Lindsay Clancy Jurors Visit Crime Scene to Test Timeline in Move Echoing Karen Read Case, Retired Judge Says

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Jurors hearing the murder case against Lindsay Clancy were taken Friday along the path her ex-husband traveled before touring the Massachusetts house where the couple’s three young children were killed. The court-approved visit, a retired Massachusetts judge said, may give the panel a clearer sense of the timing, layout and physical setting that have become central to the trial.

The unusual courtroom step echoed another widely watched Massachusetts murder case that drew national attention, including Karen Read’s 2025 retrial, where she was cleared of the most serious charge.

In the Clancy trial, the 18 jurors were driven past ThreeV restaurant in Plymouth and the CVS in Kingston, two places Patrick Clancy went on Jan. 24, 2023. From there, they were brought to the family’s former Duxbury home, where they entered in groups of six during a visit that lasted about 40 minutes.

The jurors were shown the basement where 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan were found. They also viewed the area of the yard below a second-floor window, where Lindsay Clancy was located with severe injuries after an apparent suicide attempt. She has been paralyzed since the fall and now uses a wheelchair.

Jack Lu, a former Massachusetts Superior Court judge who spent 16 years on that bench after five years as a Boston Municipal Court judge, said site visits are not unusual in serious criminal trials in the state, especially homicide cases involving more than one victim.

“In a homicide case, the practical reality is that a jury view is almost always going to happen,” Lu, now a professor at Boston College Law School, told News Outlet.

Lu said the clearest benefit may be helping jurors assess how long Patrick was away from the home and understand the locations discussed throughout testimony.

“They’re going to dissect the amount of time involved in the husband’s trip to CVS,” Lu said, adding that the visit could help jurors understand “what kind of time that Ms. Clancy had” after Patrick left.

Still, Lu cautioned against assuming the view necessarily favored either side or would become decisive.

“The view is perhaps not obviously crucial to this case,” he said. “It gives them context.”

A similar procedure was used during Read’s 2025 retrial in Massachusetts, where she was charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe.

Jurors were bussed to 34 Fairview Road in Canton, where O’Keefe was found, and viewed the property and Read’s Lexus. Prosecutors and defense attorneys directed jurors’ attention to different details from the case.

In Clancy’s case, prosecutors allege she intentionally sent Patrick on the errands to get him out of the house before strangling the children.

Her attorneys do not dispute that she killed her children but argue she lacked criminal responsibility because she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis.

After returning to Plymouth Superior Court on Friday, jurors heard emotional testimony from emergency room doctors who treated Dawson and Callan.

Dr. Mark Tenerowicz testified that hospital staff tried for about 40 minutes to revive Dawson, who arrived without a pulse and was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at about 7:28 p.m.

Dr. Benjamin Kaufman said medical workers restored Callan’s pulse, but the infant remained unable to breathe independently.

“At no point did he exhibit any brain function,” Kaufman testified.

During testimony, Clancy covered her face and appeared to sob and shake during the doctors’ testimony. Lu described the emotional weight of the proceedings as “exceptional,” even among heavily publicized trials.

“Even among high-profile cases, the emotionalism of this case is extraordinary,” he said, adding that Massachusetts judges are trained to privately address jurors after a verdict about processing the emotional toll of what they went through.

Judge William Sullivan dismissed the panel on Friday afternoon, saying the trial was “well on schedule, if not ahead.” Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday at 9 a.m.