7 Fiery Moments From Lindsay Clancy’s Closing Arguments

What's on trial here? What the issue is. here is what Lindseay Clancy did the. night of January 24th, 2023. >> Lindsay Clancy, the mom at the center of. a brutal murder trial, may soon find out. how the jury judged her actions and the. consequences for the deaths of her three. young children. Because attorneys for. the Commonwealth and Clansancy went. head-to-head in a Massachusetts. courtroom today, laying out their. closing arguments.

turn into. this because of the damn medicine and. the lousy medical care that she got. >> So, was Lindsay Clancy out of her mind. when she allegedly strangled her. children? Or did she kill them in cold. blood? The issue is whether at the time. she killed Kora Dawson and Callie, she. knew the difference between right and. wrong. >> This young lady is not guilty of the.

killing of her children because she was. suffering from a disease and defect. >> Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We're here after just over a month, 5. weeks. We are here at closing arguments. in the Lindseay Clancy murder trial out. in Massachusetts. This is big because. there is little doubt that this mother. killed her three young children, 8-month-old Ken, three-year-old Dawson, 5-year-old Kora, by strangling them to. death with exercise bands. That's not.

really the question. The question is. whether she is criminally responsible. And now the jury has multiple options. here. I'm going to talk about that and. I'm going to highlight the big moments. from the closing arguments. Now, look, I. will tell you, many times you're going. to hear experts say that by the time. closings happen in a trial, jurors have. already made up their mind. Sure, they're going to go into deliberations. and they'll talk about it, but. individual jurors have already come up. with how they're leaning. That could be. true. Not sure that's the case here.

Given how complex this case is, how. complicated it is, how you had. conflicting accounts and testimony from. so many different witnesses, in my mind, in my opinion, this jury may need each. side to properly summarize the evidence. and the main points and present a. coherent summation and argument laying. it all out. I think they paid very. careful attention to the closing. arguments that they needed it in this. case. Now, what happened? So before we. even got to the closing, something very.

important happened. The judge laid out. the different options in jury. instructions. So this is the law. This. is the framework. This is the road map. by which the jury is going to go. Now, I'm not going to get too specific into. the details and the elements because it. can be a bit legal ease and a bit dry, but here you go. This is what you need. to know. The jury has multiple options. here. They can find Lindseay Clancy. guilty of the top charge of firstdegree. murder. Two theories of firstdegree. murder, by the And remember, the. prosecution has to prove these any of. these charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now, this is first-degree murder for. each child. Okay? Two theories. One, a. murder committed with deliberate. premeditation, meaning she caused the. children's deaths. She intended to kill. them. She consciously and purposefully. caused the deaths and and decided to. kill after a period of reflection. Theory two of first-degree murder, murder committed with extreme atrocity. or cruelty. Now, what does that mean? Well, it basically means that she caused.

their death. She intended to kill them. or she intended to cause grievous bodily. harm or intended to do an act in which a. reasonable person the circumstances. would be that a reasonable person would. know that death would result and that. the killings are especially heinous or. atrocious or cruel because you go think. about the circumstances by which these. kids were killed, but also that their. mother allegedly did that. So, that's. two different theories for first-degree. murder. Okay. They also alternatively.

they could find Lindseay Clancy guilty. of secondderee murder. Now it's the same. elements causing death, intent to kill. or intent to cause grievous bodily. injury or intent to do an act in which a. reasonable person would know that death. would result. Same kind of thing except. unlike first-degree murder, there's no. extreme atrocity or cruelty. You don't. need that. That's option two. So, first-degree murder, seconddegree. murder. They could also, and this was. new, this was added to their options, they could find Lindsay Clancy guilty of.

manslaughter, an unlawful killing, unintentional, but it's done through. wanting or reckless conduct, conduct. that creates a likelihood of harm to a. person. So, this could be a potential. middle ground option, right? You know, jurors could go into the deliberation. room and say, "Are we really not going. to hold her criminally responsible?". I'll talk about that in a second. But. maybe we don't feel it was premeditated. Maybe we don't feel it was a. seconddegree murder, but maybe it was. manslaughter. Kind of a middle ground. option to hold her criminally. responsible. Maybe prison sentence would.

be different for manslaughter rather. than first-degree murder. But this is. also the key. Okay. The judge said that. Lindseay Clancy to be found guilty of. any of this, the prosecution has to. prove that the defendant was criminally. responsible. And that is the key. throughout this whole trial because of. what the defense has been arguing, this. postpartum psychosis, insanity defense, that she's not criminally responsible. due to a mental disease or defect. And.

as a result, she lacked the capacity to. appreciate her criminality or. wrongfulness of her actions, or she. couldn't conform her conduct to the. requirements of the law. that it doesn't. have to fit into a specific medical. diagnosis. This is more of a legal. consideration. The Commonwealth has to. prove that she knew and understand that. her conduct was illegal or wrong. And. the judge informed the jury that if she. is found not guilty because she lacked.

criminal responsibility, the DA or. another appropriate party may petition. the court to transfer her to a mental. health facility or hospital and she will. be kept committed there as long as she. is mentally ill. And she could. potentially be discharged if she poses. no serious harm to herself or others. Now, the court would be responsible for. granting that petition, and it would be. up to the court to decide whether or not. she would ever be released. But here, the jury was just made aware of that. Now, before we go into the closing. arguments, just want to let you know.

something. We're kind of limited here on. sidebar how much we can show you of. every piece of evidence in a case. But. that is why we have the case files on. the Long Crime Plus app, and we have it. for Lindsay Clancy. So, we're opening up. the evidence vault on all these major. cases. So you can inspect, let's say, the raw body cam footage or the 911. calls or the crime scene photos, the. full trial tapes, all firsthand. Plus, you get ad free streaming of all your. favorite law crime and court TV shows. You can see the full picture for an. entire month free. Head on over to. longrimeplus.com.

Enter promo code sidebar and you can. start exploring all that today. Okay, with that in mind, let's go to the. closing arguments. So, in Massachusetts, the defense actually goes first in the. closing, not the prosecution. So, first. up, defense attorney Kevin Readington. And he didn't hold back. He went right. after the prosecution from the very. start. >> This is a prosecution that has ripped. the soul out of this girl. This is what they had.

>> This is their family. How does. turn into. this. How? Because of the damn medicine and the. lousy medical care that she got. You can.

troop as many paid experts as you want. to come in here and tell the jury, "Oh, well, she didn't say that she heard. voices inside her head. She said she. heard voices from outside her head. She. said she was making chicken McNuggets. There was a bowl on the sofa. She wasn't. making chicken McNuggets. She said. something as I as I think and I'm muse. and I try real hard to tell you um what. my opinion is that this woman was acting. in her right mind.

when these children were killed. >> That was Readington's tone and he was. just getting started. He went after the. prosecution's investigation, law. enforcement's investigation, calling it. sloppy, incomplete. He pointed out that. the police didn't test the powder on a. cup or nightstand, didn't analyze blood, said that this case was built on. assumptions, not evidence. And before. even getting there, he started with. something personal because he wanted the. jury to see his client, Lindseay Clancy, not as a monster, but as a woman, a.

nurse, a wife, a mother who loved her. kids. And as you heard, he really tried. to humanize her. young lady, girl, that. she is the victim here. >> When the DA decides to charge someone. with a crime, he has the burden of. proof. His assistants have the burden of. proof to prove number one that Lindsay. is guilty of this offense beyond a. reasonable doubt. and then prove number. two.

that Lindsay. at the time. killed her children. was not suffering from a mental disease. or defect. It caused her to have a lack of. substantial capacity. to appreciate to know. to realize that what was being done. while she was in a psychosis. But we'll. laugh about that. It's just just another.

woman. I guess it's just going to make. an excuse. She's depressed. GAL. anxiety. Give her a couple of pills. She'll be. all right. You know, from looking at the objective. evidence in this case, this young lady, believe me, I don't have many clients. like that. This young lady.

did nothing wrong in her life. She was a nurse, a daughter, a wife, and a darn good mother. You can see from the objective evidence. You can see and you'll have all the. exhibits for you to look at. And you can. see by looking at these photographs. which you will have in the jury room. You can see the Facebook postings. You.

can see what she indicates about. For. example, I just randomly grabbed this. one. Um, a son, my prince, that they would have you. She killed him first cruy because she. didn't like him. That is repulsive. >> And then Readington turned to the. physical evidence, the injuries, the. blood, the window. He wanted the jury to. see what Lindsay Clancy did to herself. and why that matters. >> Watch the evidence. Watch the.

manipulation. because that's what this case was built. upon originally and how it developed as. the case progressed until it's in front. of you. >> And how does that happen? Well, the very beginning. went all the way back to when the first. 911 call that you had to suffer through. was made. You could hear.

in the voice. Clancy. horror what he had obviously. experienced. You can see from the evidence that's. before you. the. injuries. that she suffered. You will have in the jury room the. exhibits. that indicated. the extent of the injuries.

from I don't have to go through all of. them. The extent of the injuries to. slitting her throat to slashing her. wrists, throwing herself out a window, blood all over the bedroom floor, window open, screen slashed. Oh no, the screen wasn't. slashed. My bad. That's what she. thought. It's called a delusion. She was in a psychosis when she thought.

that probably right here sitting here. believes that she slashed the screen. She didn't. Subjective evidence. And why did we spend. almost a week. showing you the extent and the severity. of that suicide attempt? The reason that we had to do that is. because they.

were arguing that it was a fake suicide. Dinky little cuts. No bleeding. She didn't mean to kill herself. She's. going to throw herself out the window, I. guess, and slide down the house. Remember that one? Hanging off of the. window. Sliding down the house. And. Lindsay screwed up and she hurt herself. bad. You know that's not what happened. >> And Readington went after the.

prosecution's demonstration with the. exercise bands, right? the tools that. were used to kill these three young. children, arguing that just because the. ban fell apart in court, it didn't. really prove anything. He argued that. the prosecution was ignoring the. timeline, was ignoring Patrick Clancy's. own testimony because the exercise bans. not only go into intent, they also go to. a time frame as well. But take a look. >> Watch the evidence. Watch the. manipulation. Remember.

the argument. with the bands? She took the bands out of the bag, put. the gloves on, talks to Dr. Lapisada on. the zone, slams the bands down out of the paper. bag, does the the movement of the bands. and yells at Lapisada and says, "Wrapped. They were just wrapped. They. weren't knotted because you got to get.

Lindsay. tightening the band, right? You got to. hold it. You got to hold it for a. minute. You got to hold it for 2. minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes. That's why she needed the bands, not. knotted. And then she said, "It's like this." And. they sprang open. Remember that? Dr. Lapisata said, "Yeah, I saw what you. did." And she walked away like if the.

gloves won't fit moment. number two. What did Patrick Clancy testify to? You heard his testimony. He indicated clearly, unequivocally. They were knotted around. the necks of those children to the point. where he had to struggle and a police. officer saw through the window. This is. horrific stuff, but it's objective and.

it shows the manipulation. This government, this prosecution is a mess. By the way, according to our long crime reporter, scandal host Sierra Gillespie, Clancy's. grandmother actually choked up at. hearing this bit about the bands. Okay. Now, Readington then pivoted to what he. called the prosecution's manipulation, pointing to everything from how his. client was treated in the hospital to. what he called a sloppy investigation to. the way the prosecution, he claims, used.

her own medical records against her. >> What's important about that is what kind. of treatment this young lady get. the. healthc care providers. Remember Meg. Collins? She came in this court. Meg, you might. remember, tall woman, short blonde hair, squared away. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. She was not only a nurse taking care of. her in the hospital.

She advocated for her. She stood up for. her patient. She protected her. She. comes out of a coma. She is intubated. She has had major major surgery. of her broken, crushed. spine, vertebrae, rib, thyroid. Massive. Massive. Not my words, medical. records. Massive. Lawyers, cops,

handcuffs. Do I need a lawyer? Write. that down. Where are you? You're out. there somewhere. Write that down. Boy, she wanted a lawyer. That's a bad thing. Must be guilty. Let's put that in the. guilty pile. That's why she said that in a delirious. state dealing with all of these people. about that issue. But what's even more. nefarious, you think about it. As I said, keep your.

eye on the ball because of the. manipulation. Tough to take a handful of. pills. Remember the guy saying that. yesterday? Tough to take a handful of. pills. Well, no, they were crushed. Okay. Where's the residue? Where's the. crusher? Where's anything? Doesn't. matter. Doesn't matter. Great. investigation, guys. And speaking of. books, one of the things that they found. smoking gun. Good moms have scary thoughts.

Hallelujah. Put that in the guilty pile. God forbid. She's not curled up in the. fetal position wailing, self-. flagagillating constantly. For three and. a half years, she's acting like a human. being trying to exist, but they go. through the records and they want to get. those dates and use them against her. manipulation. Remember, he's trying to. raise reasonable doubt that these were. premeditated, intentional, conscious killings. And.

Readington then walked the jury through. Lindseay Clancy's writings, journals, showing these entries that were made in. November and December, where she. documented her horrible, intrusive. thoughts, lack of motivation. And then. he pointed to January, right, the month. that she allegedly committed these. killings, where her notes devolved into. like these chicken scratches. You look. in this book and as you might recall, Miss Rossi testified when asked um did. you feel that she was being controlling. of you because she says for example.

Monday 10:24 Kellen put down for a nap. hopefully will nap for 2 hours if he. wakes shortly. Let him resettle himself. Bottle when he wakes up. Uh then it goes. on and on. Make salad. Romaine lettuce. Um he likes peppers. Broccoli. Cut the. sweet potatoes in chunks. Thank you with. the heart. another good score. You look at her journals. that she took, you'll see as you go along in the dates.

that she's recording in these journals, she's talking about the drugs that she. was prescribed. And look at the first. page. Look at how detailed. dates how she felt. 10 milligrams Prozac. and it goes on like that goes on through. November into December. December. December 9th 10th 11th.

horrible intrusive thoughts horrible. thoughts in the AM horrible thoughts. horrible thoughts no motivation and then. finally horrible thoughts no motivation. deeply depressed. then that's around the time she went to. Women in Infants Hospital, right? Looking for help. Look at this. As she runs into January,

there's nothing other than little. chicken scratches because her mind was. gone. He then brought up an interesting. analogy. He pointed to the movie The. Shining, comparing Clancy's desperate. Googling to Jack Nicholson's character. typing all work and no play makes Jack a. dull boy. >> This is not an evidence. It's micro. identification. It's too big. So, but. basically, it shows clearly and. unequivocally the depths of despair that. this young kid was in trying to raise.

three kids trying to be a wife, ready to. go back to work. Did anyone say that she. was just lazy or just didn't want to go. back to work? Manipulation. They're arguing. She didn't want to go. back to work. She didn't want to go back. to work because she didn't want to leave. her kids, especially Ken because she. loved her children. They were her life. manipulation. And when you consider the journals, I don't know, you never watched the.

movie there, The Shining with Jack. Nicholson. Remember the scene when he's. sitting there in a in a in a state of. complete psychosis and he's writing a. book and he's he's typing and the wife. finds the book and opens it up and looks. at it and says, "All work and no play.". makes Jack a doll boy. All work and no. play. Makes Jack a doll boy. Repeated. after repeated after repeated. And he. says, "Do you like it?" You look at the. records of her googling. drugs. You look at how many times, how. many hours of the night in the afternoon.

she's looking this stuff up in between. taking care of the family, in between. all the stuff that was going on with. visiting doctors, seeing doctors, going. to Rhode Island, being told, "No, we. can't help you." calling a suicide. hotline. We can't help you. Calling. another suicide hotline. We can't help. you. My god, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help and she. was not getting it. And when you look at. those photographs, there's slice of a. cucumber, there's a slice of a carrot,

there's no chicken nuggets in that bowl. Patrick wouldn't know what the kids were. eating. She was the one that would cook. their dinner. She was in the. refrigerator. But the guy yesterday is. like, "Oh, no. Patrick said that the the. kid the the child was eating the chicken. McNuggets in the bowl." No, she was. getting food out of the two kids, not. the little baby. Two kids for dinner. >> There's no evidence that she's lying. There's no evidence that she's. mandering. And finally,

you remember there was a big deal about. whether or not the voices are within the. head or whether or not they're outside. of the head. Dr. Resnik's article with the largest. research on voices mingering in the. world. indicates that 38%. of almost a thousand people that were. examined report voices from inside their.

head. and it stops. You're going to buy that guy yesterday. He doesn't know what he's talking about. This young lady is not guilty of the. killing of her children because she was. suffering from a disease and defect as. his honor instructed you. And they're. not going to be able to prove otherwise. And it's their burden, not ours. Thank. you. >> So, those are the highlights from the. defense, Kevin Readington's theme. Okay,

this isn't a case about a monster. It. was about a woman who was failed by the. system. She was trying to do the right. thing. She was trying to get help. You. only go from this loving mother to a. killer because of something that. happened to you. A woman in psychosis. who didn't know right from wrong. Leaving them, leaving the jury with an. important reminder that the burden is. never on the defense. Put that to the. side. Then it was the prosecution's. turn. It was the Commonwealth's turn. And you had assistant DA Jennifer Sprag.

step up to the podium. And she actually. agreed with the defense on one thing. There's no dispute that Lindseay Clancy. was having a problem, that there was a. mental illness. But she said that's not. the issue here. >> There's no dispute that Lindsay Clancy. was suffering from mental illness and. that she tried to kill herself. There's. there's no dispute about that. All of. the evidence that you've heard, even the. experts that the Commonwealth put before. you say that she was suffering from. mental illness and she tried to kill. herself.

That's not the issue in this trial. The issue is whether at the time she. killed Kora Dawson and Callie, she knew. the difference between right and wrong. and whether she could conform her. behavior to the requirements of the law. This case is not about our mental health. system or how it treats women or what's. in the DSM5 and what's not. That's a. distraction to get you angry and. passionate about an important issue, but.

an issue that's not on trial here. What's on trial here, what the issue is. here is what Lindsay Clancy did the. night of January 24th, 2023. and what her mental state was at the. time. And you can use her psychological. history and records, the the treatment. records to look at both before and after. she killed the kids to look at how she. got to that point, what her thought. process was, what her motivation was.

But it's not the the the system or the. DSM or any of that that caused her to. strangle her kids. In fact, she had more. access to to treatment and care and. support than a lot of people do. She had. health insurance that covered multiple. doctors, multiple specialty programs, treatment at Southshore, at Mass. General, her stay at MLAN. She had. prescription coverage to cover the. different trials she went through.

She had support at home. She had 18. weeks of maternity leave with the. opportunity to extend that as much as. she needed, which is excellent, which is. what all women should have. But she had. that. She had support from both sides of her. family, hers and Patrick's. The two older kids, Kora and Dawson, were in preschool three and a half days. a week. and she had the nanny Elaine who. who helped with with Kalen in three. mornings a week and she also helped her.

with housework and with food prep. This. wasn't a woman suffering from a lack of. care, a lack of resources. She had an. abundance of help, an abundance of care. She had all of that and more. But it. wasn't the fault of the providers that. she was struggling with this or that she. wasn't getting better. They were doing. the best they could. You had the. records. You heard the testimony. They. were doing the best they could with the. information she provided them. And that.

wasn't always accurate information. That. wasn't always the full picture. And they were doing the best they could. with her level of cooperation and. compliance with the plan. Take her medications. You know from the. records and from the pill bottles what. she was prescribed and how she was. supposed to take those medications. And. you know from the pill bottles what she. actually took. And sometimes those two.

things didn't align with what she told. her providers, what she told Patrick, what she told her mother. >> Putting the impetus, the fault, the. responsibility on Lindseay Clancy. And. Sprag then turned to Lindseay Clancy's. own words and actions and how important. it was as a nurse to be honest with her. providers, her medical health providers, but that she wasn't. >> She knows as a nurse the importance of. following the instructions of your. medications. She knows how important it is to follow.

the plan and do what's on the bottle and. do what your provider tells you and to. give that accurate information to your. provider. She didn't say, "I went up a. dose went up to 50 too early." Maybe. they could have adjusted that and tried. the the 25 milligram for longer and. eased her into it. But no, she she told. her that she did what she was told and. then went up and had these problems. >> Putting the fault on Clancy, putting the. responsibility on Clancy, highlighting. these conscious, deliberate actions. And. then she pointed to the pill bottles.

themselves and argued that Lindsay. Clancy was looking for a quick fix, but. she wasn't telling her doctors really. what was going on. >> The lame mdal, she never took those. pills at all until the night she tried. to kill herself. So, there's a a lack of. compliance there, a lack of of of. followrough, a lack of communication. with her providers about what was. happening with her and how she was. taking the medications. And defense. wants you to believe that this is a. woman who's begging for help and willing. to do anything and everything her.

providers tell her to do to get better. And she was asking for help. She was she. wanted help. She wanted to get better. But she wanted to get better on her own. terms, doing things her way, the way she. thought she should do them. And as a. nurse, she knew that's not the right way. to approach it. She knew that an. accurate medical history, accurate. information about your side effects and. symptoms, what your thoughts are, that's. important for your providers to know and. she didn't do it.

And it seems that the reason that she's. she's not necessarily fully compliant. and she's doing what she wants to do is. she has this desire to be herself again. She just wants to go back to who she was. and she wants it now and she doesn't. want any side effects. She just wants to. be herself again and wants it now. And. that's that's understandable. That's. relatable to want to get that magic pill. that will fix you immediately and you. can go back to being yourself. But she knew that's not how it worked.

And and you know that's what she was. thinking because in the searches on her. phone, she's searching for things like. which anti-depressant works the fastest, how fast does wellrin work, and she's. searching all of these different. medications for the side effects and. symptoms. some of them that she never. even discusses with her doctors. And you know, again, it's relatable that. she wants to get back to where she was, but she had discussions with her. providers about how these medications. work and that it takes time for them to.

get into your system. It takes time for. them to work. She even texted her mother. about that, about how she knew that she. had to be patient, that it took weeks. for the amatipptalene, for example, to. get into our system and worked. and she. knew all of this and she just she. couldn't be patient. She couldn't wait. She wanted a faster. Women and infants. never said she was over medicated. What they also don't do is turn her. away. It's not that she went there and. they said can't help you go away. They.

they told her it's in the records based. on the onset of her symptoms. They. weren't sure if it was postpartum or. perpartum. They saw she had an issue. They wanted to help her. It says there, "We offered her, they offered her three. programs. They offered her the inpatient. medical management program. They offered. her a partial hospitalization program. for general mental health. And they. offered her an outpatient program." It. shows they put a lot of thought into. that into offering her this care when.

they gave her three separate options. considering she's a young mom, maybe she. doesn't want to be away from home, but. we'll give her the option of being in. the hospital and getting her medications. right, but we'll also give her the. option of the partial hospitalization. where she can, you know, be here during. the day and go home to her kids in the. evening. And then that third option of. being an outpatient and being able to be. at home with her kids and come in for. appointments. It was very thoughtful of. them. It was very well planned out to.

give her these three options. And it's kind of the exact opposite of. just turning someone away and saying, "Go away. We can't help you.". >> According to Sprag, Lindseay Clancy knew. the difference between right and wrong, pointing to examples of what she told. her husband and mother. But she didn't. tell the providers. Why? Because Sprag. argues it's because Lindseay Clancy knew. she would lose her kids. You know that. she knew the difference between right. and wrong during that time because she. had those thoughts at the beginning of. December of harming her kids and she.

told Patrick and her mother about them. But who she didn't tell is important and. very telling. She didn't tell a single. provider. Not Tus, not Gelato, not uh. Jennifer Mallister, not Dukes, no one at. MLAN, no one at MGH, no one at. Southshore. didn't tell any of them. And. why? Because the police might take away. your kids. That's a rational thought that telling.

mandated reporters that you're having a. thought of harming your kids, that they might be taken away for their. safety. That's a rational thought. And it also shows she knew it was a bad. thought, a wrong thought. because you. don't think someone's got to take your. kids away because you're thinking. something positive or neutral. >> Sprig then turned to man and why Lindsay.

Clancy left. >> And even if you believe that the number. of different medications she took over. that time or the combination of those. medications. affected her negatively. after MLAN they were out of her system. Some of them have been out of her system. for months. Zolas she stopped in. October. Other pills she stopped in. November or December. And that last one, the cerakquil that she really had a bad. reaction to is out of her system.

The only medication she's on leaving. Mlean. is Trazadone for sleep and Valium for. anxiety. And that's it when she leaves. there. And why does she leave there? He wants to go to Cory's birthday party. And that's that's relatable. That's. understandable. She wants to be that mom. again who can throw her daughter a party. and enjoy it. It's completely. understandable why she would want to. leave. But she also knew she wasn't.

there. She knew how she was feeling. She. knew she was depressed. She knew she. needed help. But she wanted to be that mom she was. more. And there was nothing Mlan could. do to keep her there. She said she denied suicidal ideiation. She denied homicidal ideiation. She said. she wasn't hearing voices or seeing. anything. They saw the entire time she. was there no signs of psychosis. In. fact, every doctor she saw from Tusid in.

September all the way through TUS at. right January 23rd, none of them saw any. signs of psychosis ever. And then she. pointed to the videos. >> and they even give her a test, a task to. do to see if she can manage her mental. health outside of the hospital. Make an. appointment, pick a doctor, make an. appointment. And she does it. She. decides on Dr. Tus. She makes the. follow-up appointment. She gets the. documentation and gives it to them,

showing she can manage her mental. health. They have to let her go at that point. She's there voluntarily. there's no. grounds to keep her if she's not showing. she's a danger to herself or others. So, they let her go home. And at home, again, all throughout. January, she's showing her ability to. know right from wrong and to conform her. behavior to the requirements of the law. in all the activities she does in. January. First, there's the birthday party. She's.

throwing the birthday party. She's. monitoring the kids, making sure, you. know, typical mom birthday party stuff. Everyone's eating, getting cake, singing. happy birthday. You saw her in the. video. She appeared happy and smiling. Norma. Everyone that interacted with her said. seems a little tired, but okay. What? >> The Museum of Science. You have that. video. The Museum of Science in Boston can be. crowded and overwhelming on a good day.

And she's there with three kids under. five with her husband. You see her. monitoring them, caring for them, doing. the exhibits, showing them what to do. with the exhibits. If you watched that video and you didn't. know who the Clansancy family was, and. we asked you, pick out the woman who is. depressed. Pick out the woman who wants. to kill herself. Pick out the woman. who's about to kill her kids. You. couldn't pick her out.

She's completely calm. All her behaviors are typical and normal. because she's able to control her. behavior. >> And then there was this moment really, really important. Sprag said, "You start. to see the planning. >> Everything that happened that day, every. person she interacted with, every. situation she was in shows you she knew. the difference between right and wrong, and she could conform her behavior to. the law. The doctor's appointment first. thing in the morning, she's able to. drive there. She's able to interact with.

medical professionals. She's able to seem absolutely fine and. normal. And this is a doctor who's. treated the kids since Cora was a baby. This is a pediatrician who's known the. family and has known Lindsay for almost. 5 years. A woman who's trained trained. in recognizing the signs of postpartum. depression. She told you she looks for. flat affected. She looks for teariness. and some other things that she told you. She's on none of that. She was able to.

control herself and interact with her in. a perfectly normal, concerned mother. way. Able to get home from that. appointment. She plays with the kids. She takes them. outside. She's sending those messages. and photos to her mom and to Patrick. Basically saying, "Look, this is a good. day. I'm having a good day. Everything's. good. I'm getting better. Here's proof. This is what I'm doing.". You start to see the planning.

at about 4:00 in the afternoon. And this. is on her phone. You can see her search. for Mirax Kids Mirax at 4:02. And then a little while later at 4:13, you see her search for takeout from 3V. And then immediately after she does the. Apple Math search to see how long it. takes to get to 3V. Well, defense wants you to believe that, you know, she was checking that because. she didn't want him gone for too long.

She wanted him home. She was in. distress. If you're in distress, don't send him. anywhere. Make food at home. Have him. cook. Get delivery. Get Door Dash. Go to. the one of the other restaurants that. Patrick mentioned that were 2 minutes. down the road. >> And she didn't have to look up on Apple. Maps to see where this restaurant was. You heard from Patrick. They had been. there at least three times in the months. before. She had lived in that area for 4.

years. She knew where it was. She knew. generally how long it would take to get. there. What she needed to know was how long. specifically on that night it would take. to get there because she knew she would. have a limited amount of time to do what. she wanted to do. and what she had. decided to do was to kill the children. and then kill herself. >> She then brought up another key point, the calls to CVS. >> And not only does she search CVS, she.

calls them, calls them and asks them if. they have kits and they say no, but they. have pedialax and one other medication. And then she asks, "Is it in stock?". Because she needs to know not only what. they have, but is it in stock? because. she's adding to this errand that she's. sending Patrick out on and she has to. make sure she's not interrupted. She. doesn't want that call at 5:33. She wants him to go to CVS and have the. medication there and get it and then go.

on to 3V so she has time to do what she. needs to do. So that's why she's calling. to see what they have and make sure it's. in stock. It's a level of planning there and. thinking and decision making that Dr. Sat referenced. And then after that, she texts Patrick, you know, it's been a long day. Can we. do 3B? >> Then there was this really important. moment where Sprag walked the jury.

through what happened when Patrick. Clansancy came home, highlighted a point. that is very important for the. prosecution's argument that this was not. someone in a psychosis. It was someone. who made choices. >> and then comes home. and when he gets home puts the things on. the counter and it's quiet. It's quiet in a way that a house with. three kids under five should not be. during waking hours. So he he calls out. to them, no answer. He goes to the.

basement door and opens it and yells. down and no answer. And he um he closes. the door. He calls her phone. no answer. He goes. upstairs and is able to unlock the door. and see the blood and see the window. open and go down to her. And when he. goes down to her, she's no longer. actively bleeding. He doesn't have to. put pressure on any of her wounds. And. he says to her, "What did you do?" And. her response is, "I tried to kill. myself.". And then it's, "Where are the kids in.

the basement?". It's not, "I heard a voice. I was. compelled to do this. I didn't want to. do this. Go help the kids. They're hurt. They're in the basement. Go save them. No, it's I tried to kill myself. And the. kids are in the basement. You know, from. all of the evidence that you have, putting aside the experts, but all the. evidence you have in terms of crime. scene photos and videos and the.

witness testimony and all the medical. records, you know, how she killed them, where she killed them, what time she. killed them, and the order that she. killed them in. Even without what she. told the doctors about the order, that's. something you can infer from the. evidence because, you know, in order to bring the kids to the. basement and strangle each one of them. and then come upstairs and get a knife. and have a phone call and then go.

upstairs to the second floor and either. take handfuls or pills or crush them, however she did it. Take the pills. and then cut herself. And it's not just. one three cuts. It's the hesitation. marks and then the cuts themselves. And. then you know she bled in a couple spots. for a little little while because you. heard from Sher Crook how the pooling in. front of the mirror is someone basically. the blood dropping down and someone. there for a period of time and then over.

closer to the window the same thing. So, she's bleeding in front of the mirror. for a period of time, over by the window. for a period of time, and then she goes. out of the window. And whether she dove. out or climbed out and slid down, whatever you think that evidence shows. from the shingles and everything you've. seen, whatever happened, she goes out of. the window and she's on the ground. And. by the time Patrick gets there, she's no. longer bleeding. So, for all of that to happen in that.

short amount of time while Patrick's. gone, she had to have started killing. the kids immediately after he left. >> And she went on to explain more about. why the defense's argument, this idea of. a voice compelling Lindsay Clancy to. kill her children and then herself, why. this doesn't add up. Now, defense wants. you to believe that it was after the. phone call that after the phone call, she heard the voice and killed the. children. But there's a few things about. that that don't make sense. First is.

what she told Dr. Sat that when she gets. the call, she's at the fridge getting. chicken nuggets out of the fridge to. make dinner. You heard from Patrick. When he's. leaving, Dawson is sitting on the couch. eating chicken nuggets and green beans. out of a bowl. There's the crime scene photo of two. bowls on the couch. Yes, the pink one. seems to have some vegetables in it, but. there's the blue one there as well. And. Patrick saw Dawson eating the chicken.

nuggets and green beans. So, why would the defendant make that. up? Why would she say she's doing that. during the phone call? Because if she's already killed the kids. because of a voice and being compelled. and it being against her will and she's. like a puppet, then she can't get a call and miss it. and then call the person back and have a. conversation and then hang up. A puppet. can't do those things. Those are.

decisions and choices and actions that. she's controlling. So, she has to explain away the phone. call because her behavior and her. ability to have the phone call don't. make sense if she's being compelled by. her voice, if she's not in control. >> And then finally, she got to the why. Why would Lindsay Clancy, a mother, do. this to her kids? >> So, why did she specifically do it? She.

was depressed. She was exhausted. She was done. She. didn't want to try anymore. She felt. damaged. >> But those kids, those kids were her. protective factor. Those kids were. keeping her. from ending her misery. And so she had to remove the protective. factor. And I'm not saying she was happy about. it. I'm saying that it was what she had.

to do to end her misery. But it was a choice. It was a choice. She could have kept. trying. She could have, you know, moved. down to her mother's. She She could have. just She could have killed herself and. left her kids alive. But it was a choice. to take them with her. It was a horrible choice. >> All right. You know, we're going to keep. a careful eye on what happens next, right? So, for the verdict and every up. tothe-m minutee detail and update about. this case, make sure you watch our long.

crime trials and Court TV YouTube. channels to see what's going on. We'll. continue to follow it here on Sidebar as. well. Thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcast. You can also check us out. on NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to. follow me, X Instagram, my NewsNation. show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through. Friday, 11 PM Eastern. See you next. time, everybody.