LINDSAY Clancy’s trial has entered its second week, where more witnesses have taken the stand detailing how they tried to save the lives of her three children.
Lindsay, a 35-year-old former labor and delivery nurse from Massachusetts, has been accused of strangling her three kids in the basement of her home on the night of January 24, 2023.
Lindsay’s murder trial, where she has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges, began on July 27 with a testimony from her ex-husband Patrick Clancy.
Patrick detailed the last time he saw his kids alive, how he found Lindsay lying in the backyard after she jumped from a second-story window, and how he ran to check on his childreninn the basement after first responders arrived.
Patrick found his three kids, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan in the basement of their home with exercise bands wrapped around their necks.
read more on lindsay clancy
After Patrick took the witness stand, several first responders, including paramedics, firefighters and police officers were brought to the stand to recall how they administered care to Lindsay and the kids.
As the trial picks back up on Monday, several more witnesses have taken the stand, including more doctors and police officers who were involved in the immediate response to the Clancys.
A few doctors who treated the Clancy children were the first to take the stand on Monday, including Michael Snyder, a physician in the emergency department at the Beth Israel hospital who primarily cared for Cora, said all three of the children came into the hospital in cardiac arrest.
Around 200 witnesses could be called in the trial, which could last six to eight weeks.
The defense has a list of around 50 witnesses, many of whom are character witnesses.
Some of the potential witnesses expected to be called reportedly include Lindsay’s parents, Patrick’s parents and some of their friends.
A majority of the witnesses on the prosecution’s list include first responders and medical staff who tended to Lindsay, Cora, Dawson and Callan.
Stephen Hall, a police officer with the Duxbury Police Department, continuously took deep breaths during his testimony on Thursday, and at one point took off his glasses to wipe his eyes as he recalled the scene at the Clancy home.
“I heard a loud scream from inside the house,” he said, referring to Patrick’s screams, adding the scream had no words, “It was just a sound.”
Hall recalled Lindsay “sounded like she was in pain” as she was in and out of consciousness on the ground and remembered finding Callan and Cora motionless in the basement.
Jennifer Stratton, a Duxbury firefighter and paramedic, also took the witness stand, and recalled calling for more help after finding Cora and Callan.
“Patrick ran to Cora and I went to Callan,” she said. “I scooped him [Callan] up in my arms and carried him outside to the truck.”
Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial
Lindsay Clancy is accused of strangling her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, with exercise bands inside their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home on January 24, 2023.
The former labor and delivery nurse does not deny killing them, but has pleaded not guilty and claims she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Prosecutors argue Clancy deliberately sent her then-husband Patrick out to collect medicine and dinner so she could be left alone with the children.
The trial began with Patrick on the witness stand, describing Clancy’s declining mental health before recounting how he returned home, found her injured outside and discovered the children in the basement. Jurors have since heard his harrowing 911 call, seen the bands that were removed from the children’s necks and viewed their pajamas and other evidence from the home.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
- Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks, meaning testimony could continue well into September.
- Proceedings are scheduled to begin at around 9am ET on sitting days and normally continue through the afternoon, with morning, lunch and afternoon breaks.
- Prosecutors will present their case first, calling first responders, police officers, investigators, medical professionals and other witnesses connected to the killings.
- The state listed more than 180 potential witnesses, although prosecutors are not expected to call everyone named.
- Jurors are also expected to visit the Clancy family’s former Duxbury home with the judge and lawyers to see the scene for themselves.
- Once prosecutors rest, Clancy’s defense will begin calling its own witnesses, including people who knew her and experts expected to testify about her medication, mental health and alleged postpartum psychosis.
- The defense listed more than 60 possible witnesses, but some overlap with the prosecution’s list and may not be called twice.
- After both sides finish presenting evidence, lawyers will deliver closing arguments before the judge instructs jurors on the law.
- The jury will then decide whether Clancy is guilty of murder or was not criminally responsible because of her mental state when she killed her children.
On Friday, the 18 jurors joined the judge, attorneys and court officers to tour locations spoken about in testimonies given so far, including the former Clancy house, the CVS where Patrick picked up medicine for Cora and the local restaurant he picked up takeout from on January 24, 2023.
After court resumed early in the afternoon, medical professionals recalled trying to revive the Clancy children at the hospital as Lindsay was seen sobbing and shaking.
Duxbury Police officer Richard Lippard, who flew with Lindsay to the hospital, said she suffered a medical code blue in the middle of the night and nearly died.
Lindsay’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington is planning to seek an insanity defense, arguing that she is not criminally responsible for murder because she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis.
The prosecution is trying to argue that Lindsay was not “in the throes of psychosis,” and instead she “deliberately and meticulously” killed her three kids.
