Prosecutors in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy appeared “tone deaf” to how jurors likely feel about the case, criminal defense attorney Donna Rotunno told Fox News Digital, the attorney said Thursday.
Clancy, 36, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under the age of 6 — whose bodies were found in the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in 2023, according to court records. Prosecutors concluded their case Monday morning, and defense lawyers have begun presenting arguments that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis when the killings occurred, court proceedings show.
Rotunno cited a courtroom exchange Tuesday in which Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham asked Susan Clancy, Lindsay Clancy’s mother-in-law and a Catholic, whether she knew murder was a “mortal sin.” Susan Clancy did not respond, and Judge William Sullivan called a sidebar and ordered the remark stricken from the record, according to the trial transcript. Rotunno told Fox News Digital the prosecution has come across as “uncaring and snarky.”
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington questioned Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical forensic psychologist, about numerous attempts by Clancy to get help before the deaths. On the stand, Zeizel testified that Clancy told clinicians she felt “her brain was damaged” and thought she should kill herself. Zeizel also testified that when Clancy called a suicide hotline in December 2022 she was told she did not meet the standard of care because she had no plan and did not receive further help, according to court testimony.
Judge Sullivan on Wednesday rejected a defense motion to add Emily Thorndike, a former clinical social worker at McLean Hospital, to the witness list. Reddington had argued Thorndike’s firsthand experience in the short-term unit where Clancy received treatment could rebut testimony portraying McLean as a “five-star” facility that Clancy allegedly refused to use, court filings show. Sullivan allowed the defense to introduce certain records about McLean’s staffing and programs from the time Clancy was there, the court record shows.
The defense will continue arguments Thursday, and social media posts encourage supporters to wear pink outside the Plymouth County Superior Court, according to those posts. Reddington told Fox News on Wednesday that closing arguments are scheduled for Monday and declined to say whether Clancy will testify; he said Clancy is aware of the public support shown to her, he told the network.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
