-in-law, said on Tuesday that she had concerns about Lindsay's mental health during the 2022 holiday season, but described her as a "wonderful mother."
"Lindsay was struggling. We were all very concerned," Susan Clancy said. "She was very nurturing, very loving."
"She was begging for help," Susan Clancy added.
Prosecution and defense clash over jury instructions in Lindsay Clancy murder trial
Attorneys in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial sparred Wednesday over how jurors will be instructed before they decide the case.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague argued for instructions on first- and second-degree murder and said involuntary manslaughter does not apply because there was a specific intent to kill.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington countered that the case is one of involuntary intoxication through over-prescription, and said he will ask the judge to instruct jurors on involuntary manslaughter. Judge William Sullivan said he expects a rough draft of the instructions Thursday. Court has been dismissed until Friday.
After Lindsay Clancy killed her three children, she told a chaplain she was 'glad' they were 'safe'
A hospital chaplain testified that days after Lindsay Clancy's three children were killed, Clancy told her from her hospital bed: "I am so glad my children are safe."
Sheila Cavanaugh, a board-certified chaplain at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said she visited Clancy on Jan. 31, 2023. She described Clancy as covered in tubes and wearing a neck brace, with a flat, neutral affect. Cavanaugh said she responded that the children were safe in heaven with God, and the two prayed together.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Lindsay Clancy's attorney says case has 'reverberated' across the country
Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, told Fox News the case has resonated across the country because of what it reveals about the treatment of mothers struggling with postpartum mental illness.
"It's the message that just has reverberated throughout the whole country," Reddington said in an interview outside court Wednesday. He said the case has shined a light on a mental health system that too often falls short, describing a pattern in which a struggling woman sees a doctor, is prescribed one pill after another, is seen briefly and sent on her way. "It's just not right," he said.
Asked what he would say to those who cannot understand sympathizing with a mother who killed her three children, Reddington said no one agrees with murder, but that is what juries are for, to weigh whether the government can prove its case. He said he believed the outpouring of support would help Clancy, whom he described as beaten down and saddened by the case. He declined to call himself an advocate for women.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Many who have gathered in pink on Thursday say the show of support is not an endorsement of what happened, but a stand for maternal mental health awareness and for mothers suffering from postpartum conditions.
Lindsay Clancy prosecutors come across as 'tone deaf' and 'uncaring' defense attorney say
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Prosecutors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are coming across as "tone deaf" to how jurors likely feel about the case, a criminal defense attorney says.
Lindsay Clancy, 36, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under the age of 6 — who were found strangled at the family's Duxbury, Massachusetts home in 2023. Prosecutors concluded their case Monday morning, and Clancy's defense attorney has since begun presenting arguments, asserting that she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis when she killed her children.
Donna Rotunno, a criminal defense attorney, told Fox News Digital she feels that prosecutors are being "tone deaf" to the way jurors are feeling about the murder trial, citing specific examples.
One of the main examples Rotunno cited was a moment from Tuesday, when Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham asked Susan Clancy, Lindsay's mother-in-law and a Catholic, if she knew murder was a "mortal sin."
Lindsay Clancy supporters gather in pink outside court as trial nears end
A crowd of supporters, many wearing pink, gathered outside Plymouth Superior Court on Wednesday in a public show of solidarity for Lindsay Clancy as her murder trial moves toward closing arguments.
The gathering came as Clancy's defense nears the end of its case. Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, said this week that Clancy is aware of the support she has been receiving. Her lawyers argue she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis when her three children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, were killed in 2023. Prosecutors contend she acted deliberately and was in control of her actions.
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