PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — Lindsay Clancy, who’s accused of murdering her three young children before throwing herself out of a second-story window, appeared remotely as her legal team and the Commonwealth argued key issues ahead of her February 2026 trial.
Lindsay Clancy appeared via Zoom from Tewksbury Hospital in Massachusetts for a motions hearing on May 28, 2024. (Court TV)
Clancy, who is pursuing an insanity defense, is facing three counts of murder and strangulation for the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 7 months. Cora and Dawson were found strangled to death by exercise bands in the family’s basement on Jan. 24, 2023. Callan was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and died three days later. The Commonwealth has alleged that Clancy planned the murders of her kids while her husband, Patrick Clancy, was running errands. Her defense has maintained she was in the throes of psychosis at the time of the murders, and filed a notice of lack of criminal responsibility on Dec. 13.
Clancy’s legal team, led by defense attorney Kevin Reddington, did not object to the Commonwealth’s latest motion, a request to obtain raw notes and audio recordings from The New Yorker involving interviews with Clancy’s husband and others close to her. “I embrace and adopt and welcome these statements that say nothing other than the fact that she was a wonderful person, an incredible mother, a lovely human being,” Reddington said.
Second Asst. D.A. Jennifer Sprague argued the interviews are material to the case, particularly statements Clancy allegedly made before and after the incident. She emphasized that because Clancy has never spoken with law enforcement, the third-party interviews may provide critical insight into her state of mind. The judge acknowledged the complexity of invoking New York’s reporter shield laws and took the matter under advisement, but indicated he was inclined to allow the request.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington addresses the court at a May 28, 2025, hearing for Lindsay Clancy. (Court TV)
The court also addressed a second key motion: The Commonwealth’s request to obtain medical records used by the defense experts. Both parties agreed on the principle of sharing expert materials, citing Rule 14, which governs discovery in criminal cases involving mental health defenses. However, Reddington cautioned against overreach, referencing a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that limits government access to raw interview notes and psych data.
To accommodate both sides, the judge set a deadline of June 27 for the mutual exchange of expert-related records. That date will also serve as a status hearing to assess progress and begin planning for potential evidentiary hearings, including challenges to expert testimony, which both sides anticipate may be necessary due to Clancy’s complex psychiatric history and medication use.
The court additionally approved a delay in Clancy’s trial start date—from Jan. 5, 2026, to Feb. 9, 2026—at the defense’s request. The January date will now serve as the final pretrial conference.
