Massachusetts Judge Allows Key Evidence in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial, Sets July 20 Trial Date

A Massachusetts judge has allowed key prosecution evidence, including autopsy photos and a 911 call, in the upcoming murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three children in 2023. The trial is scheduled to begin July 20, with the judge emphasizing there will be no further delays.

At a June 18 hearing in Plymouth Superior Court, Judge William F. Sullivan allowed the prosecution’s motion to introduce autopsy and crime scene photos of the children. He also allowed the prosecution to play an emotional 911 call made by Clancy’s husband, Patrick Clancy, which captures his response to finding his wife after she jumped from a second-story window and the bodies of their three children in the home’s basement. The judge said he would listen to the call to determine if any portion might need to be excluded. Additionally, Sullivan allowed jurors to visit the former Clancy home in Duxbury over the objection of the current owner.

Sullivan delayed ruling on a prosecution motion for a blood pattern analyst to give a courtroom demonstration and allowed, in part, a motion to sequester certain witnesses during the trial. However, he excluded Clancy’s parents and sister from the sequestration order, noting they had been interviewed by mental health professionals who treated Clancy.

The defense had sought a bifurcated trial, splitting the case into two phases: first, to determine guilt, and second, to assess Clancy’s criminal responsibility due to alleged mental disease or defect. Judge Sullivan denied a motion to reconsider this request in April, stating bifurcated trials are typically used for cases with multiple defendants, liabilities, or damages. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington had indicated Clancy might formally stipulate to her involvement in the children’s deaths, leaving only the issue of criminal responsibility for trial.

During a status hearing on April 23, the court addressed two discovery motions. The first sought all communications between the state and victim witness advocates or physicians, including on personal cell phones. The second requested that the state’s medical witnesses disclose whether they have previously served as trial experts, and if so, for which side. The judge will decide both motions at a later date.

Lindsay Clancy, 35, made her first in-person court appearance on February 20, arriving via a wheelchair van from Tewksbury State Hospital, where she has been held since May 2023. She was paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window on January 24, 2023, the day her three children were killed. She faces charges of strangling her children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan—with exercise bands. Her defense argues she was suffering from an impaired mental state and overmedication.

The trial has been rescheduled multiple times, with the judge declaring the July 20 date a hard deadline. A separate civil lawsuit filed in January alleges that medical providers negligently worsened Clancy’s mental health condition through overprescription.