Lindsay Clancy in court as murder trial inches closer

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Lindsay Clancy is scheduled to make a rare in-person court appearance Thursday as lawyers on both sides argue over the evidence that could come before jurors in the Duxbury mother’s murder trial next month.

Accused of killing her three children at home in 2023, Clancy has made most of her prior court appearances remotely from Tewksbury Hospital, where she is receiving treatment while awaiting her July 20 trial.

The 35-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murder and strangulation charges in the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan Clancy, saying she struggled with postpartum mental illness and auditory hallucinations following the birth of her youngest child. 

But while defense attorney Kevin Reddington has said he will mount an insanity defense, prosecutors have painted Clancy as a cold and calculating killer. They allege Clancy purposefully sent her husband, Patrick, out to run errands on Jan. 24, 2023, giving herself time to kill their children and attempt suicide. 

Prosecutors are now seeking permission to play jurors an audio recording of the 911 call Patrick Clancy made upon returning home to find his wife paralyzed and their three children dead or dying. 

“While the contents of the 911 call may be emotional, they are more probative than prejudicial,” prosecutors argued in a recent court filing. They claim the call will help establish not only a timeline of events, but also the manner in which Lindsay Clancy allegedly wrapped an “exercise band” around each child’s neck.

Patrick Clancy will testify in his wife’s murder trial and be available for cross-examination, prosecutors noted. In separate motions, prosecutors also asked a judge for permission to show the jury crime scene pictures and autopsy photos of the Clancy children.

“These photographs will help to display a complete picture of the incident and the cause and manner of death for the jury,” they wrote. “The photographs the Commonwealth intends to enter in evidence are graphic, but not gruesome or likely to shock jurors in this day and age.”

Clancy’s final pre-trial conference will begin at 2 p.m.