Lindsay Clancy watched as a police officer admitted the state’s apparent theory that a doctor had coached her to claim that she killed her children because she was hearing voices
Lindsay Clancy courtroom stunned after cop shares rumor that psychologist COACHED Massachusetts mom on what to say after killings of her three young children!!!
Jurors shot up straight in their chairs.
The public gallery, packed close to the brim with female observers and members of the media, was instantly on high alert.
The stunning moment came during day 12 of Lindsay Clancy’s trial when a police officer admitted the state’s apparent theory that a doctor had coached the mom-of-three to claim that she killed her children because she was hearing voices.
On January 24, 2023, Clancy strangled her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, with exercise bands in the basement of their home in the wealthy suburb of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
She then cut her wrists and neck and jumped from a second-floor bedroom window in a suicide attempt.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to three counts of first-degree murder.
She claims that she was in the throes of severe postpartum depression and psychosis and heard a voice commanding her to kill the children and herself, telling her it was her ‘last chance.’
Inside Plymouth County Superior Court on Wednesday morning, Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Dan Lawlor was forced to admit that investigators discussed a ‘theory’ that a psychologist hired by the defense had planted the seed of that story in Clancy’s mind.
A few days after the killings, forensic psychologist Dr. Paul Zeizel had visited Clancy at Brigham Women’s Hospital where she was receiving treatment.
During that visit, he let Clancy use his cell phone to call her husband, Patrick.
In that call, which marked the first time the couple had spoken since that tragic night, Clancy told her husband that she had heard voices on the day of the killings.
During a fiery cross-examination from defense attorney Kevin Reddington, the officer admitted that one of the state’s theories was that Dr. Zeisel told Clancy inside the hospital room to say she had been hearing voices, so as to help create a defense case.
Animatedly gesturing to Clancy sitting in her wheelchair at the defense table, Reddington pointed out that no one ‘could get access’ to the mom-of-three when she was hospitalized, with officers - including Sgt. Lawlor - stationed outside the door.
Clancy’s parents and her previous attorney weren’t allowed to see her. And Reddington had to get a court order so that Dr. Ziezel could visit her.
‘Did you know that the prosecutor is saying that MY doctor told her to call Patrick to say she heard voices?’ he asked the officer.
Assistant DA Shanan Buckingham leaped to her feet and objected, while a stunned look shot across Sgt. Lawlor’s face.
Judge William Sullivan quickly summoned a sidebar.
For around 10 minutes, all eyes in the courtroom were transfixed on the judge’s bench as the defense and prosecution battled it out.
Over the white noise, Buckingham’s voice could be heard growing louder and louder.
Reddington crossed his arms, bounced up and down on his toes, and shook his head while she spoke. He then began gesticulating animatedly with his arms when it was his turn to speak.
The 18 men and women - who had likely only heard that stunning allegation for the first time in that moment - were transfixed, staring at the heated exchange, scribbling down notes and whispering to one another.
Clancy, dressed in a khaki green blouse in her wheelchair, also watched intently but gave away no emotion—in a courtroom where her every move and expression has fallen under intense scrutiny.
A local priest who had joined Clancy’s parents, Paula and Mike Musgrove, in the gallery turned and briefly spoke with them.
Ultimately, the jury was sent out of the room so that the two sides could spar in open court during voir dire questioning of Sgt. Lawlor.
As the panel walked out, Reddington returned to the defense table and whispered to Clancy. The former delivery nurse nodded in response, before raising her eyebrows.
Under questioning, Sgt. Lawlor testified that he saw Dr. Zeizel enter Clancy’s hospital room.
He admitted that he wasn’t sure if the doctor closed the door or left it open, but confirmed he could not hear anything that was being said inside.
He also admitted that he had been working with the prosecution team on the case and had spoken about possible theories with them.
Sgt. Lawlor said he remembered speaking about the theory that the doctor told Clancy to make those claims to other police officers.
But he claimed he didn’t recall ever speaking to the prosecution team about it.
‘The conversation also included the fact that it was the psychologist who planted that seed in her mind?’ Reddington pressed him.
‘That would be the theory,’ the officer admitted.
During a brief recess before he repeated the account to the jury, Sgt. Lawlor sheepishly paced the corridor outside the courtroom, his facial expression downtrodden.
He then quickly passed through the courtroom doors to escape the prying eyes of the public and the media.
It was a stunning admission that the officer nervously repeated when the jury returned to the courtroom.
When pressed by Reddington, he also admitted that there was no investigative basis to the theory—that it was only speculation.
Dr. Paul Zeizel, a highly experienced, well-respected forensic psychologist who works with Reddington, was not in the courtroom to witness the accusation against his professionalism play out.
The psychologist has so far attended several days of the trial, often sitting with Clancy’s parents in the row behind her two nurses.
The defense’s move to expose the so-called theory comes as prosecutors have tried to cast doubts on Clancy’s claims that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings.
As part of this, they have raised questions about Clancy being alone in the hospital room with Dr. Zeizel, hinting that this was the first time she mentioned hearing voices.
To date, friends, family members, and medical professionals have testified that Clancy never told them she was hearing voices prior to the killings.
But exposing the theory during the officer’s testimony might mark a blow to the state’s case as the defense was able to show the jury that investigators found no evidence to support it.
As the officer was excused and left the courtroom, Reddington leaned back in his chair and smiled.
The trial continues.
