Lindsay Clancy wants her trial for the strangulation murder of her three children split into two parts: one to decide whether she is guilty and a second to determine if she was legally insane.
Clancy, 35, is charged with murdering her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, by strangling them with exercise bands in the basement of the family home on Summer Street in Duxbury the night of Jan. 24, 2023.
On Friday, her attorney Kevin Reddington argued in Plymouth Superior Court for her trial to be split into two parts, a legal maneuver known as bifurcation, to first determine whether she was guilty of murdering her children and then to determine whether she was legally responsible due to suffering postpartum psychosis.
The hearing was the first time that Clancy had been physically present in a courtroom for the entire case. Authorities say she leapt from a second-floor bedroom window of the home after killing her children, rendering her paraplegic.
She had previously attended hearings through video teleconferencing from her bed at Tewksbury Hospital, where she has been committed since October 2023.
Reddington said that he commended the sheriff’s department, his staff, and Tewksbury medical staff who “melded together incredibly and have done just a marvelous job” of caring for and transporting Clancy to the court. He also said he wants his client to appear in person moving forward if possible.
Clancy, wearing all black and a silver cross on a necklace, was wheeled in by court officers for her hearing before Judge William Sullivan. She remained silent and primarily stared ahead throughout the proceedings, other than to exchange a “good afternoon” with the judge.
The hearing was not a long one and primarily consisted of setting dates for future hearings ahead of her murder trial scheduled for July. After going back and forth over conflicting schedules, the parties arrived at March 2 for oral arguments on outstanding issues — including for the bifurcated trial — and April 10 for a mental evaluation to be conducted by an expert chosen by prosecutors. Then, finally, June 18 for a further motions hearing.
