Jurors suddenly straightened in their seats.
In the packed public gallery, where female spectators and members of the press filled nearly every space, the atmosphere shifted in an instant.
The dramatic moment unfolded on the 12th day of Lindsay Clancy’s trial, when a police officer acknowledged what appeared to be the state’s theory: that a doctor may have coached the mother-of-three to say she killed her children because she was hearing voices.
On January 24, 2023, Clancy strangled her children — Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan — with exercise bands in the basement of their home in affluent Duxbury, Massachusetts.
Afterward, she cut her wrists and neck before jumping from a second-floor bedroom window in an attempt to take her own life.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to three counts of first-degree murder.
Her defense says she was suffering from severe postpartum depression and psychosis, and that she heard a voice ordering her to kill the children and herself, warning that it was her “last chance.”
In Plymouth County Superior Court on Wednesday morning, Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Dan Lawlor was made to acknowledge that investigators had discussed a “theory” that a psychologist retained by the defense planted the idea for that account 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.
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
Dr Paul Zeizel (left) sitting with Clancy’s parents Paula and Mike Musgrove during the trial
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 Zeizel 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 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.
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Dan Lawlor speaks from the witness stand
Patrick, Lindsay, Cora, Dawson and Callan pictured together. Clancy is on trial charged with the children’s murders
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.
Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan were strangled at the family home in January 2023
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 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 three-bedroom home in the wealthy suburb of Duxbury where the Clancy family lived
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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.
