Lindsay Clancy’s trial was brought to a standstill when she broke down in tears during an autopsy testimony and said, “I can’t do this.”
The trial was recessed two times on Wednesday, August 12, after Clancy, 36, got emotional as two medical examiners testified after they performed autopsies on her kids Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, who she killed in January 2023.
The first recess was called after medical examiner Renee Stonebridge explained that the children died by asphyxiation. She then revealed that they were in pain for about 10-30 seconds before they lost consciousness.
Another emotional moment took place when medical examiner Barbara Olson testified, in which she detailed Cora’s autopsy. Olson described the injuries to Cora’s neck, as well as identified signs of ligature strangulation and explained the type of pain the attack caused.
As Olson described Cora’s injuries, Clancy started to audibly cry and hyperventilate as she said, “I can’t do this,” according to a video from The New York Post.
Following both instances, Judge William Sullivan told the jury that they should not let Clancy’s emotion influence their verdict.
The emotional moments were rare for Clancy, who has remained mostly composed throughout the trial. However, she did previously cry during the August 6 hearing when Massachusetts medical examiner Dr. Kimberley Springer testified that Callan’s autopsy showed “abrasions” and “some needle marks” from “therapeutic procedures.”
Clancy was seen crying as she looked at the autopsy photos, while some jurors were also visibly emotional during Springer’s testimony.
Clancy admitted to killing her kids, but pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. Throughout the trial, her defense has argued that she was not criminally responsible for the murders because she was overmedicated and experiencing extreme postpartum psychosis at the time.
However, prosecutors have argued that Clancy was well aware of what she was doing when she killed her children. Clancy also attempted suicide when she jumped out of the second story of her home shortly after she strangled her kids, which prosecutors argued pointed to the fact that the killings may have been intentional.
If she is found not criminally responsible, Clancy could be sent to a state mental health facility in Massachusetts. However, she could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if she is found guilty of first-degree murder.
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