Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with murdering her three young children, broke down repeatedly in court this week as a medical examiner detailed the cause of death for five-year-old Cora, with the defendant audibly sobbing “I can’t do it” before the judge called an emergency recess. The emotional collapse came during testimony that Cora died by asphyxiation from strangulation, forcing the courtroom to pause as Clancy’s head dropped to the defense table.
The third week of the trial delivered nine jaw-dropping moments, starting with the revelation that Dr. Jennifer Tufts, Clancy’s former psychiatrist who prescribed a cocktail of medications, never once saw her patient in person. All 14 appointments were conducted via telemedicine, and Tufts admitted under cross-examination that the first time she laid eyes on Clancy was in the courtroom.
“Until you came in this courtroom Friday, you never saw this woman in person, did you?” defense attorney Kevin Reddington pressed. “Correct,” Tufts replied.
Reddington hammered Tufts on her notes, pointing out that she used a drop-down box system rather than writing freehand observations. “You’re like a robot,” he said. “You can’t take a pen and write something down.
You have to do the dropbox and the X’s on the computer.” Tufts, who received her board certification just a month before treating Clancy, acknowledged she had never treated a single case of postpartum psychosis before meeting Clancy. “In the span of one month, I would say none because it’s a very rare disorder,” she testified.
The tension escalated when Reddington questioned Tufts about prescribing Zoloft, which carries a black-box warning for suicidal and homicidal ideation in young adults. “Why would you prescribe Zoloft to a young woman who’s postpartum, coming to you with anxiety, telling you she can’t sleep, and you prescribe a medication that would have a side effect of trouble sleeping?” he asked.
Tufts defended the choice as a “first-line medication” supported by research.
Another bombshell emerged when Tufts insisted on the stand that her note reading “not hyper, pressured speech” was misinterpreted. “I know it doesn’t say not, but that is exactly what I meant,” she said. Reddington shot back: “Wait, when did you see this that you noticed that it did not say not?
I don’t care what it says. I know what I meant.”
The defense also revealed that Clancy’s husband, Patrick, was dismissive when a nurse practitioner suggested a possible bipolar diagnosis. “My wife is not bipolar,” Patrick allegedly said, while Lindsay remained silent. The same nurse practitioner testified that Clancy tested high for anxiety but denied suicidal or homicidal ideation.
In a twist, the defense moved to call a TikTok creator, Emily Thorndike, a former social worker at McLean Hospital where Clancy was treated. Thorndike posted a video claiming the prosecution misrepresented the level of care Clancy received, especially during the New Year’s holiday when staffing was thin. “She is saying that the prosecution is misrepresenting what it is like to stay at McLean Hospital,” the defense argued.
The judge took the motion under advisement.
The most gut-wrenching testimony came from Dr. Olsen, the medical examiner, who described the ligature furrow on Cora’s neck and the timeline of brain death. “If there is no oxygen flow, the brain will essentially start dying within six to eight minutes,” he said.
Clancy broke down three separate times during the autopsy testimony, prompting the judge to call a short recess. Jurors were also seen crying.
The defense has admitted Clancy killed her children but argues she was not criminally responsible due to postpartum psychosis, pointing to a “cocktail” of 13 medications and what they call systemic failures in her mental health care. The trial continues with the Commonwealth still presenting its case.
