LINDSAY Clancy’s murder trial could now be drastically shortened thanks to an evidence deal she agreed to in court.
Soon after Lindsay, 35, agreed to stipulate some forensic facts, an expert revealed in his testimony that there were no viable prints on the exercise bands found around her children’s necks or the bloody knife she used to harm herself.
The former labor and delivery nurse has been accused of strangling her three children – five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan – to death with exercise bands in the basement of their home on January 24, 2023.
Lindsay then jumped from her second-story bedroom window after crushing up and ingesting pills and cutting her wrists and neck with a knife from her kitchen.
Her now ex-husband Patrick Clancy found her on the ground of their backyard, and later discovered their children in the basement.
Lindsay pleaded not guilty to three murder charges, and her attorney Kevin Reddington plans to argue she was not criminally responsible for killing her children because she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis.
On Tuesday, Lindsay spoke for the first time in the trial, repeating, “Yes, Your Honor,” as she agreed to allow the prosecution to treat some facts of the case as established.
Judge William Sullivan questioned Lindsay about the stipulation covering certain forensic evidence before the jury was brought in.
“You understand that by signing the stipulation, you’re agreeing that the Commonwealth does not have to prove these certain facts that are contained in the stipulation. Do you understand that?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor,” she said.
When asked if anyone threatened or forced her to accept the agreement, the 35-year-old said, “No, Your Honor.”
Lindsay was found to be competent and entered the stipulation and her stipulation is not an admission to being criminally responsible for her children’s deaths nor a guilty plea.
Reddington said it would prevent prosecutors from calling dozens of witnesses for the purpose of establishing the chain of custody for bodily fluids, blood, DNA evidence and exercise bands.
“We have not been contesting the government’s case in chief, if you will,” he said.
On Wednesday, a brief description of four stipulations the parties agreed to were revealed in court.
The first one was about known standard DNA samples collected in the case and the second was about DNA evidence found on the blue exercise band recovered from the home and a red-brown stain found on the basement floor.
The third stipulation was regarding DNA evidence for the yellow and black exercise bands recovered from the house and the last one pertained to DNA comparisons made by a forensic expert regarding the blue exercise band and the red-brown stain in the basement.
The defense attorney also noted the stipulation would avoid days of testimony, thus potentially shortening the trial that has a list of over 200 witnesses and has been expected to last six to eight weeks.
Later on Tuesday, Jonathan O’Loughlin, a state trooper with the Massachusetts State Police, testified about analyzing the knife Lindsay used to harm herself and the three exercise bands removed from Cora, Dawson and Callan’s necks.
O’Loughlin, who worked with the crime scene services section of the state police in 2023, explained that fingerprints are “very, very fragile,” and it’s not uncommon for officials to not find “anything of value” when searching for prints.
He said the knife had “areas of friction ridge impression” or fingerprints. Upon further analysis, he found there was “not enough detail to do a comparison” to a known fingerprint.
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.
O’Loughlin said the same of the exercise bands, telling the court that the three bands and knife were deemed as “no value.”
With the stipulation and O’Loughlin’s testimony, a new debate could open in the trial leaving jurors questioning the lack of usable prints.
Margaret McLean, a former trial attorney and criminal prosecutor who now teaches law at Boston College, told Fox News Digital the stipulation allows the defense to get jurors away from repetitive testimony about forensic details and toward Lindsay’s mental condition.
“The legal strategy behind the move by the defense is to steer the jury’s focus away from the horrific nature of the acts and to that central issue of criminal intent, or what we would call mens rea,” she explained.
McLean said the lack of identifiable prints could leave the 18 jurors wondering if gloves were used on the night of January 24, 2023 or if the items were wiped.
The jury could then possibly view the lack of fingerprints as evidence that she planned her children’s death, which is what the prosecution is trying to argue.
McLean explained that the defense could counter that jurors must not “speculate on something that’s not in evidence.”
“They can use their common sense when they go to the table and they deliberate, but they can’t speculate [about] things that are not in the evidence,” she said.
McLean also said that Lindsay’s responses on Tuesday should not be taken as evidence of her mental state on January 24, 2023.
“She sounded rational. She understands what she’s doing,” the former prosecutor told Fox News Digital.
“But remember, the Commonwealth’s burden of proof is to prove that she was sane beyond a reasonable doubt at the time the crimes were committed – not today, not two weeks ago.”
As the trial continues, the prosecution will argue Lindsay deliberately killed her children while the defense argues the medical system failed Lindsay by not properly treating her mental health issues.
